Woodpeckers: There's a fungus among us
...nhabiting fungi living in their beaks. These fungi serve a critical role in the decomposition of dead trees...te nest cavities vital components of forests that serve as nesting sites to a variety of wildlife. "Our study shows that woodpeckers are really the architec...Algorithms help diagnose cancer
...ch often cause disease. These altered proteins can serve as biomarkers, helping doctors make diagnosis and also helping researchers design better targeted drugs," says Donald....Free, public events at the 2004 AAAS Annual Meeting
...l and fulfills its mission to "advance science and serve society" through initiatives in science policy; international programs; science education; and more. For the latest research news, log onto EurekAlert!, www.eurekalert.org , the premier science-news Web site, a service of AAAS....Cystic fibrosis gene linked to fatty acid defects
...for patients." Fatty acids are long molecules that serve as the building blocks of the cell membrane, which covers the outside of the cell. Certain fatty acids, such as arachidonic acid (AA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acid, are important in controlling a variety of biologic functions, including inflammatory...Keeping populations of cerulean warbler healthy
...cation, and trust. Our hope is that this group can serve as a model for other efforts to conserve forest bird species." The partnership includes industry, State and national government, nongovernmental organizations, and universities in North and South America. CWTG is organized approximately around the b...New Georgia Tech Biosciences Center assists life-science startup companies
...lows -- experienced entrepreneurs and managers who serve as business coaches. The new ATDC Biosciences Center houses both ATDC member companies and VentureLab participants, including: Aderans Research Institute, a tissue-engineering company doing research on hair transplantation. CardioMEMS, a medic...'Grey goo' misconceptions could harm poor in developing world
...al 'nano-divide'. Such a global network would serve as a focal point to commission and collect research results, promote awareness of the potential applications of NT for development, create new regulatory regimes (or build upon existing ones) for managing NTs risks and promoting global public good. ...Gulf between rich, poor will grow if high-profile nanotechnology opponents prevail: ethics experts
...ential 'nanodivide'. Such a global network would serve as a focal point to commission and collect research results, promote awareness of the potential applications of NT for development, create new regulatory regimes (or build upon existing ones) for managing NT's risks and promoting global public goods,...Signal chemical primes plants for pest attack
...chewed plants produce a volatile chemical that may serve as a primer to prepare nearby plants to defend themselves against insect attack, according to a team of researchers. "We know that when caterpillars chew on plants, eventually the plants produce chemicals attracting wasps that are the natural enemy o...Protein data bank opens new era with broader support
...This new agreement will ensure thatit continues to serve biologists around the world as itscollection grows and diversifies. "Biological processes involve small molecular machines," shesaid. "Understanding how these machines function often beginswith knowing how their parts are structured, how they fittog...Small-molecule inhibitors of anthrax lethal factor identified
...herapeutics can be built. This pharmacophore will serve as a basis for directing future efforts to develop LF inhibitors with enhanced potency. "These studies have provided us with a road map to the rational design of more potent, highly selective lethal factor inhibitors," said lead author Sina Bavari ...Bridging the gap between genetics and motivations to drink alcohol
...ility to depression or anxiety or depression could serve as the foundation for drinking to alleviate negative mood states. Thus, the current study attempts to answer the question of how genetic risk might be related to the various reasons individuals report for why they drink." Prescott and her colleague......e researchers, the Atacama site they studied could serve as a valuable testbed for developing instruments and experiments that are better tailored to finding microbial life on Mars than the current generation. "It is considered by many that there is no microbial life on the surface of Mars and that the...RNA lariat may tie up loose ends to decades-old mystery of retrovirus life cycle
... and the harmlessretrovirus-like elements in yeast serve as models for HIV and other retroviruses because all encode their genetic information in RNA and use the same process to replicate themselves. The main difference is that retroviruseseventually leave to infect other cells, while the yeast's retroviru...Researchers seek to clone 'mad cow disease' resistant cattle strain
...ists remain uncertain about the exact purpose they serve in advanced mammals like humans. Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies like BSE and new variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (vCJD), the human form of the disease, are believed to occur when the non-pathogenic prions that normally reside in mammalia...Enzyme fully degrades mad cow disease prion
...antibiotics, and Shih believes that keratinase can serve that purpose. Soon, it will become clear whether keratinase can also help prevent mad cow and other harmful diseases caused by prions....MIT helps unlock life-extending secrets of calorie restriction
... "Our findings suggest that the NAD/NADH ratio can serve a critical regulatory function, determining the life span of yeast mother cells. A reduction in this nucleotide activates Sir2 to extend the life span in calorie restriction." In previous research, Guarente found that rather than a slower metabolism ...New roles for protein modifications in cell migration
...e incompletely understood, but which is thought to serve a regulatory function in some signaling molecules. On further investigation, MIG-23 mutants showed reductions in NDPase activity. The wild-type MIG-23 protein successfully rescued yeast mutants for NDPase, lending solid support to the case for the ND...'Mad cow' mechanism may be integral to storing memory
...chers fused this CPEB to other proteins that would serve as reporters of activity, and then observed its behavior in a variety of yeast models. The researchers discovered that CPEB altered its form and caused other proteins to follow functioning exactly like a prion. A second unexpected finding was that C......s, they identified a cluster of 88 genes which may serve as molecular markers of developmental potential. These results are consistent with previous findings that cells gradually lose developmental potential and that adult stem cells retain plasticity, but more importantly they link signature genes with...