Finding may help eczema sufferers tolerate smallpox vaccine
...n exposed to the smallpox virus, since the disease itself is more dangerous. Current U.S. policy calls only for lab or emergency workers who are more likely to be exposed to smallpox during a bioterrorist attack or other outbreak to receive the vaccine preventively. Others should receive it only after bein...Genomic changes reveal evolution of SARS virus
...he epidemic. "What we see is the virus fine-tuning itself to enhance its access to a new host: humans," said...disturbing process to watch, as the virus improves itself under selective pressure, learning to spread from person to person, then sticking with the version t...A killer microbe as a living antibiotic
...retractable fibers that allow Bdellovibrio to pull itself into close proximity with its prey. By using a lyt... prey. Via a pulling motion the predator navigates itself in the "periplasmic space" between the outer and inner membrane of the prey cell. Bdellovibrio c...Mount Sinai School of Medicine conducting clinical trials with gene therapy for colorectal cancer
...e an engineered virus so that it can not reproduce itself and can not lead to a sustained infection in patients. In animal experiments we have found that this maximizes both efficacy and safety and we hope to see the same in humans." The first organ to which colon cancer spreads is the liver and prognosis f...Human migration tracked in Stanford computer simulation
...ucing and passing along the mutation. The mutation itself remained most common in the migratory wave front, a situation Cavalli-Sforza refers to as "surfing" the migratory wave. Over the course of 64,000 simulations, the group came up with a model for finding a mutation's origin. First they identified the m......ll have to be identified). The whole group fastens itself to an "engine" called dynein that chugs along "tracks" leading from the axon to the nucleus. The protein complex gains easy entrance to the nucleus due to the presence of importin alpha and beta. The researchers found that blocking this newly uncover...Rodents bred for alcohol preference live longer than rats bred for alcohol avoidance
...studies to separate the chronic effects of alcohol itself from the effects of factors that may accompany drinking," said David Sinclair, a senior researcher at Finland's National Public Health Institute (KTL) and corresponding author for the study. "Factors such as smoking, stress and worry, nutritional pr...Purdue chemist 'mussels' in on secrets of natural adhesives
...self," Wilker said. "A mussel can easily establish itself overnight." Key to the mussel's tenacity is the plaque, or glue, that holds these filaments in place, and it is the chemistry of this glue that Wilker and his fellow researchers are studying. Metals such as iron are usually needed only in trace quan...Rice centromere, supposedly quiet genetic domain, surprises
...rganism." The centromere of rice, says Jiang, lent itself to sequencing because, unlike centromeres from other organisms, it is of a manageable size. Most centromeres are composed of vast stretches of what was once called "junk DNA," seemingly nonsense genetic sequences with no apparent coding function. "T...Cells' ability to open blood's floodgates hinges on unexpected factors
...the response in blood flow when the brain function itself changes and using that response as a window for investigating brain metabolism," Mintun explains. Mintun, Raichle and Vlassenko already have a follow-up study using pyruvate injections underway. Williamson is using the results of the studies to build...Changes in shape of single protein plays key role in the spread of cancer cells
...ical to vinculin's ability to help the cell anchor itself to the environment outside its membrane--an area called the "extracellular matrix." This keeps the cell in one spot so it does not drift away. However, when the protein called -actinin (alpha-actinin) binds to vinculin's head, the head acquires a dif...A new direction for psoriasis research?
... single nucleotide polymorphisms, of the VEGF gene itself occur with greater frequency in a subset of people with psoriasis. In a commentary appearing alongside the Young et al paper, Michael Detmar, M.D., of the Cutaneous Biology Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston writes: "Together...OHSU team discovers compound that lacks estrogen's risks
...he hormone's importance to the brain in protecting itself from cell death caused by disease and the aging process. "Research is continuing, but this important discovery gives us a much better understanding of how the body responds to estrogen at the molecular level," he said. Other study collaborators were...'Smart bomb' delivery destroys tumors in mice
...am, the antibody seeks out these cells, and lodges itself and its passenger enzyme on the tumor cells. The scientists then inject the second component, alliin, at intervals. When it encounters the alliinase, the resulting reaction turns the normally inert alliin molecules into lethal allicin molecules, whi...'Mad cow' mechanism may be integral to storing memory
...s. The prion state is very stable and can maintain itself for months, even years. But, "We still need to demonstrate that this prion mechanism operates not just in yeast but in neuron cells," says Kandel. Lindquist believes that these findings will not be the last time prions are discovered to have ...Solving the Ebola enigma: satellites will provide clues
...15km from the nearest vehicle track. The sanctuary itself measures 400 sq km, and a total sampling is practically impossible in time and space. "Assuming there are many deep forest locations infected by the virus, and with the goal in mind of diversifying the areas sampled to improve the results of the ser...Stem cells illuminate early stages of human development
...stages of human development, as an embryo implants itself in the uterus, within reach of science. The work could one day help clinicians better understand and treat diseases of pregnancy such as preeclampsia, a disorder that occurs only during pregnancy and the postpartum period and that, by conservative es...Traditional Christmas snack under threat
... a concern, the scientists conclude that the trade itself is not a threat and that there are other, more immediate worries for the Brazil nut extractive industry including deforestation and forest degradation. "Both sound proactive management of natural Brazil nut tree populations and protection of the lar......t a surprising number of geneproducts in the spore itself are not produced during spore formation,but rather are scavenged from the vegetative bacillus during theprocess. "Think of these proteins as the supplies required to build a house -like lumber, nails, and shingles," says Hanna. "Many of these protein...... stress seems to be more important than the stress itself in explaining why one person gets sick and one person doesn't." "This heightened stress response is the equivalent of waves striking a stone on the beach," Cole said. "One wave won't do much damage. But the constant pounding of waves eventually grind...