Brain Protein "Rescues" Neurons From Atrophy
...rotrophins, can foster brain cell growth, and that they might offer treatment for diseases involving gain ...rotrophins -- which are released from neurons when they are triggered to fire by their neighbors -- are the substances in strengthening preferred connection...Bacterial Toxin Surprises Scientists
...study's findings raise more questions than they answer. But as they continue to study colicin Ia, the researchers hope they will improve general underst...Dangerous Chemical Combination Presents Possible Scenario For Gulf War Illnesses
...e animalstudies are an important component because they test the biological plausibilityof our theory that combinations of certain chemicals can cause symptomsthat are not caused by individual chemicals alone." In the Duke study, researchers exposed healthy chickens to each of the threechemicals -- DEET,......rter and directly through the cell membrane, where they burst dopaminevesicles inside the cell and promote...sed in the knockoutmice, we were astounded to find they make only 5 percent to 10 percent thenormal amount of dopamine, about the same as Parkinson's patien...Enzyme's "Magic" May Hold Key to Anticancer and Antimicrobial Drugs
...ed, it is essential for them to untwist if they are to separate.... Although it is difficu...'t intentionally design such drugs because they knew so little about the enzymes. Now, the inner workings of one topoisomerase have been lai...New Cancer Switch Discovered By Duke Medical Center Pharmacologists
...mming their growth machinery. The researchers said they believe that such "molecular sabotage" could becom...anti-apoptosis capabilities of the cells. However, they found one mutant that did activate the oncogene ras and did block apoptosis, but did not cause the c...Key to Triplet Repeat Brain Diseases Open Door For New Way To Understand, Treat Genetic Diseases"
...rain.And the larger the repeat region, the tighter they bind." Authors of the study are from the same tea... gene sequencesin brain tissue two years ago, when they discovered Haw River Syndrome (alsoknown as DRPLA), an inherited neurological disorder that affects ...Researchers Pinpoint Site For Petit Mal Seizures In Brain
...seconds-long lapses of consciousness, during which they stare blankly and may blink rapidly or sway before...f these studies lead to more effective treatments, they can have a more profound effect on a child's development than merely preventing the seizure." Previ...Tumor Suppressor Gene Located In Liver Cancer Cells
...a method to detect mismatches in genetic material, they compared strands of DNA from tumor cells and surrounding normal tissue, and discovered mutations in the tumor samples. The discovery of identical mutations in more than one tumor indicated potential "hot spots" -- regions of the gene that may be mo...Second Breast Cancer Gene Located
...nes." As with BRCA1, the researchers said they expect that women who inheritBRCA2 may have up to ... in BRCA1. Using DNA from these families, they were able to track the gene to a regionon chromosome 13. A recent finding of a pancreatic cancer wi......h gets incorporated into the limestone crystals as they form. The most common form of uranium, U-238, is ...emanating from limestone. With proper instruments, they can distinguish between the radiation coming from decaying U-238, U-234 and Th-230 atoms. The theory...Computer Program For Quicker, More Detailed Mapping
...time-consuming and expensive parts. At everypoint, they evaluated its success to make sure they were not sacrificingaccuracy. "We started out using the off-the-shelf thing, then tried to scaleit ...Duke Researchers Discover Candidate Susceptibility Gene For Autoimmune Disease
... insulin, a hormone involved in diabetes. Instead, they found they hadactually located what may be a key gene involved in autoimmune diseasessuch as arthritis and derm...Rosemary May Have Anti-Cancer Properties
...says. "For typical Americans,who eat more fat than they should, rosemary may be particularly important." However, the type of fat consumed was important: Diets high in saturatedfats seemed to block the protection that rosemary offered, while diets highin unsaturated fats were more beneficial. Milner ha...Heat-loving Microbe Repairs Its DNA With Light
...remely high temperatures to grow andreproduce, and they have been recovered by microbiologists overthe past 25 years from various hot springs, undersea vents, andother geothermal environments. When its genetic material (DNA) is artificially damaged byultraviolet (UV) light, S. acidocaldarius has been f...Children Become Gorillas In VR Zoo
...searchers from both organizationsdemonstrated what they believe is the world's first virtual realitygorilla exhibit. Local schoolchildren were on hand to try out the virtual realitysystem, which puts them into a real gorilla habitat as a member of agorilla family. The demonstrations were in the Ford Afri...From Corn Rootworms To Art, Cornell's Reactor Is At The Core
...rching for the plant root. "Here you can see where they were when we started. In this picture you can see where they were 24 hours later. The dark lines show the path of the rootworm," she says. No ordinary pictures,...Duke Researchers Show "Editing" Can Fix Faulty Genes In New Approach To Gene Therapy
...tive participantin editing genetic messages before they are translated into protein. The editing approach to gene therapy ignores the defectivegenes, which are encoded in DNA and stored in the chromosomes, in favorof focusing on the specific genetic RNA messages that are translated intoprotein. Such mess...Freshwater Sponges May Pose Threat To Zebra Mussels
...se a threat to the entire zebra mussel population, they appear to be lethal to mussels attached to some vertical surfaces, such as the walls in canals and locks, Kelch said. "Freshwater sponges were here before the zebra mussel, but not in the abundance that we see them now," Kelch said. "While we can...Duke Researchers Find Second Gene Linked To Blood Vessel Disorder
...d. "Children with HHT usually don't show any signs they have thedisease. But as they age, and presumably acquire mechanical damage to tinyblood vessels that need to be repaired, the dis...