Bacterial Toxin Surprises Scientists
...acids. Never before has anyone seen such a large portion of protein cross to the opposite s...ally be possible to take advantage of this large protein movement as a transport device for the delivery of drugs into human cells, Dr. Finke...New Cancer Switch Discovered By Duke Medical Center Pharmacologists
... a piece of the gene called BCR is restitched to a large gene called cABL, or "cellular" ABL. The protein produced by the cABL gene is a "tyrosine kinase," a type of enzyme found throughout the cell. The cABL enzyme is normally a well-behaved part of the cell-growth machinery. However, the stitched-togethe...Tumor Suppressor Gene Located In Liver Cancer Cells
...archers began the arduous process of screening the large gene for one or more mutations that might disable it. Using a method to detect mismatches in genetic material, they compared strands of DNA from tumor cells and surrounding normal tissue, and discovered mutations in the tumor samples. The discover...Computer Program For Quicker, More Detailed Mapping
...ure out which one was correct. This method takes a large computer a relativelyshort amount of time if processing only 15 or 20 markers. However, eachof the human chromosomes contains 500 to 1,000 of these markers -- far toomany to map all at once using available computer programs. To solve this problem, c...Duke Researchers Find Second Gene Linked To Blood Vessel Disorder
...r-Rendu disease, causes tiny veins to fuseinto one large mass that can easily be ruptured, causing recurrent bleedingepisodes in affected people. In some people, the disease is only a cosmeticproblem with tiny red blotches forming on skin or recurring nose bleeds.Others suffer migraine headaches or lesions...Transgenic Rice Plants Resist Insects, Drought And Salt Damage
...chnologies are in advanced stages of testing, with large field tests scheduled this year in China. Commercial production of seed is about two years away, Wu estimated, but several companies have already signed licensing agreements to use the insect-resistance gene technology in other crops, including corn...Nutrition Study Reshapes Strategies For Athletes
...r or two of competition is preferable to one ortwo large meals the night before. A cup of yogurt or a few crackers an hourbefore an event is likely to have cleared the stomach and gone to the smallintestines ready to be absorbed. Houtkooper said most of the women and their coaches were skeptical at first.T...... seedless trait of its male parent. "Clusters are large and somewhat loose with moderately large -- 3.5 to 4.0 gm -- berries," noted Reisch. Marquis is moderately disease resistant. The fruit ripe...Honeybees In The Wild Nearly Gone In North America
...st. They're going to have difficultycompeting with large growers for scarce honeybee colonies." These small and medium-sized growers are also likely to lose outto a safer and more lucrative activity for beekeepers, Tew said-- honey production. "The price of honey has doubled in the last 18 months,"he said....Researchers Use Hydrated Lime To Reduce Toxic Selenium Emissions
...sential trace element for humansand other animals, large quantities of selenium can cause infertilityand damage to the liver, kidneys and lungs. About 2,500 tons of selenium are discharged into the atmosphereeach year in the United States alone. Regulations being proposedby the Environmental Protection Age...Researchers Find Possible New Route to Making Cancer Cells Vulnerable
... people, Heitman said. The MDR pump is a large protein that acts like a pore in the cell surface.It selectively pumps out toxic chemicals that find their way inside thecell. Normally, the MDR pump protects the cell against poisons, but resistantcancer cells have many times the normal amount of MD...Bark Beetle Infestation Spurs Multifaceted Study
...ke Tahoe Basin. The insects have killed or damaged large standsof wood, which pose a major fire hazard for ...te of immigrants. Included among theseworkers were large numbers of Chinese laborers. "The archaeologists don't want to disturb the archaeological sitesor ...Virginia Tech Researchers Receive Patent For Rapid Virus Detection Technology
.... "Because of thesimplicity and speed of the test, large numbers of samples canbe tested in parallel. Thus, the test can be used to screen largenumbers of samples and virus containing samples can be testedfurther." Funding for patent application andcommercial development was provided by Virginia's Center f...Ocean Sediments Contain Record of Past Vegetation Fires in Africa
...ic Ocean. "It was full, much to my surprise, of a large amount of charcoal," he says. "Given the great distance to land and the regional slope of the sea floor, the charcoal in this core must have been brought there by winds." The charcoal is a mixture of particles from both rainforest and savanna trees...Asian Beetle, New In This Country, Threatens Brooklyn's Shade Trees
...ian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis, a large beetle that is attacking Brooklyn's horsechestnut and Norway maple tree population. The Norway maple is the most planted shade tree throughout New York state. This beady-eyed beetle, about 1-inch long, has coal-black wing covers sprinkled with startl...Duke Ecologist Says Logging Is Creating 'Mahogany Deserts'
... left standing."They're very good survivors," with large buttresses, aerodynamicallyshaped crowns and stout branches that resist wind damage, plus thick barkto protect against flames, she said. Those older trees can then provide sources of seed to grow new mahoganiesin the clearings opened up by wind and ...Researchers Find Genetic Clues To Intestinal Disease
...t be several distinct disorders, this is the first large study of a group of families that confirms those suggestions," says Theodore M. Bayless, M.D., professor of medicine and gastroenterology. The findings have prompted Bayless and his co-worker, Steven Brant, M.D., toencourage people with a family his...Gene Discovery Could Overcome Aluminum Barrier To Higher Wheat Yields Worldwide
...inum," he said. "It limits crop productivity on a large scale around the world." Overseas and in this country, about 5 billion acres of acid soil harbor aluminum, he said. "Now that rye's anti-aluminum gene has been located, the goal is to put it to work using biotechnology in wheat varieties worldwide."...Behemoth Animals May Follow Same Extinction Patterns
...nction of the dinosaursnow that we have proof of a large meteor event at the time of their finaldemise," says Cuffey. "The KT meteor was only the final deathblow for the dinosaurs, they had been declining in diversity and numberfor at least 5 million years." For the proboscideans, the final death blow wi...Changing Continental Runoff Patterns Could Change Ocean Circulation
...a was the fastest moving continent and there was a large seaway in the subtropical middle latitudes called... source of current deep water formation dissolves large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere," says Bice. "It takes one to two thousand years for ...