Effects of rare, devastating disease linked to shrinking of cells' telomeres
... when they are eroded to a certain point, the cell stops dividing and dies. In cancer cells, activity of the enzyme telomerase maintains the length of the telomeres and consequently the cells keep dividing long past their normal life span. In humans, AT is a genetic disease that occurs in about 1 in 40,00...Scientists discover what makes human embryo attach to uterus
...vincing evidence that a molecular sticking process stops the embryos journey along the uterine wall and starts attaching it to the wall -- the first stage of implantation. Failure of the embryo to implant causes about three-fourths of lost pregnancies. The research is published in the January 17 issue of ......n an immature state, and MSP's block of its action stops this negative signaling pathway and lets maturation proceed. This type of action amounts to what's called a "checkpoint," Greenstein said, a surveillance mechanism that determines whether or not sperm are present. If sperm -- and MSP -- are around,...Science picks-leads, feeds and story seeds (January 2003)
...e route of the Lewis and Clark expedition. At many stops along the route, USGS scientists will talk about ongoing USGS investigations, explaining changes in river systems and pointing out advances in scientific instruments and understanding that have occurred during the last 200 years. An extensive website...Physics tip sheet #30 - January 9, 2003
...viduals reach a certain age, their chance of dying stops increasing. A new model is able to reproduce this surprising feature of aging by more realistically incorporating the effects of both genetic and environmental factors. Journal article: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v89/e288103 6) Hot spots in ...Mathematical prediction of on-off switches in cell division proven
...s ON when one pushes hard enough on its button and stops buzzing when one lets go. A toggle likewise switches on when one pushes hard enough on the lever in one direction, but it will stay on when one lets go," says Tyson. "To switch a toggle off, one must push the lever with sufficient force in the opposi...Study of possible anticancer drug reveals new mechanism of gene regulation
...stigated as a promising anticancer drug. Rapamycin stops tumor-cell growth through a mechanism unlike those used by other anticancer drugs. The findings are published in the December issue of Molecular Cell. "This study shows how basic research can have a clinical impact," says study leader X. F. Steven Z...Caught sleeping: Study captures virus dormant in human cells
...rus is an antiviral drug called gancyclovir, which stops the virus from replicating during its active infection phase, but has no effect during the latent stage, when the virus does not replicate. Another possible use for the research would be to develop a diagnostic test that indicates when the virus is l...Researchers find genes connected to seasonal reproductive clock in hamsters
...nternal clock of the hamsters stops these thyroid hormones from entering the hypothalamus resulting in the re-growth of the reproductive system in time for the spring breeding season. The researchers found that the three ...First potentially clinically useful independent marker for lung cancer identified
...it of DNA and insert a corrected copy. This repair stops errors being transmitted through generations of daughter cells. Without the repair the daughter cells would gather further mistakes and the damage would multiply, resulting in a group of rogue cells the start of cancer. ERCC1's downside is that it...University of Pittsburgh findings published in Science illustrate how KSHV causes cancer
...of IFN. In addition, in some cells, vIL-6 not only stops the suppression of tumors, but also causes normal cells that are not infected with KSHV to proliferate abnormally. "These results illustrate that tumor viruses can cause cancers because they have evolved to subvert cell defenses and make use of the s...Overfishing may diminish genetic diversity even when millions of fish remain
...ne fish may lose genetic diversity even if fishing stops while there are still several million individuals a number previously assumed to be enough to preserve a diverse gene pool. Losing the diversity of key genes can render a population less productive and unable to adapt when faced with challenges suc...Twin sister mechanism prevents formation of genetic mutations
...s: when unable to precisely correct the damage, it stops in its tracks, leading to what can be an even more harmful effect the death of the cell. Fortunately, nature has provided cells with two alternative, last-resort repair systems that can take command when the first rescue mechanism fails. One system ...New breast cancer gene discovered
...n in breast cancer cells kills the cancer cells or stops them from growing. The study--to be published on October 15 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences--will be published on-line (at PNAS Early Edition, http://www.pnas.org/papbyrecent.shtml ) during the week of October 7. The media ema...Advances in 'micro' RNA exploring process of life
...ell. Understanding what activates this process or stops it is a key to understanding the biological proce...we call negative regulation, or the processes that stops genes from being expressed," Carrington said. "Anything that improves our knowledge of this process ...New possibilities for deadly childhood brain cancer
...th signals from Hedgehog in laboratory experiments stops medulloblastoma tumors in mice and kills medullobl...ces. "Specifically blocking the Hedgehog signal stops the growth of medulloblastoma, but not of some other brain cancers," says Beachy, also a Howard Hugh...New mouse model shows how news of pathogen reaches immune system
...en a dendritic cell has gobbled a harmful germ, it stops snacking and races off to the nearest lymph node to alert the T cells that command the more complex immune responses. The details have been fuzzy, but scientists believed dendritic cells kept busy on the journey by digesting bacteria in its bowels, ...Peptide suppresses multiple sclerosis-like disease
... from this: This peptide treatment stops the assault of autoimmune disease by preventing immune-cell interactions," said Caroline C. Whitacre, professor and chair of molecular virology, immunology ...Surprise, surprise, surprise: Hopkins scientists unexpectedly create epilepsy in rats
...ping it tied up," says Rothstein. "The transporter stops working because instructions for making new EAAC1 protein aren't available, but normal degradation of existing EAAC1 protein continues." In the brains of the rats, GABA production was slowed, and levels of the chemical were cut in half in specific ar...Researchers suggests a potentially damaging effect of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields
...ions are unfavourable, whilst the checkpoint in G2 stops cells from dividing when damage has occurred to th...may interfere with the G2 checkpoint that normally stops damaged cells entering division before they have had the opportunity to repair the damage, increasin...