Marine phytoplankton changes form to protect itself from different predators
...ods, for example, the carbon becomes part of fecal packages that sink into the deep ocean where a portion of that carbon is sequestered thereby reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide, a leading greenhouse gas. If consumed by smaller creatures like ciliates, less of the carbon sinks to the deep sea and more rem...DNA repair proteins monitored at double-strand break
...d NBS1 cooperate to disrupt nucleosomesthe compact packages formed when strands of DNA wind around proteins, called histones, like thread around a spool. Disruption of the nucleosome at the site of a double-strand break allows the DNA to unravel and expose the area to repair proteins; the loss of functioning ...Biologists prove critical step in membrane fusion
...rgo bound in vesicles, miniscule membrane-enclosed packages of proteins and other chemicals. Before the swap c...must fuse with another membrane, creating channels packages can pass through. This process, known as membrane fusion, is fundamental to health and disease. It...Little lifesavers -- Nanoparticles improve delivery of medicines and diagnostics
...uld theoretically allow enough time for the potent packages to slip into the solid tumor cells they encountered throughout the body. In the lab, this is precisely the amount of time it takes for water molecules to work their way into the centers of the nanoparticles and degrade them. The team made their pa...Ultrathin films deliver DNA as possible gene therapy tool
...mers designed to bundle the genes into small tight packages that cells can import. Once inside, the genes instruct the cells to make proteins. Lynn and his colleagues create the films one layer at a time using a dip-coating method, dunking first in one solution, then another. The individual layers are so ...Press conferences at the year's largest physics meeting
...gnan Dragnea (Indiana University) is building tiny packages as well, at much smaller scales than colloidal or logic bubbles. Dragnea builds virus-like molecular cages that may soon lead to novel biomedical imaging methods and sensing tools, and potentially to new materials built of the virus-scale structures ...Grape expectations for healthier wine
...w technique that involves exposing macroperforated packages of grapes at 0 degress C to cycles of 0.1 micro liters per liter of ozone. They found that ozone treatment was 90% as effective as SO2 at preventing decay. In addition, ozone-treated grapes had up to four times more antioxidants than untreated grap...Male-killing bacteria makes female butterflies more promiscuous
...the female butterflies instinctively know that the packages are smaller and that their chances of having been impregnated after mating are lower than usual. This just makes them more rampant!" The male-killling bacterium is transmitted from mother to son and actually kills the son before the embryo hatches ...Molecular motors and brakes work together in cells
...of sorts, upon which molecular motors move protein packages for waste removal and nerve transmission. In the Cell study, the investigators, working with fission yeast cells, showed that stable end-to-end arrays of microtubules can be achieved by a balance between the sliding by a molecular motor called klp...Phyloinformatics Hackathon at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center
...rking with standards that allow different software packages to communicate". "The face-to-face interaction allows for a very fast software development cycle", says Jason Stajich, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California Berkeley, "you can pose a problem and someone with the solution is sitti...One-of-a-kind imaging probe reveals secrets useful for drug discovery
...VILLE, Fla. - Good things may indeed come in small packages for scientists eager to find natural substances to help cure diseases. The challenge is to analyze material that is smaller than the proverbial gnat's eyelash. But using a refined version of nuclear magnetic resonance technology, or NMR, scientists ......of DNA "packing" proteins, causing the DNA-protein packages to become more tightly coiled something like a tangled telephone cord and causing an irreversible silencing of gene expression. In a recent paper published in PLoS Pathogens, the Weizmann scientists report the silencing of two additional virulence ......e cell. When it reaches the end, it triggers small packages of neurotransmitters to fuse with the membrane. The packages, called vesicles, release the neurotransmitters into the space between nerve cells, where they can pass the signal on to the next nerve cell. Joshua Zimmerberg, chief of the National Instit...Top researcher-educators receive Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers
...es enable a range of applications, from electronic packages to scaffolds for tissue engineering. His education plan includes, as its centerpiece, mentoring and educational activities involving students and young people of the Cherokee Nation. Michael S. Strano of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaig...Universal design tackles little things with big impact
... Bix said. "Why should the disabled have less safe packages than I do? Is it an easy answer? No, but we can think creatively and do more."...If the chemistry is right you might remember this
...e messages, or neurotranmsitters, are held in tiny packages at the nerve terminal where they are released to send a signal. The packages then return to the cell and are re-filled so that brain function can continue. In collaboration wit...Joslin-led study reveals new findings on insulin signaling in the liver
...onstant between meals. The liver also produces and packages cholesterol and triglycerides to send throughout the body. Insulin's activity in the liver controls both of these processes, but, until now, researchers have not understood how insulin does its job. "In one of its roles, insulin tells the liver that...Researchers to scrutinize megacity pollution during Mexico City field campaign
... also launch GPS radiosondes, which are instrument packages attached to helium balloons that send atmospheric measurements to the ground via radio. The radiosondes will make vertical profiles of winds, temperatures, and humidity from the ground through the lower stratosphere. Two kinds of pollutants MIRAGE ...Sea slug mixes chemical defense before firing at predators
...produces the purple dye in the secretion. "Aplysia packages these innocuous precursors separately and then releases them simultaneously into its mantle cavity at the precise time when they are needed," explained Derby. "This mechanism insures the secretion's potency against attacking predators to enable sea s...Fast, accurate detection of explosives on airport luggage possible
... "We think it could be useful in screening suspect packages in airports, train stations and other places where there have been problems in the past. Because the technology works on other surfaces, such as skin and clothing, as well, it also could help determine whether an individual has been involved in the h...