Stimulating nerve cells with laser precision
...e target nerves during rhizotomy, a procedure that frees someone from a spastic or seemingly frozen muscle, as when someone's head is stuck in a tortuous position. Currently, once the proper neural region is selected, surgeons pinpoint the individual nerves by a process of elimination, striking nerves with...Spiders help scientists discover how muscles relax
...he bonds between the myosin heads are broken. This frees each head to interact with actin and cause muscle contraction. "We have focused on the relaxed muscle to understand the structure of the thick filaments when they are not involved in contraction, but rather fully ordered--a state more amenable to un...Thousands of Scots families to help scientists improve nation's health
...this good for the individual being treated, but it frees up resources which we can then use elsewhere in the NHS." The lecture Generation Scotland: genomic science supporting public health will be delivered this evening at the Royal College of Surgeons by Professor Andrew Morris, University of Dundee and P...Expanding waistlines triggered by your genes
...ollagen meshwork that holds fat cells in place and frees expanding fat cells, allowing their spread and expansion underneath the skin. The study illustrates a relationship between the gene and obesity and metabolism. The MT1-MMP gene is specifically important in regulation of fat cell size and metabolic ge...Coral death results from bacteria fed by algae
...ff the supply of oxygen. Once the corals die, this frees more space for more algae to grow. We think this process sets up a positive feedback loop that accelerates the rate of decline in already damaged reef ecosystems." The report describes the other conditions that put coral reefs at risk. Overfishing r...Loosen up, DNA: Leukemia gene changes genetic packaging
...ow out of control is not dangerous. When JAK/STAT frees the scofflaw, it's free to then meet up with its molecular buddies and wreak havoc on the body. It was just last year that a team of scientists in Germany showed in an article in Nature that tightly wound DNA that is unavailable, known as heterochr...EDITORS PICK: Therapeutic peptide frees the protein p73 to kill tumor cells The protein p53 suppresses tumor development by potently inducing tumor cell death, making it an obvious target for anticancer therapeutics. However, this therapeutic approach is confounded by the fact that gene...