Clock molecule's sensitivity to lithium sheds light on bipolar disorder
...its bmal and clock. "The time it takes for that to happen determines the length of the cycleroughly 24 hoursand keeps the clock going," explains Lazar. Penn colleague and coauthor Peter Klein, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, discovered a few years ago that the drug lithium, used to treat biopolar ...New influenza vaccine takes weeks to mass produce
...SM Biodefense Research The next flu pandemic could happen any time," says Keyang Wang, a scientist at Protein Sciences Corporation (PSC) and a researcher on the study. "The most effective method to control such an outbreak is the widespread use of a vaccine, preferably in a pro-active manner, so that the i...U of MN researchers develop way to visualize synchronized interactions of nerve cells in the brain
...cond basis. Because the interactions in the brain happen so rapidly, it has been difficult to accurately assess them. Current methods of evaluation such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are too slow--they take seconds to detect activation. To better evaluate how the nerve networks in the b...Biologists visualize protein interaction that may initiate viral infection
... to take place, she said. "Why doesn't the binding happen at other sugar-binding sites?" she asked. "The answer is that we need two carbohydrate sites that are 18 angstroms apart. There are no other sites that are 18 angstroms apart." Each virus particle contains 60 of the features, each having two carbohyd...Case biologists show that what a neuron can do is a function of mechanical context
... had to prepare the body in advance for what might happen next. If Bernstein were right, it would affect the design of prosthetic devices and biologically inspired robots. Using computer technologies unavailable to their predecessor, researchers at Case Western Reserve University have provided direct evide...Landmark FSU study of hepatitis C virus solves mystery that has stymied quest for cure
...s give out a detectable signal when certain events happen inside them," said Tang. "In this case, they emit a green fluorescence whenever HVC is replicating. The fluorescence is tracked in the cell culture through a technique known as flow cytometry, which employs a machine equipped with a laser and lights ...Pritzker gift to fund possible solutions for child obesity including testing YMCA programs
...ith the YMCA illustrates how wide scale change can happen on this important health issue." "For decades, YMCAs have been building kids strong in spirit, mind and body during the after-school hours. Our YMCA Activate America initiative is taking this commitment to a whole new level by incorporating and mode...Researchers evolve a complex genetic trait in the laboratory
...one way for them to break out is for a mutation to happen -- for example, one that alters a hormonal level -- releasing all this variation. "The reason this 'capacitor' concept is important in understanding evolution and the origin of complex traits is that the common model is that a new trait gets started ...Common molecular 'signature' identified in solid tumors
...can prevent some of the very earliest changes that happen in the development of cancer. There is a lot of work that still needs to be done, but I am convinced that this field will give us more precise and less toxic ways of dealing with cancer than we have today even considering some of our new, molecularl...Satellites show Amazon parks, indigenous reserves stop forest clearing
...e be reconciled with human habitation it wouldn't happen without the people. Extensive intact forests on indigenous territories are central to large-scale conservation in the Amazon. Last year, the Brazilian government created a 5 million hectare mosaic of different kinds of reserves in the Terra do Meio ...Marine scientists going down for the count
...ery, which makes it difficult to predict what will happen to coral reefs as a consequence of human activities. "Reef decline worldwide is troubling, just within the last three decades, declines of 80% in coral cover have been reported for Caribbean reefs, and even apparently healthy reefs have suffered me...'Bird flu' infections in humans prompt new investigation at Saint Louis University
... the world quickly. This is what could potentially happen with some new human flu viruses that come from bird flu viruses. "Recently, some strains of bird flu viruses have infected people in Asia," said Robert Belshe, M.D., director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Saint Louis University School of M......ming signals. In dendrites, these changes can only happen when certain proteins are produced at the synapse. A prerequisite for protein synthesis, however, is that the mRNAs carrying the "blueprint" of the protein actually arrive at the synapse. The mRNAs have to be recognized by special RNA-binding protein...Insects and mammals share common fat-building pathway, study suggests
...y suggest. "As we age, two striking things tend to happen almost across the board--our bones become thinner and we gain fat," said senior author, Jonathan Graff of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. "Our findings are consistent with the idea that hedgehog signaling may diminish as we get o...Tsunami + 1 year: Reviving exhausted fisheries should trump replacing boats, gear, experts say
...s. "Yet there is a very real risk that this will happen if our rehabilitation response is developed without due thought given to the complexities involved and is dominated by easy and ill-considered options for replacing lost boats and gear. "It would be a dangerous over-simplification, for example, to ar...Grant allows ASU archaeologist to study how environment influences evolution
...st is the key to the present figuring out what may happen in the future."...Fertility genes discovered at Rugters
...ene "knockout" mutants were used to see what would happen if worms lacked the function of egg-1 or egg-2 genes. The results were that the worms became sterile because fertilization had failed to occur. Normal sperm could no longer enter the eggs produced by egg-1 and egg-2 mutant hermaphrodites. The traditi...Science magazine invites science-education content for new HHMI-supported section
...would like to make it easier for great teaching to happen at all levels, the Institute is interested in wider circulation of innovations in science education," said Thomas R. Cech, HHMI president. "A regular section in Science devoted to science education should contribute greatly to this goal." Much depe...Pregnancy drugs can affect grandkids
... news, he says, is that the side effects might not happen after one dose of the drug. A study earlier this year looking at 31-year-olds whose mothers had been given just one dose found no major effects. Matthews, who presented his findings to a conference on the developmental origins of health and disease i...Avian flu in perspective: New England Journal article reviews 'spectacular' findings
...uman virus?" Belshe says. "We don't know what will happen or when it will happen, but we know it will happen." And although it can't be said for sure whether the current avian flu virus can adapt readily to the point where human-to-human transmission is possible, the recent research findings do provide some...