Laser light from Free-Electron Laser used for first time in human surgery
... the wavelength because it was one that isabsorbed readily by water molecules. But it worked too well, creating microscopic steam explosions andexcessive heat that damaged surrounding tissue. In 1993 Vanderbilt biophysicist Glenn Edwards-now director of Duke's FEL program-got the idea oftrying wavelengths a...Deadly to cattle and humans, prions may help other organisms survive, researchers find
... but once the DNA has mutated, the organism cannot readily revert to its original genetic makeup to adapt, for example, to a seasonal temperature drop. By contrast, because prions can change a protein's function without affecting the genes that code for it, the protein can revert back to its original funct......n conformation rather than a change in DNA, it can readily be reversed by experimental manipulation. "The new protein can be endlessly switched back and forth from the active to the inactive state," said Lindquist....New institute formed to distribute human stem cells
...omson says, it is essential that the cells be made readily available to the broad scientific community: "The important thing is now we can distribute the cells to as many scientists as want them," he says. By making human embryonic stem cells widely available to researchers in both corporate and academic lab...Link between taste and temperature focus of 'thermal taste,' a new discovery by Yale scientists
...oughout the tongue. For example, sweetness is more readily perceived on the tip, sourness on the side and bitterness in the back. Not everyone experiences thermal taste, Green says. About two out of every three people tested in the study experienced at least one taste quality -- sweetness is the most comm...Researchers find structure of enzyme that catalyzes 78-million-year reaction
...ficult job, something that normally doesn't happen readily in nature," Miller said. Understanding how enzymes work also is a step toward imitating nature by producing artificial enzymes, Wolfenden said. That possibility also excites researchers, but they have not yet created successful enzyme mimics. Beca...New technique improves accuracy of gene tests
... responsible for these disorders are readily detectable by conventional testing because both copies of the gene are mutated. But that's not the case with so-called "dominantly inherited disorders." In these diseases, the disorder can ...USGS scientists find new population of Asian swamp eels in south Florida
...their use of air is so efficient that the eels can readily migrate short distances across land from one water body to another. In addition, the eels can live easily in even a few inches of water, especially in warm water. Swamp eels, which reach lengths of three feet or more, are predators, feeding on anim...A new way to engineer cells: The Staudinger ligation
...cause azides are small functional groups, they are readily incorporated into sialic-acid residues, sugars that are components of some cell-surface oligosaccharides. When Bertozzi and Saxon fed cultured cells with a sialic-acid precursor containing the azide group, the cells manufactured azide-containing olig...Special four-day symposium on MTBE and drinking water
...r or shorter plumes? MTBE contaminates water more readily than other gasoline constituents, even benzene. This paper examines alternatives to MTBE and whether they are likely to be better or worse in this regard. (B. Hartman, Transglobal Environmental Geochemistry, Solana Beach, Calif.; ENVR 79; Tuesday, Ma...Nature's path leads scientists to new antibiotic strategy
...ause our molecules are unnatural they shouldn't be readily degraded, and they have well-defined, predictable shapes" that can be customized to confront specific pathogenic bacteria. Already, the new molecule built in Gellman's lab has proved to be effective in the laboratory against an array of infectio...Monkeys pay one another for work
...tudy differed in that the monkeys shared food more readily when they worked together to obtain it. Capuchins and chimpanzees are the only primates that engage in cooperative hunting in the wild. According to Dr. de Waal, such a system in which three or four individuals pursue a prey, but only one makes ...Gene defects tied to inability of cells to repair DNA damage
...erous studies, free radicals are known to interact readily with nearby molecules to cause cellular damage, including damage to genetic material. Damage repair to an active gene, one that continually produces proteins crucial to cellular function, normally occurs through a process known as transcription coupl...How stress maintains population levels
...t of the disease. To do that, symptoms need to be readily detectable and a large network of observers need to be in place. Previously, large-scale studies have focused on diseases that were deliberately introduced as a means to control non-native species. Cornell ornitholgists were in a unique position ...$16.3M grant will fund program to develop mouse models for neurological research
...e easily mutated and whose unusual appearances are readily noticed by animal caretakers. The combination of chemical mutagenesis with dedicated, state-of-the-art physiological screening will give the scientific community new types of mouse models to study."...New theory on the mystery of the origin of life proposed by Weizmann Institute scientists
... the other hydrophobic (water-repelling). They get readily synthesized under simulated prebiological conditions, and because of their bipartite nature, have the tendency to spontaneously form supramolecular structures made of thousands of molecular units. This is exemplified in lipid assemblies (micelles), w...Targeted Genetics presents data on arthritis gene therapy
...similar effect. Bioactive rat TNFR:Fc protein was readily detectable in the serum of treated rats 33 days after intramuscular administration of AAV-rTNFR:Fc compared to control animals. Injection of AAV-rTNFR:Fc into a single joint led to a reduction in hind paw swelling in the contralateral joint. Inter...One-two punch knocks out fly genes
...Their goal was to prove that their method could be readily used to exchange genes, by "knocking in" a correct version of the body color gene that would turn the mutant flies brown again. Drs. Golic and Rong's knock-out/in technique hinges on a common molecular thread that runs through the biological king...Researchers develop tastier low-fat cheddar
...t varieties, the tongue perceives off-flavors more readily because the masking effect is reduced. That problem has been solved in this latest study. Morris credits a complex interplay of microbial biochemistry within the starter cultures with providing the flavor improvements to his group's low-fat cheddar. ...Extra oxygen improves survival odds for climbers on Mount Everest, K2
... because data on unsuccessful expeditions were not readily available. The research by Huey and Xavier Eguskitza, a Himalaya mountaineering historian, is the first to quantify the effects of supplemental oxygen in climbing Everest and K2. It is published in the July 12 issue of the Journal of the American Med...