After a decades-long search, scientists identify new genetic risk factors for multiple sclerosis
...licate cables that nerve cells use to connect with each other. Various immunosuppressant drugs can reduce...A," said Dr. Haines. Multiple genetic variations, each carrying a small risk of MS, could combine with one another and with environmental factors to create...Risk genes for multiple sclerosis uncovered
...ility. For instance, Hafler points out that in MS, each gene contributes only a small amount of risk. The big question is, how do they interact with each other, and are they in common pathways" If so, this can point scientists to the underlying cause of ...Wild weather forces farmers to adapt
...e based upon weather patterns and management goals each year. However, before making the change to a more adaptable cropping systems strategy, researchers say its important to understand how short-term crop sequencing decisions affect key agronomic and environmental attributes. From 2002-2005, a team o...A new brake on cellular energy production discovered
...s cellular respiration - a chemical process inside each mitochondrion that results in the production of the cell's energy currency, the molecule ATP. As important parts of the respiratory chain are encoded by mitochrondrial DNA, mtDNA, the cell can adapt its energy production to varying needs by increa...Isoprene emission from plants -- a volatile answer to heat stress
...ed these trees to transient heat phases of 38-42C, each followed by phases of recovery at 30C, and measured the performance of photosynthesis. In these experiments, Behnke et al. observed that photosynthesis in trees that no longer emitted isoprenes was much less efficient under such repeated heat shocks...$9M grant awarded to University of Cincinnati for bipolar disorder research
...olar disorder affects close to 6 million Americans each year and is recognized as one of the leading cause... of being able to predict what might work best for each individual. Bipolar disorder is a serious mental illness that causes dramatic shifts in a persons ...Surprising new species of light-harvesting bacterium discovered in Yellowstone
...mical energy. 16S ribosomal RNA is distinctive in each species. Says Bryant, "Finding two new genes with a computer is not enough to justify naming a new organism. You need to prove those genes come from the same genome." Because the two genes were close together in the genome, the team was successfu...Report recommends off-site disposal of secondary waste
...nce then, great disparity still exists between how each site manages waste. For instance, in three of the...e found that because a trial burn has occurred for each type of incinerator with each agent, enough data exists to avoid further trial burns in many cases. ...Innovative research technique reveals another natural wonder in Yellowstone Park
...ht-harvesting antennae known as chlorosomes, which each contain about 250,000 chlorophylls. No member of this phylum nor any aerobic microbe was known to make chlorosomes before this discovery. "This is an excellent example of how metagenic information reveals how little we know about life on Earth," sa......f molecular recognition, the binding molecules fit each other like a lock and key. Half a century of research has shown, however, that in numerous cases, the molecules need to deform in order to bind, as the key is not an exact fit for the molecular lock. Why would evolution choose such an inexact system"...Hepatitis C helicase unwinds DNA in a spring-loaded, 3-step process
... another enzyme, a polymerase, can faithfully copy each nucleotide in the code. Researchers at the Unive...ed DNA molecule tagged with a fluorescent label on each strand of its double-stranded region. (The NS3 helicase is primarily involved in unwinding the singl...Boston Univeristy bioengineers devise 'dimmer swith' to regulate gene expression in mammal cells
...es available to regulate gene expression, but they each come with limitations, said Collins. One of the central problems is you cant get a really tight off state. Even when genetic switches are turned off, a trickle of the protein that is meant to be repressed still gets made. Some genetic switches get ...Learning a second language -- Is it all in your head?
...predict second- language learning success than can each single factor alone. In a behavioral study, Wongs ...o words and a black and white picture representing each words meaning. Pesh, for example, at one pitch meant glass, at another pitch meant pencil and at a t...Females more prone to brain damage from alcohol abuse
...ntified a total of 295 alcohol-regulated genes for each mouse group. "We're interested in that part of the brain because it's important in inhibitory control. Alcoholics are unable to display good inhibitory control," Wiren said. After identifying the alcohol-regulated gene pathways, Wiren and Hashimo...Call for EU to launch major project to map out all our proteins
...analysis of the genome. This is a surprise because each gene had been understood to code for a protein on ...he individual proteins. The amino acid sequence of each protein can be determined after separation, from the relationship between electric charge and mass. ......ows scientists to determine exactly when and where each animal was seen. Searching through Robison's survey data, Zeidberg found no observations of Humboldt Squid from 1989 to 1997. During 1997, however, large numbers of Humboldt squid were seen for a year or two after a strong El Nio event brought warm...Success rates for prostate cancer depend on experience of surgeon
...r of times they had performed the procedure before each operation. More surgical experience was associated with a greater likelihood that the patients cancer would not return after their operation. The learning curve for this procedure was very steepthere was dramatic improvement in patient outcomes as...Scientists discover new way to study nanostructures
...nt at particular values of the applied voltage. At each of the peak voltages, the frequency of the AC Josephson current would resonate with the vibrational frequency of the nanostructure in the junction. Subsequent first principles calculations by Landman's team predicted that such peaks would occur at ....... Ausubel has analyzed the amount of energy that each so-called renewable source can produce in terms of...lar power may get used first. A consideration of each so-called renewable in turn, paints a grim picture of the environmental impact of renewables. Hypoth...