Secret behind hard exoskeletons, spreading wings revealed
...ed their old outer skin or cuticle periodically in order to grow. The new outer shell then hardens and its color darkens. Both processes take place through the activation of a series of five hormones. The structure, genetic sequence and biochemical properties of four of these hormones were known since 1990...When sun's too strong, plankton make clouds
...idea of the size of it or even what it means." In order to measure how much plankton may alter the climate, computer models would need to simulate different scenarios. One scenario would show our climate without clouds due to plankton, and another would show the climate with the increased cloud cover. The...UCSD biologists discover cell's defense mechanism against class of disease-causing bacterial toxins
...f certain kinds of bacteria that secrete toxins in order to form tiny holes in the membranes of the cells they infect. Scientists estimate that such "pore-forming" bacterial toxins account for approximately one-quarter of the known protein "virulence factors" that increase the infection and severity of a ...Asian bird flu became highly pathogenic through continued circulation and gene swapping
...h authorities to slaughter millions of chickens in order to prevent the spread of the disease, which can qu...epartment of Infectious Diseases at St. Jude. "In order to reduce the ability of H5N1 to trigger another poultry epidemic, officials in East Asia must follo...U of T microbiologists achieve results with pattern recognition software
...uterized analysis of entire categories of genes in order to predict the functions of individual genes, applying a standard technique for pattern discovery used in fields ranging from marketing to face recognition. "It's similar to ordering a book from Amazon.com," said Hughes. "After you've placed an order...Researchers discover how worms' noses sense oxygen
...ow the nematode C. elegans senses oxygen levels in order to steer clear of surrounding areas that are too l...NO in low concentrations and very selectively." In order to understand how guanylate cyclase is put together, Marletta and his students went in search of sim...Access to DNA secrets yields better understanding of genes, possible tool for disease diagnosis
... such as those used in cancer therapy to cells in order to understand if and how these drugs affect DNA compaction. Such studies might lead to therapies aimed at activating beneficial genes, or turning off faulty ones. The researchers also will investigate whether certain compaction and expansion states m...Plant pathologists look to forensics to aid in biosecurity
...rain. Species-level identification is important in order to understand the disease's epidemiology. Forensic applications, however, require an even higher level of detail and discrimination. "If the goal is to attribute the crime to a specific perpetrator, data must be sufficiently specific to stand up in a...University of Chicago scientists pinpoint cellular cause of SIDS
...riluzole. "You have to have a perfect recording in order to get those cells," Ramirez says. "It's not that ...en, the baby needs the sodium-driven pacemakers in order to gasp, which wakes the baby and initiates movement or crying. "Gasping is an important arousal or ...Mosquito researchers track dengue fever in Sonora, Mexico
...gy. "The idea is to get to know your enemy well in order to know its weak spots." Markow is collaborating with Sonoran health officials Dr. Francisco Javier Navarro Glvez, director general of Servicios de Salud de la Comunidad (director of community health services), and Dr. J. Gerardo Mada Velez, directo...UCSD team determines cellular stress within body is critical
...pendent on this osmotic stress response because in order to successfully overcome infection by viruses or bacteria, the cells of the immune system must proliferate very rapidly." The studies were supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, with shared core facility resources supported by a...New compound 'highly efficacious' at reducing human tumour growth
...ily of enzymes required for the correct timing and order of events in the cell division cycle. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) / VEGF-receptor tyrosine kinase (VEGF-RTK) and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-RTKs are two molecules known to be involved in tumour angiogenesis. The new compound...Protein controls acid in cells by direct detection of volume changes, study finds
...mproved upon an existing experimental technique in order to study the NHE transporters and how acidity changes within a cell. The existing method involves skewering a single cell on a tiny, hollow needle called a pipette. Dr. Hilgemann's group made their pipette larger to make a larger hole in the cell, wh......hate groups to other molecules inside the cells in order to modify their function. Pak attaches its phosphate to two serine residues within the portion of RhoGDI that Rac normally binds to. These bulky and negatively charged phosphates disrupt the normally cozy bond Rac shares with RhoGDI. Freed from th...Donaghue Women's Health Investigator Program awards grants to three at Yale
...hers to factor gender into their investigations in order to improve outcomes," said Carolyn M. Mazure, director of Women's Health Research at Yale. "Our program's research agenda is designed to generate information that is useful to women and healthcare providers, and to serve as a model for wider applica...Therapeutic cloning no longer a dream, says scientist who produced first cloned embryonic stem cell
...ld be to implant the cloned embryo into a woman in order to produce a baby. In therapeutic cloning, the embryo is destroyed after the stem cells have been harvested." Scientists believe that therapeutic cloning holds great promise for the tre...Bacteria spill their guts to aid researchers in quest for new antibiotics
...t of the cell through a process called "gating" in order to keep tension on the membrane steady. This gating process allows some of the cell's innards to spill out or liquid from the surrounding environment to rush in. If this protein a type of which is found in nearly all microbes doesn't function prope...Satellites map volcanic home of Africas endangered gorillas
...Earth Observation resources to chart the region in order to help conservation bodies working in and around .... So this meeting was to check these prototypes in order to decide on the go-no-go. "What is exciting is that now we are going further, basically entering i...Germans must research the history of reproductive medicine during the Nazi era
...o study the history of medicine in the Nazi era in order that we understand the roots and mechanisms of an ...Rassenhygiene', the German version of eugenics, in order to show how far eugenic and racial thinking can go, so that we can have it in mind when we discuss e...... communicate the results of scientific research in order toimprove policies and practices impacting on coral reef conservationaroundthe world. The ISRS was founded in 1980 by international marine scientiststo promotethe production and dissemination of scientific knowledge on coral reefs,both living and fo...