Researchers show how to assemble building blocks for nanotechnology
...using sticky patches that make the particles group themselves together in programmed ways. This method could be ... must develop ways to make the devices assemble by themselves in precise ways for specific applications. This type of self-assembly happens constantly in nature,...British scientists exclude 'maverick' colleagues, says report
...charged issues turns on the way scientists present themselves to the outside world. "The image of a scientific establishment attacking and punishing individual researchers with contentious results — such as the MMR vaccine controversy - has done little to inspire public trust in science." Her research cen...X marks the spot: Vector insertion is viral specific
...st DNA to replicate, but exactly where they insert themselves has become a topic of increasing importance. This ...e in on certain chromosomal features for inserting themselves within the genome. This work appears in the August 17 issue of PLoS Biology, a new open-access journ...Alcohol-use and depression among pregnant and postpartum women
...parenting and changes in hormone levels, which can themselves sometimes result in postpartum depression, treatment during pregnancy is vital." "Although we know about the harmful effects of alcohol use and depression on women and their children during pregnancy and the postpartum," added Homish, "routine obstet...RNA could form building blocks for nanomachines
...ause these RNA structures can be engineered to put themselves together, they could be useful to industrial and medical specialists, who will appreciate their ease of engineering and handling," said Dieter Moll, a postdoctoral researcher in Guo's lab. "Self-assembly means cost-effective." Moll, while bullish on...Growing pains: T. Rex was teenage giant
...of the big, meat-eating dinosaurs' bones remodeled themselves as they grew and become hollow, erasing much of the growth record. A possible solution to this dilemma came to Erickson about four years ago while examining Sue. He noticed that Sue's rib bones were solid. Further investigation revealed t...Joslin Diabetes Center launches research section on developmental and stem cell biology
...ls: those that can multiply to make more copies of themselves ("self-renewing") and give rise to any type of cell in the body, and those that are self-renewing but are capable of yielding only a subset of cell types. Embryonic stem cells, derived from immature cells of the embryo, have the potential to give ris...Evolvability could be a driving force in drug resistance
...r genes or to cause large-scale genetic change are themselves genetic traits, traits that are subject to selection like any others. The upshot of this is that many observations within evolutionary biology that were heretofore considered evolutionary happenstance or accidents, may in fact be explained by selecti...Viral proteins may prevent bacterial infections
...iophage, worm their way into bacterial cells, copy themselves and then, as an exit strategy, produce enzymes that quickly destroy the bacterial cell wall, killing the bacteria and releasing the viral offspring. "These are highly evolved enzymes that work efficiently and rapidly to kill specific bacteria. The ...Endangered turtles' trek along ocean currents revealed by satellite
...ctly the same reason, so these turtles are placing themselves in danger. This finding means limited closures of Atlantic fishing areas is unlikely to have much impact in turtle bycatch reduction, and other solutions will have to be considered, such as turtle-friendly fishing gear and hooks recently developed by...Dispute over life in Antarctic lake
...own there," he says. Besides, microbes can protect themselves against the hyper-oxygenation by producing antioxidants. "We should look for bio-signatures of microbes that can produce these," says Priscu. He believes the bottom of Lake Vostok, like that of many lakes, could be anaerobic and so provide a refuge f...Study explains spatial orientation differences between sexes
...n men than in women, and may allow males to adjust themselves more accurately than females in some environments. In the study, Tremblay asked 24 people (11 males and 13 females) to point a laser straight-ahead (perpendicular to the body orientation) while upright and when tilted 45 degrees backward. To test wh...Manatee population rising in some regions, likely stalled or declining in others
...toring achievement is exciting, the survival rates themselves are disappointing in the Southwest." Langtimm and collaborators were also able to make formal statistical estimates of calf survival for the first time. In the Upper St. Johns River region, the only region where scientists could reliab...An exotic grass kills trees by hijacking their water
...o survive. "It's as if the trees are self-pruning themselves to death," he said. Eilts will give his presentation, "Effects of a non-native grass on a dominant woody Sonoran desert tree," at 9:50 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 5 in the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Ore., at the annual meeting of the Ecologica...Ecologist calls for creation of an international panel to assess human behavior
...hey relate to environmental sustainability and ask themselves whether their values are really leading to the sor...heir descendents. Americans, for example, must ask themselves if their 'way of life' should really be, as the first President Bush said, 'not negotiable.' And the...Study finds anti-HIV protein evolved millions of years before the emergence of AIDS
... be relics of ancient viral infections that insert themselves into many places in the genome, regardless of whet...ancient genetic attackers in that they also insert themselves into the host genome after infection. The researchers conducted a similar analysis of other mutatio...Save the rainforest - eat a tree
...udy shows different soil types are not adequate by themselves to define habitats or niches what trees grow where in the Peruvian rainforest. The findings contradicted a hypothesis that trees normally growing on red clay soil would not survive on white sand soil due to inadequate nutrients and water. "...Whale carcass yields bone-devouring worms
...y 42 million years ago, about the same time whales themselves first evolved. The worms' genetic diversity also suggests that they are part of an actively breeding population that includes hundreds of thousands of individuals-a population that has presumably been hidden from human eyes in the vastness of the dee...Scientists issue statement on scientific peer review
...s. In addition, the groups hope that scientists themselves may find the statement a useful reference when providing input to policy makers on peer review regimes. "Our statement both supports the concept of peer review and intends to inform policy makers about how it is best applied," explains Schlesinger....Rutgers chemist uses NMR to elucidate protein-DNA interaction
... specific pattern of DNA to allow genes to express themselves in the form of traits such as facial appearance, hair and eye color or behaviors. In the July 16 issue of the journal Science, Rutgers-Newark chemistry professor Babis Kalodimos offers a solution to this puzzle in his paper, "Structure and Fl...