Subtle Biotic Changes Have Big Environmental Impact
... unprecedented levels, and industrial fishing is causing massive changes in marine food webs. So the global experiment is underway," said Carpenter. Carbon, an essential nutrient in lakes, typically flows from the land in the formof dead leaves and other organic matter that accumulates and decays under...Jefferson Scientists Discover Mechanism Of Viral Link To Disease Commonly Associated With Asbestos
... to and inactivates the tumor-halting proteins, causing them to lose their natural ability to regulate ...o one knew if the virus played a direct role in causing disease. Giordano’s team’s discovery of a potential mechanism for some cases of disease...... experimental workcan a researcher be sure what is causing an insect population toflourish or decline. Hunter's work could open new fields of inquiry into therelative effects of predators, parasites, diseases and thequality or quantity of the food supply on insects. For instance,he is not sure what caus......onsible forinteracting with normal human cells and causing the disease. Building on this model, the lab has focused on three main areas:developing new drug treatments against TB, creating vaccines that prevent TBfrom developing, and improving tests that detect the disease at an earlierstage....Oak Regeneration In Some Ohio Forests Is Failing, Researchers Find
...he area may be overtakenby different tree species, causing an ecological change unprecedented in moderntimes. Scientists studied oak regeneration in several mixed-oak forests inSoutheastern Ohio, a type of forest that is common throughout Central Appalachiaand the mid-Atlantic states. Recent studies ...No Link Seen Between Breast Cancer And Pesticides, PCB Exposure For General Population
...nvironmental exposure to potential carcinogens for causing breast cancer, because there is little to be done about it," said Moysich. "It eliminates the responsibility for changing one's lifestyle or habits. But our study and others don't show an adverse effect for the general population." Also partic...Maternal Lead Exposure Linked To High Numbers Of Cavities
...an Sylvia Pearson. Lead is well recognized as causing developmental and otherproblems. While lead has been removed from most gasoline, it'sstill present in old paint and commonly in soil or dust aroundcontaminated buildings. Bowen says that the areas with thehighest lead pollution -- inner cities and th...Researchers Discover First Animal Strain Of Hepatitis E Virus
...ing in the human population without causing disease. These subclinical infections of humans with swine hepatitis E virus might explain the relatively high prevalence of hepatitis E antibodies in healthy individuals in the United State...MGH-Led Team Finds Gene For Crippling Neurologic Disorder
...e legs or arms and spread to the rest of the body, causing it to twist into unnatural postures; symptoms worsen when patients are fatigued or stressed. Patients with advanced dystonia may be confined to a wheel-chair or bedridden. The lifelong condition is more prevalent than Huntington's disease or amyot...Fossils Show British Columbia Was Once 2,000 Miles South
...tion as one layer isdeposited on top of the other, causing the magnetized crystals to flatten. Ward,however, notes that if that were the case, the ammonites would also be flat anddeformed. "An ammonite is very squishable. If you had compaction the fossilwould not be as pristine as our samples," he says. ...Smoking Mice Lead To Emphysema Breakthrough
... eventually break down elastic fibers in thelungs, causing a new case of emphysema. But the prevailing theory had a shortcoming: lungs with emphysema don'thave many neutrophils. Instead, they are full of macrophages, immune-systemcells that eat bacteria and other intruders. Few thought macrophages pl...Further Proof That An Altered Rb-2/p130 Gene Leads To Lung Cancer
...the different mechanism potentially involved in causing cancer. In the case of mesothelioma, the body’s tissue levels of the pRb-2 protein remained normal; the protein merely did not perform its job. In contrast, protein levels in lung cancer tissue are much lower than normal. Acco...Study Shows Hereditary Legacy Of Radiation Exposure
... are passed on to future generations,ones that are causing cell growth and reproduction changes," she said."If you mess around with that, you can't help but wonder if these changeswill turn out to be cancerous or impair reproduction." Wiley's work was funded by the NationalInstitutes of Health ....Colorado State Scientists Tackle Genetic Makeup Of Obscure Bacteria
... can grow to such large numbers in the bodywithout causing disease. "Unlike the bacteria that causes ... "We have some tantalizing ideas on what might be causing the bacteria tobe pathogenic, or capable of causing disease," Inamine said. "There are piecesof the ...Recombinant Protein Immunizes Mice, Promises New Strategy Against Infection And Cancer
... is to produce a full-blown immuneresponse without causing full-blown disease. However, when vaccines containingsoluble proteins from the microorganisms are used to produce an immune response,the CTLs are rarely activated. For decades, vaccine development experts have sought to find a simpleand pr...DNA Helps Track Origins Of Growing Blight Problem
...as large, brown blotcheson leaves, stems and fruit causing them eventually to shrivel and die. Itspreads through the release of spores. "Tomato plants with blight result in high sporelevels and spores can travel up to 20 kilometres to infect both potato andtomato plants," he explains. ...Mystery Of Vital Cell Protein Solved After 30 Years
...ell division runs amok. By binding to tubulin and causing the protein to lose its flexibility, taxolprevents a cell from dividing. With better knowledge of tubulin structure andits interaction with taxol, scientists believe that an even more effectiveanti-cancer drug, one that interacts only with the tubul...DNA Enzyme Works In Crystal Form; Yields New Insights Into Gene Copying
...rase, perturbing its relationship with the DNA and causing errors. "Our first glimpses of the binding of carcinogens with polymerase showvery dramatic changes in the polymerase," Beese said. "I think these experimentswill give us profound insights into the molecular basis of these compounds'carcinoge...Detective Work Uncovers New Tick-Borne Disease In North Carolina And The Southeast
...y live insidethe cells lining small blood vessels, causing the vessels to become inflamedor blocked and to bleed. The best known example of a rickettsiael disease is Rocky Mountain SpottedFever transmitted by dog ticks, which, if untreated, produces a fever, headache,rash, and a systemic illness that can ra...Gene For Inherited Syndrome Is Possible New Tumor Suppressor
...nzymes, and some of theseenzymes do play a role in causing cancer. But inthose cases, cancer rises because the genes produce too much of the enzyme. In PJS, on the other hand, cancer seems to occur because a protein kinase isn'tproduced. "As of now," said de la Chapelle, "we have no clue as to how the loss o...