New study shows oral contraceptive may be effective in treating severe form of premenstrual syndrome
...able in other oral contraceptives. Drospirenone is chemically related to spironolactone, a diuretic or water pill widely used by gynecologists to treat fluid retention for many women. Similarly to spironolactone, drospirenone influences the regulation of water and sodium levels in the body. Animal studies show ...Ecstasy component may help researchers measure brain damage from the drug
...HHMA in users. HHMA is created when Ecstasy (known chemically as MDMA, or 3,4- methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is metabolized through the liver. Animal studies have shown Ecstasy to damage the brains thought and memory function, but research has indicated that such side effects dont develop until the drug is met...Scientists map the complete genome of an important agricultural bacterium
...g organisms.Nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the ground chemically convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia a nitrogen-based compound that plants can use to produce proteins. Animals and people, in turn, obtain nitrogen by consuming protein from plants and herbivorous animals. "Nitrogen fixation is essential to li...Global consortium announces plans to sequence banana genome
...he popular dessert banana, one of the world's most chemically dependent crops. "Ancient farmers selected banana strains that were seedless and thus sterile, and grew the fruit through vegetative sprouting," said Emile Frison, PhD, director of the Montpellier, France-based International Network for the Improv...Lithographic technique creates neuronal networks in a dish
... cells from developing rat embryos. The cells are chemically and mechanically separated, then poured onto the patterned polylysine where they selectively attach to the surface. "Within a few days, the cells send out processes that explore the environment, preferring areas that have intact polylysine," Wheeler ...Biting may drive division of labor among social wasp workers
...cause we do know that social insects tend to react chemically to each other." He plans further work to determine the root of biting behavior in P. occidentalis. Scientists like O'Donnell study social insects looking for clues about how social behavior evolved and how it is maintained since there are ele...Scientists decipher "fail-safe" system that limits gene copying in cells
...pelled from the nucleus; another, known as Cd6, is chemically degraded. A third replication protein, called ORC for "origin recognition complex," is de-activated by kinase through a still-unknown process. Kinases are ubiquitous enzymes widely used in cells to regulate other proteins. In a step known as phosphor......s reduction take place and how much is oxidized or chemically reduced, volatilized or dissolved as a result of bacterial activity?" says Young. Similar parameters will be used by the researcher to measure how the bacteria affect benzene, toluene and xylene. Understanding the role of differe...Study uncovers structure of key molecule responsible for clearing drugs from the body
... at least three different ways. While PXR is chemically "promiscuous," it also is oddly specific, the UNC scientist said. Other groups have shown that while human PXR binds to many compounds that threaten humans, the mouse version of the molecule binds to a different set of chemicals that threaten mice. ......s adsorbed from the gas phase onto a catalytic, or chemically reactive platinum surface. Once adsorbed, the carbon monoxide molecules began diffusing and reacting with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide (CO2), which desorbed. Similar reactions help eliminate toxic CO from car exhaust. Throughout this process, var......strogen and testosterone, occur naturally. Other, chemically related substances are manufactured for packaging, plastics and other products of modern life. The National Toxicology Program, which is headquartered at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, N.C.,...UCSD researchers create a home for liver cells on a silicon chip
...es no wider than a human hair whose surface can be chemically modified to mimic the extracellular matrix distrib...es from the electronics industry, receptors can be chemically attached to the silicon to sense a variety of drug metabolites. "These silicon interferometers can d...Designer solvents promise revolutionary pollution solution
...ium's organizers. Ionic liquids, which are chemically similar to table salt, are liquid at room temperature. Table salt doesn't turn into a liquid until it's heated to nearly 1500 F (800 C). Unlike organic solvents, many ionic liquids do not evaporate or escape into the atmosphere easily. Anothe...New egg-free flu vaccine called promising for those with egg allergy
...ic reactions. The virus in a flu vaccine is chemically inactivated, but its presence stimulates the body to generate antibodies to fight off invading influenza strains. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) creates a new vaccine each year based on the likelihood that a new viral strain wil...Genes don`t control human behavior, evolutionist says
...ften-changing connections among perhaps a trillion chemically varying nerve cells in the brain. Even if every one of our roughly 30,000 genes were dedicated to wiring our brains, each would need to control the hooking up of about a billion connections," Ehrlich explained. "But genes must also contribute to the...Drug resistance found to vary by ethnicity
...t be necessary because an existing medication that chemically inhibits the PGP protein could be given to people found to overexpress PGP. Many factors affect survival rates among cancer patients. "While I believe that the biggest reason some African-American cancer patients do not do as well as Caucasian patie...Treatment in mice proves effective against Duchenne muscular dystrophy
...brane protein deficiency," he said. "Or you could chemically stimulate integrin chain production from the patients existing integrin chain genes." Kaufmans lab discovered the molecule in question the alpha 7 integrin in 1985. A deficiency of this molecule exists in several forms of congenital muscular dystr...Mouse gene trap helps decipher brain's wiring diagram
...plexity, and many of the standard methods, such as chemically inducing a mutation or molecularly knocking out a single gene, take too long," explained Tessier-Lavigne. "In addition, wiring defects can be very difficult to detect against a background of normal projections." In the same time it takes to perform ...Chemical flame retardant found in salmon
...olybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, which are chemically similar to PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and dioxins. Like PCBs, PBDEs resist breaking down in the environment and accumulate in animal tissues. Their health risks to humans and wildlife have not been fully assessed, although several studies indic...UF research shows that a fern soaks up deadly arsenic from soil
... alkaline soil. Arsenic is more easily extractable chemically in alkaline conditions, Ma said. In the greenhouse tests done by Cong Tu, a postdoctoral student in Ma's group, the plant seems to fare better in soils with arsenic than in soils without arsenic. But Ma said she is not ready to conclude the plant...