UNC study may improve gene therapy safety
...ed so rapidly that we can now do toxicity profiles inside an individual cell," Samulski said. "And basically what we're doing here is asking what happens to the genome if a vector or virus comes into the cell." In their experiments on cultured lung cells, Samulski and Stilwell used DNA microarray technology...Despite confinement, crop genes can spread fast to wild
... the "exorcist" induces certain chemical reactions inside the plant cell that pulls out and eliminates the transgene once the plant no longer needs it. Another technique involves inserting the artificial gene near a gene that's bad for the plant under wild conditions, making it unlikely that the transgene, ...Protein inhibits cell growth, may contribute to breast cancer
...d significantly when levels of cdk6 were increased inside the cells. "These findings suggest a new and promising avenue of breast-cancer research," said Lucas, Associate Professor in the Pediatrics Department, Division of Cell Biology, at National Jewish. "Many researchers have thought that the cdk protei...Approved drug blocks deadly anthrax toxin
...r. In earlier work, Tang showed that edema factor, inside an infected cell, connects with a protein called calmodulin. Calmodulin changes the toxin's shape, creating a conformation that functions just like a cellular enzyme called adenylyl cyclase, which helps regulate cell-to-cell signaling. When edema fa...Three personal ads for physics
...ned to make physics real for students by operating inside the comic-book world. He has abandoned the kinds of "real world" examples that cause anyone who has ever taken a physics class to cringe. "I've never had to shoot an arrow at a 45-degree angle off a cliff and measure the time it takes to hit the grou...Anthrax spores can germinate, grow and reproduce in soil
...e bacterium that causes anthrax, nothing beats the inside of a warm human or animal host for triggering an i...spores will not germinate and grow unless they are inside a living host. During the AAAS symposium on how environmental organisms cause disease, Hanna describ...Breakthroughs in acoustic tracking shine new light on the lives of fish
.... Tagging of yellowtail snapper and black grouper inside the Conch Reef Research Only Area (a small marine reserve off Key Largo) revealed that a majority of the tagged fish tended to stay in the reserve, while others "spilled over" to fishing areas, indicating that these small reserves could potentially s...Data shows FUZEON does not increase lipodystrophy in pre-treated HIV patients
...ptase inhibitors and the protease inhibitors) work inside the already infected CD4 cell. However, FUZEON works before the other classes of drugs, acting outside the immune cell and blocking the virus before it can enter. Based on the results presented at CROI, Roche is exploring clinical research to assess ...Targeting hard-to-kill fungal infections
...be easily killed by a very small dose of radiation inside their cells. Monoclonal antibodies can be designed to deliver radiation to specific cell types while sparing surrounding tissue. These designer antibodies, armed with radioactive isotopes, have been found to be highly effective against some types of...Human embryonic stem cells may promise medical advances
... embryonic stem cells from the resulting cell mass inside the cloned blastocysts. In theory: "Because these cells carry the nuclear genome of the individual, after differentiation they could be expected to be transplanted without immune rejection for treatment of degenerative disorders," reported Woo Suk Hw...Comets spread Earth-life around galaxy, say scientists
... light years across, of dormant microbes preserved inside tiny rock fragments. In the course of Earth history there may have been a few dozen close encounters with star-forming nebulae, during which microbes might be injected directly into young planetary systems. If planets capable of sustaining life are s...Research points in new direction for cancer clues
...ous, so it makes sense to look for what goes wrong inside these cells. However, a new report from a team of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center scientists demonstrates that tumors can develop from completely normal epithelial cells solely because of changes in signals from nearby supporting cells. Writing in ...A shocking surprise: High voltage + rats = ozone, reopens power-line debate
...he wrong place," Goheen said. "We had been looking inside animals for an effect from the electromagnetic fields. Now it appears that the danger is in the air surrounding animals that are near a large electromagnetic field." Electromagnetic fields are present in devices that use or carry electricity. Goheen ...UT Southwestern researchers find leptin turns fat-storing cells into fat-burning cells
...here were many clues that the fat was being burned inside the cell," Dr. Unger said. Collaborating with researchers at the University of Geneva Medical School, who conducted morphological tests to analyze the form and structure of the cells, the scientists found in the current study that instead of containi...Making of mouse marks move toward 'mitochondrial medicine'
...ical reasons, the tiny bit of genetic code carried inside the mitochondria just 37 genes out of tens of thousands of genes overall in humans has remained largely off limits to researchers. After all, most cells have anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand mitochondria, compared to just one nucleus, ...New evidence points to pollution as main cause of much coral reef destruction
... site and from groundwater samples taken from deep inside a submerged cave on the island. Study results supported Lapointe's past research that revealed a critical threshold for nitrogen of about 14 parts per billion, above which damaging seaweed spread is supported and below which it is generally prevente...Story tips from the Department of Energys Oak Ridge National Laboratory, February 2004
... upgrade that will quadruple the speed of messages inside the machine. The hope is that this could double the performance of some applications. [Contact: Ron Walli, 865-576-0226; wallira@ornl.gov ] ASTROPHYSICS --Theory behind the spectacle . . . New computer models have bolstered the case for a theory of ...Bacteria lingering in body may pose future food poisoning risks, Stanford study finds
...ia tries to evade the immune system by replicating inside the host's own cells. But in the gall bladder, whi...to know how Listeria mutants that cannot replicate inside host cells gain access to the gall bladder," said second author Kevin Francis, PhD, director of tech...Substances found in blood may predict development of preeclampsia
...t-1 sits on the surface of the cells that line the inside of blood vessels. Like a key fits into a lock, VE... the process trigger a chain of chemical reactions inside the cell. The Flt-1 molecule also exists in a soluble form as well, which does not sit on the cell ...... used by other organisms to take advantage and get inside a host cell to cause disease." Bacteria have proteins, called ligands, that bind with a protein molecule, or receptor, on cells in the body, which is like placing a key in a lock. This interaction opens the door that leads to a complicated series of ...