Diatom genome reveals key role in biosphere's carbon cycle
...ght we understood how diatoms use nitrogen, but we discovered they have a urea cycle, something no one ever suspected," Armbrust says. A urea cycle is a nitrogen waste pathway found in animals and has never before been seen in a photosynthetic eukaryote like a diatom, she says. Nitrogen is crucial for diatom gr...New therapy for specific form of leukemia
...nnected to the Catholic University of Leuven, have discovered the possible cause of the disease in 6% of the T-ALL patients. The scientists have found small circular DNA fragments in the cells of these patients that contain the ABL1 cancer gene. ABL1 also plays an important role in other forms of leukemia. The ...DNA sequence controls expression of gene involved in cancer
Bethesda, MD - Scientists have discovered a DNA sequence that causes the destabilization, and hence decay, of the protooncogene bcl-2 (B-cell lymphoma/leukemia-2). Because the overexpression of bcl-2 is associated with cancer, this discovery may lead to new therapeutic strategies for treatin...College students recognized & rewarded for their innovative work
... that rise and fall to create Braille letters. Gu discovered that the small amount of pressure exerted by the pins can clamp internal tunnels shut. By creating a computer program that can vary the patterns of applied pressure, his device can pump, mix, and shut off flow. A native of Ann Arbor, Gu is a senior......g of clothes or perhaps cannibalism. "We've discovered the 'smoking louse' that reveals direct contact between two early species of humans," probably in Asia about 25,000 to 30,000 years ago, says study leader Dale Clayton, a professor of biology at the University of Utah. "Kids today have head lice that...Columbia University scientist wins 2004 Nobel Prize
... more than 10,000 distinct smells. The researchers discovered a gene pool of more than 1,000 different genes that encode olfactory receptors in the nose that detect odors and olfaction. This is believed to be the largest gene family in the human genome. "I'm deeply honored and very pleased," said Dr. Axel. ...A treatment, not a cure: Calcium silicate neutralizes an acidic stream
... the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Likens, who discovered acid rain at Hubbard Brook in the 1960s, has been investigating human-accelerated environmental change there for over four decades. A network of researchers and agencies, including over 70 scientists, has made the 3,160-hectare forest one of the most...HHMI researchers Richard Axel and Linda Buck win 2004 Nobel Prize
...ify how the olfactory system works. Axel and Buck discovered a large gene family, comprised of some 1,000 different genes (three per cent of human genes) that give rise to an equivalent number of olfactory receptor types. These receptors are located on the olfactory receptor cells, which occupy a small area in...How roots control plant shoots
University of Utah biologists discovered a gene that allows a plant's roots to tell the lea...s Sieburth. She says the gene she and Van Norman discovered named BYPASS1 or BPS1 may be the key. BPS1 normally allows leaves to develop, but stops leaf growt...Marine Biological Laboratory summer investigator wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry
...proteins. With the help of his colleagues, Hershko discovered the ubiquitin system and eventually determined tha...he first of these proteins, known as cyclin B, was discovered by Tim Hunt, Joan Ruderman, and their colleagues working independently at the MBL in the early 1980s...Researchers find chemosignal that encourages women's sexual desire
...s needed to determine if the chemosignals the team discovered are pheromones. In order to be pheromones, researchers much show that the substances operate "in the context of normal daily interactions with breastfeeding women and their infants. Ideally, such a study would also demonstrate how these effects woul...U-M scientists see ubiquitin-modified proteins in living cells
...a transcription factor." U-M scientists also discovered that an E3 ligase binding enzyme called Itch was a key player in the process. "Itch is the adapter," Kerppola says. "It tags Jun with ubiquitin, and is necessary for the protein to be targeted to the lysosome." If Itch doesn't recognize Jun, K...Is more better: Counting birds may only tell part of the story
...ween abundance and reproductive success. They also discovered a knowledge gap in understanding the relationship between abundance and survival in birds. This information has been vital in management decisions involving animal conservation. A large population of birds in a region could indicate a suitable ha...UCR researchers identify key plant enzyme that defends against multiple infections
...vating programmed cell death pathways. They have discovered that mutants lacking this protein have an increased susceptibility to these pathogens. These results have significant influence in the outcome of a diverse set of plant-pathogen interactions and suggest that this key plant protein is likely involved...T cell's memory may offer long-term immunity to leishmaniasis
...Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have discovered a "central memory" form of "helper" T cells that can offer immunity to leishmaniasis, a disease that causes considerable death and disfigurement across the globe and has been found in U.S. military personnel returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. In t...New risks for bladder cancer identified by MIT team
...urnal of the National Cancer Institute. The newly discovered carcinogens are found in cigarette smoke, which is already known to be a major cause of bladder cancer, contributing to at least 50 percent of the approximately 60,000 cases in the United States every year. All three of the new carcinogens, however,...World's top theoretical physicists converge to consider 'future of physics'
...ical picture of reality. He and his co-recipients discovered how the nucleus of atoms works. Gross shares the prize with another of the conference participants Frank Wilczek, now a physics professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who was Gross's graduate student at Princeton University, when the...Study describes basic mechanism in cell growth control involving damaged DNA
...pecifically the ligase Cullin4 (CUL4). The authors discovered that CUL4 figures prominently in a molecular pathw...and DDB1, or damaged DNA binding protein. DDB1 was discovered more than a decade ago as the DNA damage gene controlling Xeroderma pigmentosum, a rare hereditary d...Protein protecting brain from toxins also blocks some chemotherapy from reaching tumors
...s senior author of the article. The investigators discovered that when topotecan was injected into the veins of specially bred mice that lack Mrp4, the drug accumulated to greater than normal levels in the brain tissue and the fluid that surrounds the brain--the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The finding strongly ......re fertilized and become embryos. Researchers have discovered that expression of genes in mouse eggs and very early embryos is activated in part by regions of DNA called retrotransposons, which may have originated from retroviruses. These regions, found in DNA of human, mouse, and other mammals in hundreds of...