Researchers create nanotubes that change colors, form 'nanocarpet' and kill bacteria
... formulated, the resulting molecule would have the desired properties of both biosensor and biocide. Remarkably, in addition to being able to kill cells, the resulting reaction mixture had the ability to self assemble into beautiful nanotubes of uniform structure. After searching for what was forming the tub...A novel, safer strategy for regulating gene expression
...ct; this allows the gene to turn "on" and make the desired protein such as a hormone or growth factor needed...in mammalian cells, inducing the cells to make the desired protein. Finally, they proved that the technique works in live animals. They introduced the gene fo...The book opens on the first tree genome
...ur forest economy. It will help us farm trees with desired growth and wood quality characteristics, while protecting our forests from pests and diseases through the development of tools for early detection, diagnosis, and control, allowing for more vigilant conservation and forest management." The Biologic...Genetic map of important tree genes outlined
...expression of specific natural or native genes for desired purposes. For example, the structure and chemical makeup of trees could be modified for a variety of uses: bioremediation to eliminate pollutants from soil, or the production of renewable feedstocks for bioenergy and fiber products, including paper ...Improving crops without genetic modification natural variation holds the key
...quality and yield of crops by crossing plants with desired traits to create a new, hopefully improved, hybrid strain. But traditional breeding is limited by the available gene pool of a cultivated plant species and eventually hits a wall--reshuffling the same genetic variation can boost yield only so much. W...Scientists reinvent DNA as template to produce organic molecules
...an now be applied. Molecules can be "selected" for desired functional properties, and the survivors of these selections can then be copied using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The application of DNA-templated synthesis has enabled a collection of DNA strands to be transformed into a corresponding coll...Sweet success in targeting sugar molecules to cells in living animals
...it with a molecule called a phosphine to which any desired molecule, such as a probe for visualization, can be attached. This reaction, called the Staudinger ligation, is "bio-orthogonal," said Bertozzi -- meaning that it does not affect the cell's biology; and the components form a covalent bond with one an...Genes can influence both alcohol consumption and dependence
...a need for larger amounts of alcohol to obtain the desired effects." "This study helps us bring prevention and treatment of alcohol problems into an increasingly rational domain," added Conigrave. "Prevention and treatment efforts are often made difficult by society's mixed views on alcohol: on one hand, a ...Goals unlikely to protect Gulf of Mexico shrimp industry
...uction will not likely shrink the dead zone to the desired 5,000 square kilometers. According to the paper, the nitrogen load must be reduced by 40 percent to 45 percent to achieve that reduction in most years. Comparing the results of the three models also confirmed anecdotal and sparse historic data...Bacteria spill their guts to aid researchers in quest for new antibiotics
...elp you predict drug interactions that lead to the desired effect, like killing the organism." Previous studies on the MscL protein from the bacterium that causes tuberculosis provided the model for what scientists believed was MscL's structure in its "closed" state. But UT Southwestern researchers led by Dr......e therapy relies on modified viruses to insert the desired bit of DNA into a cell's genome. But viruses can c... product is stable and consistently churns out the desired proteins. Recent studies suggest that some of the artificial chromosomes created by other groups mig...UCLA researchers recreate patterns formed by mammalian cells
...ring architecture producing replacement tissue in desired shapes and patterns. Demer also notes that the research may offer a greater understanding of how artery cells calcify and turn to bone in atherosclerotic heart disease. "Our ability to recreate cell patterns may ultimately help us learn how to bett...Maxygen subsidiary Verdia announces discovery and improvement of glyphosate tolerance gene
...lled gat genes, exhibiting a very low level of the desired novel enzymatic activity. This activity was then improved using the MolecularBreeding TM directed evolution platform. Eleven iterations of DNAShuffling TM recombination resulted in nearly a 10,000 fold improvement in enzyme activity over the paren...22-amino acid bacterium created by Scripps scientists
...utants that load the orthogonal tRNA with only the desired unnatural amino acid. When a ribosome reading an mRNA within the E. coli cells encounters UAG, it inserts the unnatural amino acid O-methyl-L-tyrosine. Furthermore, any codon in an mRNA that is switched to UAG will encode for the new amino acid in ...Domesticated tree crops may be the 'future of forestry'
...he genome, Meilan said Once a gene that controls a desired trait is identified, Meilan said, scientists could...g, transferring those genes to trees that lack the desired trait and determining whether the trait is acquired. Also contributing to this research were Andrew ...Laser technique used to build micro-polymeric structure on a human hair, without harming it
...t of a laser beam; scanning of the laser beam in a desired pattern then allows for the formation of intricate, three-dimensional patterns. This technique, also being explored by a handful of other groups worldwide, makes it possible to create features that are 1000 times smaller than the diameter of a human ...What it Takes: Design principles to broaden participation in SET
... Students and educational staff agree on goals and desired outcomes. Success is measured against intended results. Outcome data provide both quantitative and qualitative information. Disaggregated outcomes provide a basis for research and continuous improvement. Sustained commitment enables effective...Hopkins scientists overcome main obstacle to making tons of short, drug-like proteins
...binations of the 20 artificial amino acids for the desired length -- say, 10 blocks long. The ribosomes then churn away, making the peptides. To search for potential medicines, the peptide library would be mixed with a molecule of interest, say Hedgehog, a protein implicated in cancer. Peptides that bind He...Citizens asked to monitor impact of invasive bird species
... to plug the entrance hole of nest boxes until the desired species arrives for breeding, in the hope that house sparrows in the area have already set up housekeeping elsewhere. Since house sparrows are not federally protected, experienced monitors also often remove nests or eggs and deploy traps. "Sometimes......me, and then harnessing those cues to get a single desired cell type, is key to any effort to use these or more primitive embryonic stem cells to regenerate or repair damaged tissue. In the April issue of Developmental Cell, the Hopkins researchers report that mesenchymal (pronounced mez-EHN-kih-mal) stem ce...