Deciphering the genetic babel of brain cells
...e cells. This understanding has led to new ways to kill cancers or to manipulate the immune system, for example. Gene chips consist of vast arrays of thousands of specific genetic segments spotted onto tiny chips. When gene extracts of cells are applied to the chips, labeled with fluorescent indicators, g...Timing is everything: First step in protein building revealed
...uctions, it will make the wrong protein, which can kill the cell or lead to disease. "The ribosome is the end stage of gene expression, and gene expression keeps us alive and causes disease," says Lorsch. "If we can better understand how the ribosome works, perhaps we can harness it to help us fix diseas...Plant protein mimics hormone that mitigates diabetes and obesity
...r could simply rely on finding out which compounds kill yeast cells by the same process. This study also s...a study co-author. Curiously, adiponectin also can kill some types of mammalian cells, Narsimhan said. "Other research has shown a strong correlation betwee...Columbia research lifts major hurdle to gene therapy for cancer
...urdles in gene therapy for cancer: its tendency to kill normal cells in the process of eradicating cancer ...exploited to produce gene therapies that will only kill cancer cells even if the therapy enters normal cells. As an example, the researchers constructed an ...Protein stops growth of brain tumor, OHSU study shows
...noted. "This is another step in proving it doesn't kill all cells, and the more specific and tailored it is to a particular molecular profile, the less likely you're going to have a lot of side effects."...UCLA researchers detail the evolution of quantum dot imaging in the journal Science
...en perhaps arm it with toxic therapies designed to kill the disease, said physicist Xavier Michalet, the first author of the article. "It would be a big advantage to use the same tool to not only locate and identify the cancer, but also to treat it," Michalet said. "This technology is likely to explode in...Blocking cell signaling can stymie viral infections, study shows
...caused conditions. Since drugs like CI-1033 do not kill viruses outright but deter them from reproducing, the aim of therapy is to keep infection at a low enough level that it can be handled by the immune system. Because variola belongs to the large family of orthopox viruses (which also include the agent...Marsh-dwelling mole gives new meaning to the term 'fast food'
... larger prey. For example, it is more efficient to kill a 1,000-pound beef cow for food than 125 eight-pou...use it takes substantially more time and energy to kill and consume the rabbits. Ecologists have formalized this relationship with a factor called prey prof...'Man the Hunter' theory is debunked in new book
...its did not result from trying to hunt for prey or kill our competitors, says Sussman. "One of the main defenses against predators by animals without physical defenses is living in groups," says Sussman. "In fact, all diurnal primates (those active during the day) live in permanent social groups. Most ec...Researchers blend folk treatment, high tech for promising anti-cancer compound
...indicated that artemisinin alone could selectively kill cancer cells while leaving normal cells unharmed. The new compound appears to vastly improve that deadly selectivity, according to a new study that appeared in a recent issue of the journal Life Sciences. In addition to Lai and Singh, co-authors incl...When cobras spit, there's not a dry eye in the house
...Cobras only spit when they feel threatened, not to kill their prey," he says; "anything else is a myth." They kill their prey like other poisonous snakes do, by biting them and thereby injecting the venom into their...Lychnis moth (Hadena bicruris) lays more eggs in isolated areas
...a decrease in the number of ichneumon flies, which kill the caterpillars. However, Elzinga demonstrated that this hypothesis is not correct. Upon hatching, Lychnis caterpillars eat the seeds of the white campion on a massive scale. Half of these caterpillars die prematurely due to attacks by ichneumon fl...UCLA scientists transform HIV into cancer-seeking missile
...r sites, identify cancer cells' exact location and kill them before they cause damage," he added. "Beyond cancer, it may be possible to correct acquired and genetic diseases where the mutations exert their harmful effects on the body." Melanoma is a serious form of skin cancer. According to the American...Study methods, strains of Pfiesteria are both critical in determining organism's toxicity
...microbes, and that small amounts of Pfiesteria can kill fish with toxin. They also showed that toxin from Pfiesteria can cause fish disease and death without Pfiesteria cells having to be present: water that at one time contained Pfiesteria, but was then completely filtered to remove all of the toxic Pfie...Scientists will discuss remarkable advances in whale research at the annual meeting of AAAS
...mless skin biopsy,'' he adds, ''so no one needs to kill them and sell them into a meat market.'' Family trees Palumbi will address many of these issues during his presentation at AAAS. ''My talk is going to be about the next chapter in this controversy, and what we're trying to do to solve it,'' he says...Climate change to bring a wave of new health risks
...ak most of the human health havoc. "Averages don't kill people - it is the extremes," Patz explains. The issue, Patz says, is how are we going to adapt? If we don't do something to mitigate the potential human health effects of climate change, the world, beginning at the local and regional level, will beg...Rapid, new test develped for inherited immune deficiency
... infectious agent and launch a defensive attack to kill the invader. While rearranging the receptor gene, the maturing T cell produces a bit of leftover genetic material that forms a ring structure within the cell. Using a quantitative laboratory technique that measures the number of these rings within ...Genome of deadly amoeba shows surprising complexity, evidence of lateral gene transfer
...ors. Because the parasite uses the same methods to kill bacteria as it uses to damage human cells and cause disease, the level of certain bacteria in the colon can be an important determinant of the amoeba's virulence. Biomedical scientists say the E. histolytica sequence will help researchers develop...Three bacterial genomes found lurking inside recently sequenced fruit fly genomes
... maligned as "male killers" because they sometimes kill developing males, and occasionally convert male embryos to female. But species of Wolbachia live inside a wide variety of insects, spiders, and crustaceans and have beneficial as well as deleterious effects, Eisen said. Given the Wolbachia genome and......und found in licorice, glycyrrhizic acid (GA), can kill cells that are latently infected with KSHV. GA induces cell death by altering levels of proteins involved in latency like LANA and v-cyclin. The possibility that GA-like compounds might be useful in treating clinical KSHV infections is of considerabl...