Enzyme's "Magic" May Hold Key to Anticancer and Antimicrobial Drugs
...es. Their critical role in cell division makes these enzymes prime targets for anticancer drugs. But until recently, scientists couldn't intentionally design such drugs because they knew so little about the enzymes. Now, the inner workings of one topoisomerase have...New Cancer Switch Discovered By Duke Medical Center Pharmacologists
...is. The ability of cancer cells to avoid apoptosis makes them resistant to cancer-killing drugs, which is a major cause of death among cancer patients. The scientists discovered that some mutant BCR-ABL genes eliminated both the cancer-causing and anti-apoptosis capabilities of the cells. However, they fou...Tumor Suppressor Gene Located In Liver Cancer Cells
...ter member. The lack of effective treatments also makes it a particularly deadly disease, he said. "As a consequence, knowing something about liver tumor formation or having a handle on how one could detect these tumors when they're much smaller could have a significant impact on survival," he said. The p...New 'Twist' In Proteins Offers Possible Route To Improved Antibiotics
...yzes the first step in synthesis of the lipid that makes up the outermembrane of the bacteria. Specifically, LpxA catalyzes the transfer of the14-carbon fatty acid hydroxymyristate, to the acceptor, UDP-N-acetyl glucosamine,and functions as the first step of lipid A biosynthesis. Lipid A servesas the outer...Second Breast Cancer Gene Located
...r of community and family medicine at Duke. "Butit makes it more important than ever that we learn how to counsel womenabout their options and how to develop clinics to provide support servicesfor the women who may carry breast cancer genes." As with BRCA1, the researchers said they expect that wo...Duke Researchers Find Second Gene Linked To Blood Vessel Disorder
...essel is injured and needs to be repaired. "This makes sense with what we know about the disease," Marchuksaid. "Children with HHT usually don't show any signs they have thedisease. But as they age, and presumably acquire mechanical damage to tinyblood vessels that need to be repaired, the disorder shows...Transgenic Rice Plants Resist Insects, Drought And Salt Damage
...gene enables rice plants to produce a protein that makes them salt- and drought-resistant so that they grow in saline conditions and recover quickly from dry conditions. "These are capabilities that wild plants develop naturally over years of evolution, but we can't afford to wait for domestic rice varieti...Water Recycling Project Tested in Turkey Plant
...sts, explained MarkBaldwin of AWPI. When the water makes its first entry into the system, itmust be chilled...ds only to be reduced by a couple of degrees as it makes subsequenttrips through the process. Once a supply of water has been used, it passes through a mech...Core Spins Faster Than Earth, Scientists Find
...e than the Earth's mantleand crust. The inner core makes a complete revolution inside theEarth in about 400 years. TheEarth's core was formed very early in Earth's history as heaviermolten iron sank toward the center of the planet. As the Earthcooled and dissipated its internal heat toward the surface, som...Florida Researchers Discover Gene For Fatal Childhood Disease
...rotectsagainst kidney disease in lupus, and how it makes people susceptible to cancer."...Humble Pocket Gophers Shed Light On The Genetic Fortitude Of Cheetahs
...ket gophers, from extremely low to extremely high, makes Thomomys bottae an ideal model system for exploring the costs of genetic uniformity to endangered species. His team now is investigating the effects of low genetic variation among pocket gophers on disease resistance, physiological fitness, and their...Study Shows Songbirds Switch From Bugs To Berries To Fuel Fall Migration
... ratherthan pursuing insects through open air also makes songbirds less likely to betaken by predatory falcons and hawks that also migrate south each fall. To find out whether fall migrants preferred fruit-laden habitat or selectedtheir habitats at random, Parrish and volunteers removed berries from 30-met...Duke Ecologist Says Logging Is Creating 'Mahogany Deserts'
...iety, Snook warnsthat the way mahoganies reproduce makes them "vulnerable to logging,first because juvenile mahoganies are not found in the understory, and secondlybecause logging operations shortcircuit mahogany regeneration processes...." Logging interferes "by selectively removing almost all mahogany s...New Software Provides Quick Analysis of ion-Channel Activity
...eb at http://barrel.med.buffalo.edu Our software makes analyzing ion channels so much easier and faster t...eral. Since the flow of current through a channel makes many of the conformational states of ion channels visible, it is possible to see kinetic details tha...Cholesterol Anchor Helps Signaling Proteins Direct Development
..., becomes anchored to the surface of the cell that makes it. "It came as a complete surprise to discover th... believe at first, but after reviewing the data it makes a lot of sense." The new results could help researchers better understand Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome......he entire bay ecosystem. At many sampling sites it makes up over 50 percent of the foraminifer population and in one case over 90 percent. The mud and water found in ballast tanks of ocean-going ships is probably one of the most common current mechanisms by which species travel from port to port today, C...KU Researcher Eyes The Rain Forest Through The Trees
...ut deforestation in Central and South America, she makes her point quickly. "There are now many regions where we can stop asking the question, 'Is all this deforestation going to have an impact?' Local people know there is an impact," Terwilliger said. "We need to try to answer the question, 'To what exten...Two Long-sought Diabetes Gene Found
...bly a defect in gene expression," said Bell. "That makes diabetes a more complicated disorder, but it also opens up new ways of treating it. "The discovery of these genes means that we have to place more emphasis on treating diabetes in families rather than in individual patients," added Bell. "We need to ...Florida Company Using ORNL Technology For Revolutionary Wheelchair
...vr's lightweight, three-piece modular construction makes thewheelchair easy to pick up and transport in a car's trunk or back seat. Theseat portion of the unit, expected to be provided by Superior UnlimitedCorp. of Bristol, sits atop a platform propelled by three sphericalcasters. A spin-on-itself turning ...Methane Deep In Ocean Crust Could Feed Chemical-Hungry Microorganisms
... be pervasive throughout all of layer three, which makes up 60 percent of the oceanic crust. Even though the rock of layer three may contain only minute bubbles of methane, the amount becomes significant when considered over such a vast area. This considerable reservoir of methane is unlikely to be expl...