Brain Protein "Rescues" Neurons From Atrophy
...ed from neurons when they are triggered to fire by their neighbors -- are the substances in strengthening p...ves by glowing in color under the microscope. From their experiments, the scientists theorize that defects in the cell's neurotrophin machinery likely play a...Bacterial Toxin Surprises Scientists
... punch huge holes in the cell membranes of their victims. Pharmaceutical companies harness ... bacteria to kill competing bacteria. From their previous work, the scientists knew that a portion of colicin Ia changes from a harmless ...Dangerous Chemical Combination Presents Possible Scenario For Gulf War Illnesses
...were selected over rodents as test animals because their susceptibilityto neurotoxic chemicals more closely...ogy and EnvironmentalHealth. The researchers said their findings are similar to those reported in Scotlandlast month and by an Israeli team last year. Addi......hiatric disease." Caron and his colleagues report their findings in the Feb. 15 issue of thejournal Nature...ine are chemicalmessengers that neurons release to their neighbors to signal them to firenerve impulses or initiate metabolic changes. Because neurotransmitt...Enzyme's "Magic" May Hold Key to Anticancer and Antimicrobial Drugs
... normally return to (1), the scientists designed their experiment so that the enzyme never releas... Many anticancer drugs, initially recognized for their ability to kill cells, have turned out to target topoisomerases, Dr. Wang said. Amon...New Cancer Switch Discovered By Duke Medical Center Pharmacologists
...in halting the growth of leukemia cells by jamming their growth machinery. The researchers said they believ... of molecular cancer biology. The researchers made their discoveries studying an abnormal gene called BCR-ABL, which produces two forms of leukemia -- chroni...Key to Triplet Repeat Brain Diseases Open Door For New Way To Understand, Treat Genetic Diseases"
...n in Huntington's disease patients. Furthermore, their findings may answer why the number of genetic repe...ing repeat size." The researchers point out that their theory of triplet repeat diseases wouldnot apply to those that contain stuttering sequences in the "...Researchers Pinpoint Site For Petit Mal Seizures In Brain
... a brake on nerve cell activity, Hosford said. But their exact function in the brain is unknown. Using a mouse prone to petit mal seizures, the researchers have localized the petit mal defect -- the overabundence of GABAb receptors -- to specific neurons in the thalamus, a nerve relay center in the brain. ...Tumor Suppressor Gene Located In Liver Cancer Cells
...s, but nearly absent in cancer cells, strengthened their suspicion. In research published earlier this year...new drug. Jirtle and his colleagues are continuing their studies of the M6P/IGF2r by investigating whether this gene also plays a role in the formation of ot...New 'Twist' In Proteins Offers Possible Route To Improved Antibiotics
...ntibiotics. The researchers, who published their findings in the Nov. 10 issue of thejournal Science, are Christian Raetz, chairman and professor in the DukeUniversity Medical Center department of biochemistry, and Steven Roderick,assistant professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine depar...Second Breast Cancer Gene Located
... The Duke and British researchers reported their findings in the Dec. 21issue of the journal Nature... than ever that we learn how to counsel womenabout their options and how to develop clinics to provide support servicesfor the women who may carry breast can......instead of waiting for them to decay and measuring their radiation. Previously, even a mass spectrometer was not capable of counting the extremely small amount of U-234 and Th-230 found in samples like the Zhoukoudian material. But by upgrading and calibration of instruments pioneered by scientists at Cal...Computer Program For Quicker, More Detailed Mapping
...er will be invaluable as scientistscontinue toward their goal of determining the entire sequence of geneticletters that make up the human genome. "The maps we've made using this program are among the highest-resolutionmaps that have been made to date, but they're not detailed enough to allowsequencing the...Duke Researchers Discover Candidate Susceptibility Gene For Autoimmune Disease
...ute at DukeUniversity, the research team published their results in the May issue ofthe journal Immunity. G...alled tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFa). To test their idea, the researchers injected the TTP-deficient animalswith an antibody that neutralizes TNFa. In a...Children Become Gorillas In VR Zoo
... apes are not extremely active animals,and much of their social interaction is subtle -- a cut of the eyes, aflick of the hand or an annoyed cough. "People always expect them to be like monkeys, who do run around,"said Lori Perkins, conservation biologist with the zoo's ConservationAction Resource Center ...From Corn Rootworms To Art, Cornell's Reactor Is At The Core
...he entomologists can get sharp pictures on film of their corn roots and the rootworms in soil around it. The technique is called neutron radiography, and professors from art historians and agronomists to zoologists can use it to get detailed pictures that X-rays cannot produce. It is the first time neutr...Duke Researchers Find Second Gene Linked To Blood Vessel Disorder
...ne have an increased risk of developing lesions in their lungsthat can lead to serious, secondary neurologi...ld identify these peopleso they can be followed by their doctors more closely for signs of developinglung problems," Marchuk said. By contrast, people who...New Discovery About Genes Has Implications For Genetic Therapy
...sible. Ohio State University researchers reported their findings in the May 23 issue of the British scienc...widely used both in brewing and by geneticists for their research. Genes are basically long strands of DNA that carry the essential genetic information ne...Transgenic Rice Plants Resist Insects, Drought And Salt Damage
...ton University's Department of Biology. Reporting their development of insect-resistant transgenic rice pl...ing countries where scientists are trained to help their countries become more agriculturally self-sufficient. Transgenic plants from both technologies are i...... percent of the children with cockroach residue in their bedrooms were allergic to the allergens. Other ris...information to perform further studies that better their understanding of the root causes of cockroach allergen. The study was funded by the National Institu...