30th anniversary of the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize
... instance, viruses hijack this mechanism with fake instructions to build their own proteins. Since his doctoral thesis, Veit Hornung has been focusing on the immune system's detection mechanisms for viral and synthetic RNA. He discovered a new mechanism which the immune system uses to detect nucleic acids, such a...RNA enzyme structure offers a glimpse into the origins of life
...es is carried out by enzymes made of proteins. The instructions for making those proteins are contained in genes made of DNA or RNA (nucleic acids). The circularity of this process poses a challenge for theories about the origins of life. "Which came first, nucleic acids or proteins? This question once seemed a...CSHL shows correcting RNA splicing may help treat spinal muscular atrophy
...unction of proteins. Proteins are synthesized from instructions coded in the DNA through a multi-step process that includes RNA splicing. Information stored in the DNA of genes is transcribed into immature "pre-messenger RNAs" (pre-mRNAs), pre-mRNAs are then spliced into mature "messenger RNAs" (mRNAs), and fina...Prototype space probe prepares to explore Earth's deepest sinkhole
..., DEPTHX is autonomous. The probe does not rely on instructions from humans to decide where to go or what to do. It creates 3D maps of previously unexplored areas as it swims along and then uses those same maps to navigate back to the surface. Cenote Zacatn first achieved notoriety when two divers attempted to ...Weizmann Institute scientists discover genes that can slow cell division and may fight cancer
...ks, instead, by dismantling messenger RNA carrying instructions for making cell division proteins from the genes to the cell's protein-production machinery. In tests conducted on tissues from ovarian cancer patients, the scientists found a correlation between levels of activity in the "braking" genes, rates of...Scientific literacy happens -- when students think for themselves
...ls the cookbook method they followed step-by-step instructions on how to carry out the experiment and display their results. These students were provided with a standard, prepared enzyme solution. The second group of students had to prepare their own enzyme solutions from a piece of raw turnip. They were also ...Stem cells determine their daughters' fate
...ls divides, the resulting "daughter" cell receives instructions to differentiate into a specific cell type. In some cases this signal comes from other cells. But now, for the first time, researchers at the Carnegie Institution's Department of Embryology have found a type of stem cell that directly determines the ...Nanotechnology meets biology and DNA finds its groove
..., DNA, the genetic material that hold the detailed instructions for virtually all life, is a twisted knot, looking more like a battered ball of yarn than the famous double helix. To study it, scientists generally are forced to work with collections of molecules floating in solution, and there is no easy way to pr...Human proteins evolving slowly thanks to multitasking genes
... Recently it has been discovered that some of the instructions on where to splice and re-splice the DNA in this editing process are contained in the coding section, or exon, of the DNA itself. So, as well as spelling out which amino acids are needed to produce a specific protein, the part of the exon immediate...Novel laboratory technique nudges genes into activity
...osomes in the nucleus of every cell and they carry instructions for making proteins. Faulty or mutated genes lead ... helps determine whether or not a particular genes instructions are "read" and "copied" to strands of messenger RNA, which then ferry the plans to protein-making "f......eroutes its communication pathways and its genetic instructions in response to experience. "When you first learn something, such as how to ride a bike, there is an actual physical change in the brain the cells make proteins they didn't make before," Helmstetter says. The brain's capacity for dynamic states, c......hen passed from generation to generation, carrying instructions related to the parent from whom that copy was inherited but without altering the DNA. Abnormal methylation patterns in cancerous cells were discovered more than 20 years ago. Yet tumor cells have so many things wrong with them, including methylati...First molecular simulation of a long DNA strand shows unexpected flexibility
...In addition to the sequence of the base pairs, the instructions are in the packaging how DNA is folded within a cell. Virginia Tech researchers used novel methodology and the universitys System X supercomputer to carry out what is probably the first simulation that explores full range of motions of a DNA stra...Peering into the shadow world of RNA
... may be biologically active, it does not carry the instructions for producing any protein in the body. The importance of better understanding these non-coding forms of RNA is underscored by the fact that they are known to play roles in such critical processes as embryonic development, cell and tissue different...Does natural selection drive the evolution of cancer?
... they are able to suppress a vital set of internal instructions that require cells to self-destruct when their genes are mutated beyond repair. This protective cell-suicide program carried by normal cells is known as apoptosis. Seeing a tumor in this light opens a window on new therapeutic strategies. "It's n...UCLA researchers unravel a mystery about DNA
... DNA transcription, the first step in carrying out instructions contained in our genes. The breakthrough described in an article in the Nov. 17 issue of the journal Science reveals important structural information about the gyrations of DNA during transcription and the effects of those gyrations on the process. ...Nanotech tools yield DNA transcription breakthrough
...process cells employ to read and carry out the out instructions contained in genes. Transcription is carried out by a molecular machine known as RNA polymerase, which synthesizes an RNA copy of the information in DNA. Two papers by Ebright and collaborators in the Nov. 17 issue of the journal Science define fo...Remote latrine reconfirms the presence of Essene sect at Qumran
...tion at a site outside the ruins of Qumran, noting instructions in two of the Dead Sea Scrolls (the "War Scroll" and the "Temple Scroll") specifically requiring latrines to be located at a significant distance "north-west of the city," and also to be "not visible from the city." Tabor had also noted that the firs...Decoded sea urchin genome shows surprising relationship to man
...egg, researchers can determine which letters spell instructions for turning genes on and off. The series of genetic switches leading to the ordered cascade of expression of genes after fertilization in the sea urchin is among the best understood developmental systems among animal models. Now, with the genome sequ...Researchers report initial success in promising approach to prevent tooth decay
...specific to the bacterium. From there, they typed instructions into an automated solid-phase chemistry machine to synthesize at once the full-length CSP and a 16-peptide anti-microbial sequence, and out came their first batch of STAMPs. After some trial and error, Eckert said he and his colleagues decided "to g...