Biologist Experiments With His Own Front Yard
...not to eat because of their potential heart-attack causing poisons. There's the storyabout adding laboratory rat waste to the compost heap in order to make it more efficient, and the stink thatit made (literally) in the neighborhood. There's the neighbor who wonders what he's doing out in the yardall hours o...Transposable Elements May Have Had A Major Role In The Evolution Of Higher Organisms
... through the cellular world like petulantchildren, causing the misexpression of other genes and, in general, looking outfor number one. That early picture, however, began to change dramatically in the1970s, when it became clear that transposons are pervasive. It simply made nosense that such elements would b...Jefferson Researchers First To Create Genetically Engineered Mouse To Study Photoaging
...lteredand transformed into large haphazard clumps, causing the skin's exterior tobecome leathery and wrinkled. Dr. Uitto developed and bred the transgenic mice. They microinjected fertilized mouse eggs with human elastin promoter linked toa chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) reporter gene, which indica...Lactose-Intolerant People Should Drink More Milk, Expert Says
...5 million Americans, can result in weakened bones, causing fractures and injuries. Patients in the United States spend $13 billion a year on osteoporosis treatments. A big problem with both calcium intake and lactose tolerance, nutritionists say, is that most people, especially teen-age girls, don't consume ...Leftover Fetal Cells May Affect Development Of Scleroderma
...eprimarily affects the skin of the face and hands, causing it to become shiny, tight and thick like leather. In contrast, the systemic form, which can lead to premature death, attacks theskin as well as internal organs, including the kidneys, lungs and heart, gastrointestinal tractand joints. Currently ther......ade to slowly release the growth factor without causing any damage. Different growth factors have alr...dge in the peripheral capillary system whithout causing any damage. At this site they release the growth factor over a period of 7 days. The majo......anas gingivalis isvery frequently in dental plaque causing this disease. These people may be atincreased risk of getting heart disease and strokes if Porphyromanas gingivalisfrom their mouth gets into the bloodstream and clumps platelets similar to whatwe see in the laboratory." The researchers will...MIT's Mini Respirator Breathes Life Into Mutant Mice
...ure in the chamber is then oscillated up and down, causing theanimal's lungs to inflate and deflate. In contrast, today's conventional respirators deliver air via a tube inthe neck. This isn't feasible for mice, however, because the animals are toosmall. "Even if you could insert a tube into the tra...Virulent Fungus Devastating Potato Crops
...on lives, a newer virulent strain of the fungus is causing widespread crop devastation in the United States. Agricultural scientists are finding the fungus, Phytopthora infestans , better known as late blight, difficult to control, says William Fry, a Cornell University professor of plant pathology. Fry b...Concerns For Australian Sea Lion
...lions but the worry is that we have no idea what's causing these dramatic fluctuations in pup mortality, say...tes, such as hookworm, environmental perturbation causing food shortage for lactating female sea lions, high rates of aggression by adult males, direct human...Jefferson Researchers Use Gene Therapy To Treat Rare, Inherited Brain Disease
...Sachs disease in that both are metabolic disorders causing the buildup of toxic compounds that affect normal brain development. According to Dr. Freese, three years ago, his colleagues at Yale were contacted by Canavan families for their expertise in gene therapy to see about the possibility of developing a ...'Mean Gene' Found In Africanized Honey Bees
...edation by mammals -- bee venom is specialized for causing pain in vertebrates." Africanized bees are just one of many subspecies of honey bees. They were introduced to the Western Hemisphere by an accidental release from a Brazilian geneticist in 1956 and spread rapidly through South and Central America. Si...US-Cuban Scientific Collaborations Jeopardized By Travel Restrictions
...or after the date of the requested time of travel, causing scientists tomiss important US or international meetings. The report states that according to anecdotal evidence collected by the AAASScience and Human Rights Program, younger Cuban scientists appear to be morelikely to be refused entry in the US d...Pitt Researchers Find Way To Block Cellular Growth Pathways And Inhibit Tumor Growth
...rmal growth factor receptor). TGF-" bindsto EGFR, causing cell division. Both proteins are produced in abnormally highlevels by tumor cells, suggesting that they play an important role inmaintaining cancer growth. In their research, Dr. Grandis and her colleaguescreated genetic sequences that block the tr...Kaposi's Sarcoma Caused By Virus Usually Transmitted Through Homosexual Sex, According To UCSF Study
...rongly suggests that it plays an important role in causing the disease,"says Donald Ganem, MD, UCSF professor of microbiology and medicine, a HowardHughes Medical Institute Investigator and a co-author of the study. "Our finding does not mean that HHV-8 is only transmitted via homosexualsex," says De...ASU Scientists Make Major Breakthrough With Photosynthetic Energy
...lance in proton concentration across the membrane, causing the protons to flow through a protein and generate biological energy. Gust said, "The focus is on how to capture solar energy and convert it to a useful form in the same way that photosynthesis does. We are trying to see how far we can go in mimick...Scientists Seek Early Warning Of Drinking Water Threats
... illness, some newly-identified types may havebeen causing low levels of disease for years. That's true of several pathogens in the study. A class of viruses calledcaliciviruses has been traced to recent waterborne outbreaks in the UnitedStates. The bacterium Escherichia coli 0157:H7, has caused at least two...Researchers Discover Existing Drugs May Prevent Enlarged Hearts
...ial, but ultimately the heart mayenlarge too much, causing congestive heart failure that can lead tosudden death. Half of cardiac hypertrophy patients die from thecondition. Olson and his research team showed that cardiac hypertrophy iscontrolled by a single protein, calcineurin, which acts as a gate...Antioxidants May Reduce Harmful Complications Of Diabetes
...xidants ofits own to keep the reactive oxygen from causing damage. "We were able to show that patients with poor control of their diabeteswho were beginning to show signs of complications had depleted their store ofantioxidants," said Duke researcher Dr. Emmanuel Opara in an interview. "Further, we...High Blood Pressure Caused By Salt Retention May Be Related To Oncogenes Implicated In Cancer
...ctive," says Dr. Eaton, "then peopleretain sodium, causing water buildup and an abnormal rise in blood pressure." Hypertension affects an estimated 62 million Americans and is anunderlying cause of heart attacks, heart failure and strokes, as well as kidneyfailure. Some people have a specific, gene...