22-amino acid bacterium created by Scripps scientists
...ings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team describes how they engineered this modified form of E. coli to make myoglobin proteins with 22 amino acids -- incorporating the unnatural amino acids O-methyl-L-tyrosine and L-homoglutamine in addition to the naturally occurring 20. Scientists have for years...Professor publishes book on historic 'mosquito wars'
...its Florida History and Culture series. Amazon.com describes the book: The Mosquito Wars presents a comprehensive and insightful analysis of the development of human efforts to wage war on mosquitoes in 20th-century Florida. Drawing on archival records, interviews, and published records, Gordon Patterson provi...Teachers turn to Tolkein to explain physics
...leaned, it always has a mass of 1 kg. Ian Robinson describes two new experiments that aim to sweep away this unsatisfactory state of affairs - by redefining the kilogram so that its value cannot change with time. One experiment defines it in terms of a certain number of carbon atoms, while the other involves m...Malignant breast cancer cells to revert to normal with manipulation
...ing at Experimental Biology 2004, Dr. Mina Bissell describes research showing how manipulation of the extracell... to genomic instability via oxidative damage. She describes how manipulation of the microenvironment can allow malignant breast cancer cells to revert to normal...New approach offers potential drug-discovery shortcut
...from the MGH Cardiovascular Research Center (CVRC) describes using an animal model to screen for a compound that suppresses a serious genetic mutation. Their success did not rely on first identifying a molecular target for the new drug, something that is a key bottleneck in current procedures. The study is be...Breakthrough Clemson research appears in Science
...on research. The internationally respected journal describes the Clemson team's discovery that Eastern Oyster shell growth begins within blood cells. The research advances the understanding of how animals make hard tissue such as shell, bone and teeth. The new research may lead to cures to disease and bone rep...Crime scene or nature reserve?
...s in the wild. An article in BMC Ecology this week describes how DNA from animal blood and tissue samples can be stored on record cards made from specialist filter paper and used in experiments at a later date. "Techniques involving the analysis of DNA have become ubiquitous in many areas of wildlife research,...'Crystal engineering' helps scientists solve 3-D protein structures
...l of Medicine researcher Zygmunt Derewenda, Ph.D., describes how his group was able to coax certain proteins to crystallize by carefully altering their surfaces using "targeted mutagenesis." In effect, the technique substitutes a small amino acid for certain large ones. This effectively shrinks bulky groups of...New software developed at Rensselaer predicts promising ingredients for new drugs
... molecular database rapidly. The first shortcut describes the molecule, its shape and chemistry, in terms of numbers a computer can crunch rapidly. "Dr. Breneman has a technique to calculate electronic properties on the surface of a molecule very quickly," Embrechts said. "It produces a description--basical...Scientists compare rat genome with human, mouse
...ure , the Rat Genome Sequencing Project Consortium describes its efforts to produce and analyze a draft sequence of the Brown Norway strain of the laboratory rat (Rattus norvegicus). The project, led by the Human Genome Sequencing Center at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, was primarily funded by the Nat...Study points to a promising new test for myelodysplasia, a blood disorder often leading to leukemia
...iences and appearing online the week of March 29th describes a promising new test for the early diagnosis of a serious blood disorder that can lead to bone marrow failure and acute myelogenous leukemia. Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), diagnosed in about 15,000 to 20,000 people a year, occurs mainly in patient...Estimated one in five people worldwide lack enough zinc in diet
... Nutrition Scientists (based at UCLA, California), describes major new insights on 1) the human health conseque...tes of linear growth and weight gain. The report describes methods to evaluate the adequacy of dietary zinc intakes, and to assess zinc status bio-chemically u...Activity of calcium-handling gene appears to prevent cardiac arrhythmias
...f Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, describes how overexpression of the protein SERCA2a in the hearts of rats reduced the incidence of arrhythmia after heart muscle injury. "If these results hold up in future studies, SERCA2a gene therapy could help protect patients at risk of arrhythmia becaus...Challenging shrubland fire management
...Phillip Morin (Southwest Fisheries Science Center) describes molecular genetic techniques and their applications to conservation biology and ecology....New, comprehensive tumor classification combines molecular biology and classic pathology
...rphological and clinical information. Jules Berman describes his ideas for a new comprehensive tumor classification in BMC Cancer this week. Berman, the Program Director for Pathology Informatics within the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Diagnosis Program, USA, writes: "This classification is simple (reduc...MGH research team grows long-lasting blood vessels
...oratory in the MGH Department of Radiation Therapy describes how their technique led to the growth of long-lasting blood vessels without the need for genetic manipulation. The accomplishment may help solve one of the primary challenges in tissue engineering: providing a blood supply for newly grown organs. ...Human health, astronomy, and environmental concerns merge at Dark-Sky meeting
...ctica last summer for the total solar eclipse, and describes "Last Summer in Antarctica." David E. Blask, MD, of the Bassett Research Institute in New York, will talk about his work on the effects on light exposure and resulting melatonin levels on the growth of human breast cancer cells. Observatory directo...U Iowa study identifies damaging mechanism in transplants and heart attacks
...stitutes of Health. University of Iowa Health Care describes the partnership between the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and UI Hospitals and Clinics and the patient care, medical education and research programs and services they provide. Visit UI Health Care online at http://www.uihealthc...Researchers discover new family of Atlantic corals in groundbreaking study
...group led by Nancy Knowlton of Scripps Institution describes using DNA analysis techniques to uncover a significant, previously undetected divergence between Pacific and Atlantic corals. Unexpectedly, the researchers found that about one-third of Atlantic corals, which had been conventionally classified in two...Study predicts conditions for sustainable lion trophy hunting
...ustained without bag limits. The study, which also describes a means of estimating lion ages in the field, will be published online Sunday, Feb. 22, in the journal Nature. All African hunting reserves impose bag limits, or quotas, but quotas are supposed to be based on the size of an animal population. Lions, ...