Fat fish put obesity on the hook
...to model human disorders like obesity in zebrafish allows scientists to understand the molecular basis of disease. This may ultimately increase the efficiency and power of the drug discovery process, thus bringing new medicines to the market faster and cheaper. In the study, researchers caused obesity in......leting non-gene DNA sequences, and this new method allows us to evaluate what these sequences do, says Mario Capecchi, distinguished professor and co-chair of human genetics at the University of Utah and an investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). The new method is significant because...Fruit bats are not 'blind as a bat'
...dies of other night-active mammals we know that it allows daylight vision", says lead author Brigitte Mueller. For example, cats and dogs only have two to four percent cones, and even the diurnal human retina contains an average of only five percent cones. "The retina of flying foxes is no 'evolutionary qui......aces. The hydrogen-hydroxyl position-switch that allows the catalytic conversion was verified by nuclear magnetic resonance performed at the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a DOE national scientific user facility located at PNNL.During the swap, the molecule opens, Zhang said...University of Colorado invention may allow thirsty crops to signal farmers
...plant tells humans to "feed me." "This technology allows plants to say, 'water me,' " he said. High eastern plains water-use has led to lawsuits against Colorado for violations of interstate water compacts, including a recent $30 million payment to Kansas for overuse of the Arkansas River, said Seelig....JCI table of contents: June 14, 2007
...ersity School of Medicine report that liver NPC1L1 allows the retention of cholesterol by liver cells and is also affected by Ezetimibe. The authors found that mice created to overexpress human NPC1L1 in liver cells had a 30%-60% increase in plasma cholesterol levels. Administration to the mice of Ezetimi...Plants recognize their siblings, biologists discover
...et competitive and start growing more roots, which allows them to grab water and mineral nutrients before their neighbours get them. It appears, though, that they only do this when sharing a pot with unrelated plants; when they share a pot with family they dont increase their root growth. Because difference...The wider view from a detailed focus
...tic activity alongside the cellular machinery that allows DNA to be read and replicated. The lead report from the ENCyclopedia Of DNA Elements (ENCODE) Consortium, published in Nature, together with 28 companion papers published in Genome Research, defined in detail which regions of the genome...Researchers shed light on shrinking of chromosomes
...sion. Condensation, the shortening of chromosomes, allows the cell to handle such huge amounts of genetic material during cell division and helps preventing fatal defects in chromosome separation. Now researchers from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) for the first time tracked chromosome con...Columbine flowers develop long nectar spurs in response to pollinators
...s leading to plants' nectar--happens in a way that allows flowers to match the tongue lengths of the pollinators that drink their nectar, biologists have found. The researchers were Justen Whittall of the University of California at Davis and Scott Hodges of the University of California at Santa Barbara. ...QUT microgravity tower attracts global scientific community
...sule that, when dropped from the top of the tower, allows the experiment to be in free fall (or zero gravity...sule is brought to rest on an inflated airbag that allows the experiment to be slowed down and readied for another drop. Scientists are able to analyse the re...Scientists have discovered a gene that allows plants to grow better in low nutrient conditionsand even enhance their growth through sodium uptake, according to a report published onlinethis week in The EMBO Journal. Salty soil caused by irrigation practices in arid regions has become a majorag...SNM advances professional definition for 'molecular imaging'
... and physicists. It is this interrelationship that allows for the continuation of rapid advances and integration across medical specialties, he noted. Our membersrepresenting many areas such as molecular and functional imaging, nuclear medicine, radiology and engineeringspent months developing this definiti...Research team identifies new Alzheimer's gene
...or developing Alzheimers disease. This discovery allows us to accelerate the development process for creating a new diagnostic test that is capable of detecting the presence of GAB2, and may ultimately help millions of individuals reach a more informed decision regarding the most appropriate type and timi...New screening method to help find better biofuel crops
...placed between the microscope and the spectrometer allows a direct measure of the chemical makeup at any location on the sample being viewed on the microscope. This method has several advantages over other analytical techniques, Smith explained. First, analysis requires very little material so you can tak...ChemGenex reports successful personalized dosing of Quinamed at ASCO
...ion that genotyping of patients prior to treatment allows for optimized personalized dosing and improved drug tolerance. Patients with rapid and intermediate acetylator genotypes (who more rapidly metabolize the drug to the acetylated derivative associated with side effects) achieved a maximum tolerated ...A first: Simultaneous PET/MR images of the brain debut, increase molecular imaging capabilities
...ar imaging. Our data prove that the PET/MR scanner allows even multifunctional imaging with PET, functional ...gree of registration," he said. "The PET/MR system allows simultaneous measurement of anatomy, functionality and biochemistry of the body's tissues and cells,...Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Geisinger launch new environmental research group
...nnsylvania. The Environmental Health Institute now allows us to formalize the relationships between our two institutions, while at the same time motivating us to work with the other college and university, governmental, and non-governmental organization-related efforts in the region. We hope to develop man...Fusing imaging technologies creates 'synergy,' helps diagnose heart disease accurately
... 3-D," he explained. "This synergistic integration allows simultaneous analysis of the heart muscle blood flow with a highly accurate image of coronary arteries and their blockages," he noted. "It eliminates the limitations of imaging with either SPECT or CT alone," detailed Slomka. "This combination coul...Discovery in orange cauliflower may lead to more nutritious crops
...scribed in the December issue of The Plant Cell -- allows the vegetable to hold more beta-carotene, which causes the orange color and is a precursor to the essential nutrient vitamin A. While cauliflower and many staple crops have the ability to synthesize beta-carotene, they are limited partially because t...