Maine-based biophysics institute gets funding for first US-based 4Pi nanoscale microscope
...function of genes and chromosomes within cells, in order to understand precisely how genes control both normal development and disease. Once installed at The Jackson Laboratory, the 4Pi microscope will enable the IMB researchers to examine specific structures within a cellsuch as a single gene on a chromo...'Defensive' action by influenza viruses demonstrated by Hebrew university researcher
...proton-conducting channel which the virus needs in order to continue functioning and multiplying. Rather than conceding defeat, however, the virus takes its own counteractions: either by narrowing its channel to the extent that the blocking element in the drug is unable to bind and create a seal, or by wi...Bone marrow cells routinely help with wound healing
...nded, the body immediately tries to form a clot in order to stop the bleeding. The seal is formed with the ... go on to become many different kinds of cells. In order to conduct this research, Isik and colleagues obtained a strain of mice whose bodies glow green unde...Battle between bubbles might have started evolution
...cause they have less genetic material inside." In order to test their theory, the researchers first constructed simple model "protocells," in which they filled fatty-acid vesicles with either a sucrose solution or the same solvent without sucrose. The sucrose solution created a greater osmotic pressure in...Computer models expose humans as main cause of caribou decline
...ironment with large areas of old-growth forests in order to survive, and most things that disrupt the natural environment will be detrimental to them." "In this manner, studying caribou is especially important because caribou are what we call an 'indicator' species, meaning how well they do is generally a ...Essential smell gene may provide key to new insect repellents
...ll receptor The sense of smell is very direct. In order for humans or fruit flies to smell bananas, for example, molecules from the fruit must waft through the air to specialized nerve cells that detect them. In humans these cells are at the top of the nasal passages. In the fruit fly they are located on ...Purdue study finds antioxidant protects metal-eating plants
...l. But nickel still must travel within the cell in order to enter the vacuole in the first place, Salt said. "To get to the vacuole, the nickel has to traverse the interior of the cell, where most of the plant's sensitive biochemical processes reside," he said. "So we've been interested in finding out if t...JCI table of contents: 1 September, 2004
...oped a mouse model that completely lacked JAM-A in order to examine its biological role in dendritic cells. Motility studies, both in living animals and in cell culture, showed that in the absence of JAM-A, dendritic cells had increased migration. In JAM-A-/- mice, specifically, there was increased movemen...Researchers identify the genome's controlling elements
...bison's data with data from other yeast species in order to find the exact landing points. "The microarray information is like a noisy telephone call," says Fraenkel. "We needed to find the words in all the static before we could understand what they meant." The next challenge is to scale the platform so...Analysis of gene expression in lymphoid cells can determine lymphoma cancer
...family. "We were screening a human DNA library in order to look for members of this family, and we found CDK9, a gene that encodes for a protein that has the size of 43 kilodaltons," says Giordano, who is also co-director of the Center for Biotechnology in Temple's College of Science and Technology ( http...Scientists discover proteins involved in spread of HIV-1 infection
...ped viruses, HIV-1 needs to bud from host cells in order to spread infection to other cells. To do this, the virus hijacks a pathway that normally sorts proteins into cellular compartments called multivesicular bodies (MVB) for destruction by lysosomes. The HIV Gag protein contains a specific sequence of a...Protein involved in childhood disorder linked to cancer
...ts as well as external chemicals and radiation. In order to mitigate this DNA damage, cells must have a mechanism for both detecting damage and for stopping their machinery until the damage is fixed. This feedback mechanism relies on cycle "checkpoint" controls that delay the cell division cycle so that th...Scientists fear new Ebola outbreak may explain sudden gorilla disappearance
...al resources to enhance monitoring in the park, in order to determine which species, if any, have been affected by Ebola, and in which part of the park they reside. After affected regions have been identified, create geographical barriers, such as making rivers impassable, to decrease the likelihood o...Trojan Horses, xenon imaging and remote controlled genes
... A Light Switch for Turning Off Genes In order to understand the role of certain genes in embryon...ers could turn specific genes off like a switch in order to find out the nature of a gene by what happens when it does not work."...Light turns on anticancer agents
Blacksburg, Va., Aug. 24, 2004 In order to not harm innocent tissue while aggressively treating diseases such as cancer with powerful medicine, scientists have been creating therapy agents that they can activate with light only at the site of a tumor. Until now, almost all photodynamic th...Synthesized molecules studied as weapon to stop cell division in cancer cells
...mbranes. We can overcome that in the laboratory in order to study effectiveness, but have not done animal trials." Etzkorn concludes, "We are moving closer to validating Pin1 as an anti-cancer target. There is now a small community of scientists looking at inhibiting Pin1, but once it is validated as a tar...Length of sex act in flies dictated by genetics
...ale of 24 hours, but also behavioral timing on the order of minutes, including the length of the sex act. It also indicates that genes which were thought to be dedicated clock components seem to have a wide range of other effects that may have nothing to do with cyclic patterns of day and night. "These ge...Why damaged DNA gets a case of the bends
...t picture is that some enzymes bend damaged DNA in order to repair altered fragments. But no one knew why damaged DNA was more susceptible to bending." Haranczyk and colleagues' simulation, reported Sunday at the American Chemical Society national meeting, offers an explanation. First, they programmed a ch...Managing occupational exposures to potential bioterrorist agents
...reat agents must develop comprehensive programs in order to minimize the risk of occupational exposures, ac... this review to contain more recent information in order to be of use to others in the field. Secondly, the data were most consistent during this timeframe. ...Scientists reinvent DNA as template to produce organic molecules
...f biomolecules with synthetic organic chemistry in order to apply techniques such as translation, selection...gether by DNA base pairing. "We recognized that in order to apply such an approach to as many synthetic molecules as possible, we'd have to use a different t...