New 'Twist' In Proteins Offers Possible Route To Improved Antibiotics
... that actually catalyzes thechemical reaction. Any successful antibiotic must plug into the active site,blocking its action, to kill the bacteria. At Duke, Raetz and his colleagues are planning experiments in which theyselectively alter various amino acids in the enzyme and then study the effectsof thos...Photosystem I -- An Intermediate Step -- May Not Be Necessary For Plants
...eds two intermediate light-dependent reactions for successful energy conversion: Photosystem II and Photosystem I. But according to a new study reported today (July 19), that dogma may have gone for a walk, and scientists may have to rethink some aspects of how photosynthesis works. "Scientists have thought th...Study Shows Songbirds Switch From Bugs To Berries To Fuel Fall Migration
...ix, the greater the buildup of fat necessary for a successful migration. Switching from insects to fruit offers migrants advantages beyond increasingtheir energy intake, Parrish suggests. Because fruit is clumped in specificsites, migrating birds spend less time and energy searching for food. Eatingberries is m...Six-Year Drilling Project to Uncover One Million Years of Earth History
... The new project will build on results of the successful pilot drill hole project completed three years ago near Hilo. Studies from that work showed that Hawaii's major volcanoes may be active for periods of almost a million years, nearly twice as long as previously thought. Additional findings of ...Duke's Russian Laser Making Ultraviolet Light And Gamma Rays
...en mirrors within an "optical cavity." The OK-4's successful lasing at Duke means that it now becomes "theshortest wavelength and the most powerful ultraviolet wavelength FEL inthe United States so far," said Vladimir Litvinenko, the Duke associatephysics professor who originally designed the OK-4 as a researc...Researchers Find How Disease-resistant Plants Recognize Bacteria
...correct and how it might work. In 1993, Martin was successful in cloning the first disease-resistance gene in crop plants, Pto , which is involved in gene-for-gene disease resistance. But Martin and his colleagues at Purdue struggled to understand the molecular mechanism of disease resistance. One puzzle was w...Birds Deal With "Cocktail Party Effect"
...ecific bird songs mixed with othersongs. They were successful even during the "dawn chorus," thecombination of sounds heard in the forest during a springmorning, when all the birds are singing at once. The findings are detailed in a paper to be published in theMarch issue of the Journal of Comparative Psyc...Learning From Birds And Bees: Engineers Study Insects For Ideas On Tiny "Micro Air Vehicles"
...ions with broadinterdisciplinary expertise will be successful in building them. "We're not really sure what will turn out to be the most difficultchallenge," he added. "Nobody has ventured into this realm before." Speakers at the conference include Dr. James McMichael, proposed director ofthe micro Air Vehic...Duke Study Shows Early Marrow Transplant Key To 'Bubble Boy' Disease Cure
...s well as siblings of SCID-affected babies, can be successful marrow donors.None of the patients received pre-transplant chemotherapy. Overall, 78 percentof the patients have survived -- some are now teenagers -- including all12 recipients who received identical marrow transplants. Seventy-four percentof the 6...Where Fossils Fear To Tread: Scientists Follow Genes To An Ancient Ancestor
...vented a set of body-building genetic machinery so successful and malleable that it has survived to this day. ... talking about the common ancestor of all the most successful animals on Earth." What is so striking, according to Carroll, is that the genes used to gro...Wild Plant Genes Increase Food Production
...uccess. While plant breeding techniques have been successful in developing high-yielding rice and tomato species, the process itself threatens the genetic base. New plant varieties are usually derived from crosses between close relatives, the researchers explained, and this results in a "genetic bottleneck" t...Computer Model Offers New Insight On Bacterial Photosynthesis
...day, University of Illinoisscientists report their successful three-dimensional computer modeling thatdepicts ho... and LH2) was made possible by the research team's successful determination,reported last year, of the structure of the bacteria's LH2 from Rhodospirillummolisch...Gene For Last Major Form Of Batten Disease Discovered
...inary studies of enzymetherapy have been partially successful for Gaucher?s disease, another metabolicdisease ca...n barrier for gene therapy or enzyme therapy to be successful forBatten disease. Discovery of this and other proteins involved in Batten disease may ultimatelyyi...Report Notes Difficulties In Eliminating E. Coli O157:H7 From Food Supply
...in combination with the diseaseseverity means that successful prevention strategies must focus on reducing oreliminating the presence of the microorganism, rather than on preventingpathogen growth as is done in more traditional approaches," Buchanan and Doylewrote. The Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point...Competitive Inhibition May Enhance Safety Of Minimally Processed Fruits And Vegetables
...ompounds to thewash water, generally have not been successful in reducing microorganisms onminimally processed fruits and vegetables, the authors noted. "The ineffectiveness of washing or sanitizers to remove bacteria from produce islikely due to microorganisms located in protected regions near the surface ...Photocatalytic Air Cleaning System Promises To Help Allergy Sufferers
...cal and industrial settings and already has proven successful at zapping odors and impurities caused by chemicals, viruses and bacteria. It soon will be available for home use, said Yogi Goswami, professor and director of the laboratory. "This technology will revolutionize our notions about the quality ...Oral Vaccine Protects Infants From Severe Rotavirus Diarrhea
...infants in Venezuela. Thisis the largest and most successful trial to date of a rotavirus vaccine amongchildren in a developing country. Worldwide, rotavirus diarrhea affects 130 million infants and children eachyear, some 18 million of whom have moderate to severe disease, resulting in873,000 deaths. The st...New Form Of Gene Therapy Holds Promise For The Future
...n response to an inflammatoryreaction. The successful combination consisted of three elements ? one from themouse and two from a virus ? that worked in concert and greatly amplified theproduction of luciferase when the proper signals (in this case, an inflammatoryreaction) were received. The luc...Peptic Ulcer Treatment Improves Health, Saves Money
...hown that ulcer recurrence is extremely rare after successful H. Pylori eradication. The long-term impact of H. pylori is still being studied, but it has been classified by the World Health Organization as having a potential link to stomach cancer. "Many ulcer patients take medication daily, without sympt...Pitt Researchers Construct Novel Delivery System For Gene Therapy Of Liver Disorders
... Long-term expression of genes is necessary for successful gene therapy. "By administering multiple injections of the RCRs, we might be able to achievehigh enough levels of gene to offer a therapeutic effect to patients. It ispossible to give this gene therapy to patients through a catheter," remarked Dr.Hu...