Primitive microbe offers model for evolution of animals
...-- A microorganism whose evolutionary roots can be traced to the era of the first multicellular animals may provide a glimpse of how single-celled organisms made a critical evolutionary leap. In analyzing the single-celled choanoflagellates, scientists discovered that the organisms have a type of molecular ...Stanford researchers develop system for field testing mechanisms of evolution
...ulations. For example, many of the traits could be traced to major chromosome regions - indicating that evolution can occur through changes of large effect, not just as a series of small changes. Their findings also indicate that genetic control of body regions appears to be modular. The genes that control ...January media highlights: GEOLOGY and GSA TODAY
...essel back and forth across it as the sonar system traced out the shapes of the elongated hills on the seafl...this point then moved rapidly to the southeast and traced out the 3200-km-long structure during the 35 m.y. history. The researchers suggest that rates of oce...Researchers identify potential treatment for learning disability in neurofibromatosis
...ciated with neurofibromatosis type 1, or NF1, have traced the problem to excessive activity of a crucial signaling molecule and have successfully reversed the disabilities in mice by giving them an experimental drug. The findings provide hope that these learning problems may one day be treatable in humans....Tracing the neural circuitry of second sight
Researchers have traced the light-sensing circuitry for a type of second sight that is distinct from the conventional visual system and seems to interact directly with the bodys internal clock. The researchers speculate that subtle genetic malfunctions of this machinery mig....... In 1957 Alick Issaks and Jean-Jacques Lindenmann traced this effect to a protein called interferon, a molecule now known to play a key role in the immune system. Human and animal cells produce it in a rapid first wave response to infections. Since its discovery, scientists have sought to use this natural ...The path to a folded protein, long a subject of debate, appears in many cases to be long and winding
...eous environment of a cell. Gai and his colleagues traced protein folding by zapping samples of 20-amino-acid proteins with a one-nanosecond laser, momentarily heating them enough to unfold the proteins completely. Using infrared spectroscopy, they then observed, nanosecond by nanosecond, how quickly the c...Genetic link to endometriosis unique Icelandic study provides further proof
... hereditary component to endometriosis that can be traced beyond first-generation relatives," said Dr Kari Stefansson, Chief Executive Officer of deCODE and co-author of the article. "This could not have been achieved anywhere else in the world. The study is also important as the basis for a genome-wide sca...Widespread amphibian deformities caused by parasite
...g number of parasites and snails can ultimately be traced to human-caused alterations in habitat. "For example, runoff of nitrogen-based fertilizers into aquatic systems may cause increases in the algal population that the snails feed on," Blaustein said. "The snails carry the parasites. More snails means ...Study suggests mechanism for heart defect that kills young athletes
... the TNNT2 gene in silent heart mutant embryos was traced to a regulatory region of the gene that is critical for its expression. This finding provides a novel entry point for the researchers to explore what other factors might interact with this region to drive expression of TNNT2. While the animal is a su...Sea Grant News: Caulerpa, DNA water quality detectives, Kayaking in Maine
...rant researchers Charles Tseng and W.T. Evert Ting traced the sources of fecal pollution in Lake Michigan in an effort to halt the dangers of future E. coli contamination. Tseng and Ting based their research on the hypothesis that E. coli strains from humans are distinguishable from those of animals. By ...Research shows how pollutants affect tree growth
...tern United States. Increases in both gases can be traced to our reliance on fossil fuels. Experts predict that concentrations of these gases will double in the next 100 years, with high ozone levels spreading over much of Wisconsin. The forest scientists are studying how quaking aspen, paper birch and sug...Study finds genetic aberrations linked to lung cancer; Could help in early diagnosis
...ssionof 14 genes. In the same way, the researchers traced the low levelof another set of proteins to 12 genes that were under-expressedin the tumor cells. Among the genes identified in the study are ones that regulateintra-cellular communication, cell growth and apoptosis, orprogrammed cell death. The list...U. Va. scientists find new piece of gene expression puzzle
...ertility. It is possible that the problem could be traced from defects in the addition of the ubiquitin group in chromatin, to defects in the addition of the methyl group, and to subsequent changes in gene expression, which then disturbs proper cell differentiation. "It means we have to start looking at ho...Plant detectives seek sources of invasive trees
...veal information on historical events. Schaal has traced the origins of cassava using molecular techniques, and now is using systematics and phylogeography to document the role of hybridization and introgression in the evolution of Phlox species and to trace the Eurasian source of invasive Tamarix species ...Ras gene causes cancer via different pathways in humans vs. mice
...ed the cells to express mutated forms of Ras, then traced how the protein produced by the Ras gene promoted cells to transform. As expected, Ras exerted its malignant effects in mice cells primarily through a protein called Raf, whose specific job is to modify a chain of additional proteins that direct th...Rad50 and the maintenance of genome stability
...ion to lymphoma development, which the researchers traced back to a general inability to maintain the integrity of their genome. Interestingly, though, the genomic instability found in these Rad50-mutant mice was not the result of a biochemically detectable decrease in Rad50's ability to perform its previo...Endangered chimpanzees focus of urgent action
...the deadly Ebola virus in humans has been directly traced to infected chimpanzees in West Africa. Chimpanzees in Central Africa are also believed to have been the source of the HIV virus in humans. Because humans and chimps are so similar, they also share many diseases. The report points out that most infec...Advances in 'micro' RNA exploring process of life
...undoubtedly find human genetic defects that can be traced to dysfunction of micro-RNAs. This broad area of research, officials say, has such promise that major new studies are being developed across the nation. OSU was recently the recipient of a 4-year, $1.7 million grant from the National Science Foundat......emicals that switched on receptors, the scientists traced the movement of the PDE enzymes in cultured cells. They found that in such cells the enzymes did move from the cell's interior to its membrane. Also, further studies confirmed that the enzymes did, indeed, attach themselves to the receptors. To disc...