Lecture on ecology of infectious diseases
...he conditions necessary for plague transmission or serve as barriers to movement of the disease. By identifying the ecological components of plague outbreaks, Collinge will be able to provide wildlife managers with the tools necessary to protect declining populations of prairie dogs and to minimize publi...Optimizing protein's 'death domain' halts leukemia in laboratory study
...disease processes. These alpha helices then could serve as the foundation for building novel drugs. But one hurdle loomed. When the helical "death domain" is removed from its parent protein, it loses its rigid shape, becoming floppy liked an overstretched Slinky. In this form, it is vulnerable to degradat...NHGRI launches Centers for Excellence in Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications Research
... in which their research and other activities will serve to shape discussions and inform future policy decisions related to genetics and genomics." "Providing funding assistance, in concert with the NHGRI, to two of these centers (Duke and Stanford) reflects the importance that we continue to place on eth...Green tea research leads to gum and other products
...al cells and one for cancer cells. The polyphenols serve as a sentinel, separating cells with p57 from cancer cells, which lack p57. He found that while the normal cells are shuttled to safety, the polyphenols destroy the mitochondria of cancer cells. A National Cancer Institute grant is helping him determ...NIGMS funds Center for Quantitative Biology
...to accelerate the pace of scientific discovery and serve as a model for an important new way of doing biomedical research and education," said Berg....Will a reduction in military spending improve our environmental future?
...dre of post-doctoral to mid-career scientists, who serve at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in a program that is now 20 years old. For more information on the AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellowships, please visit http://fellowships.aaas.org/ . WHAT: The Robert C. Barnard Environmenta...APS showcases 46 historic breakthrough research articles
...all of its archived literature accessible, to both serve as a testament to the dedicated scientists involved in physiological research and to provide a deeper understanding of the cultural heritage of modern day science. The Classic articles, introductory essays, and complete first editions of each journa...No longer just for biology, RNA can now be built into 3-D arrays
...n the earliest stages of development, will one day serve as the scaffolding on which diagnostic chips, tiny sensors, gene delivery vehicles and other nanoscale devices will be mounted or constructed. From the researchers: "Living systems contain a wide variety of nanomachines and ordered structures, inc...Gold quantum dots have applications in biological labeling, nanoscale optics
...these multi-electron "artificial atoms" could also serve as light-emitting sources in nanoscale optoelectronics and in energy transfer pairs. "We have discovered a new class of quantum dots that are water soluble, strongly fluorescent, and display discrete excitation and emission spectra that make them p...Congress to fund Sequim-based coastal security research effort
...k at developing novel ultra-small nanomaterials to serve as surrogate collectors and sensors. These "smart"...e regions on or near the shore. This network would serve as an early warning system for coastal security," said Steinmaus. Through this program, PNNL researc...Scientists reinvent DNA as template to produce organic molecules
... product. As a result, the DNA strands essentially serve as a miniature, sequence-programmable assembly line for products of chemical synthesis. Because the resulting synthetic compounds are linked to DNA, techniques long used to screen and amplify the genetic mainstay can now be applied. Molecules can be ...Restoring sweetgrass to the South Carolina lowcountry
...n the 1920s, when many of the men left the area to serve in the military or look for jobs. Though new forms have evolved in the work of individual artists, the basic designs have remained the same throughout time. The coiled seagrass baskets, now highly prized as works of art, represent a major source of i...Researchers show how to assemble building blocks for nanotechnology
...red arrangement of points that can be changed) may serve as novel materials with optical and mechanical pro..., rings and twisted and staircase assemblies could serve as basic structural units to further prepare materials with more complex structures such as tubes, h...Enzyme activation appears key in helping internal clock tell night from day
...n. Thus, clock-controlled activation of PKG-II may serve as a critical checkpoint of temporal state at the night-to-day transition, which would align with dawn in the solar cycle." In other words, they say, such inhibition of PKG-II leads to "significant phase delay of circadian rhythm." The clock is lite...Sweet success in targeting sugar molecules to cells in living animals
...that glycosylation patterns on embryonic cells may serve as developmental markers because they change as the embryo grows. Thus, studying changes in glycosylation could improve understanding of embryonic development. But studying the role of cell surface sugar chains, called polysaccharides, in disease is ...New model can aid in understanding immune system diseases
...ss auto-antibodies. This means that the mice could serve as a model for understanding how to prevent this overproduction in humans, with implications for not only Epstein-Barr Virus but also autoimmune diseases. "Epidemiological studies show a correlative link between acute Epstein-Barr virus and autoimmun...New mechanism for display of foreign proteins to immune system
... peptides, potentially in different amounts, could serve to increase the total number and diversity of peptides that are effectively presented and thereby broaden immune responses," says Dr. Rock. "This could also limit the ability of viruses to evade detection through their counter-surveillance mechanisms...Emory researchers map structure of anti-cancer molecule
...mponent of microtubules, the hollow cylinders that serve as a skeletal system for cells and a scaffold for chromosomes in the dividing cell. When epothilones or taxanes bind to tubulin, the protein loses its flexibility and the microtubules can no longer disassemble, halting cell division. To bui...Infants sighs may 'reset' breathing regulation mechanism as well as help lungs develop
...ntriguing area of research is to see whether sighs serve some sort of function to link the breathing control mechanism and mechanical maturation. Also they note that sick infants and premature infants seem to sigh more often than normal babies. Thus another research area could look into how the cont...Rutgers-Newark biologist links presence of protein to spread of cancerous cells
...hile leaving the healthy ones intact. Rho proteins serve as a regulator with the ability to turn on or activate other proteins, including myosin II, a motor protein instrumental in taking energy and converting it to movement in the human body. The researchers' findings identified a link between cell divisi...