MU researchers make discovery in molecular mechanics of phototropism
... level, we can work toward engineering plants that produce more biomass or have increased drought tolerance, among other things. For example, we could use this information to optimize plants ability to capture light for photosynthesis, which would result in more energy capture and thus growth, or potentially...From the corner of the eye: Paying attention to attention
...sly identified two different types of neurons that produce these two waveforms. The most common neuron type, called a pyramidal cell, produces broad spikes. These neurons transmit signals between different brain areas. The other class, fast-spike interneurons evoke narrow spikes. These neurons only connect...Study advances vCJD prion detection
...ngth of time it takes to carry out, is unlikely to produce a rapid screening test that could be implemented in blood donation centres it may well be suitable as a confirmatory test that could be conducted at a national centre. Work is currently ongoing to develop a screening test for vCJD but one of the i...Tracing Parkinson's lethal mechanism
...itochondria-affecting toxin called MPTP is used to produce Parkinsons-like brain pathology. In earlier studies, they had found that MPTP activates protein-snipping enzymes called calpains in mitochondria. They also found evidence that calpains, in turn, activate a cellular switch called Cdk5. The question, h...University of Cincinnati receives $1.7M to research molecular treatment of brain injury
...hat have been genetically manipulated so that they produce either an abundance or an insufficient amount of the molecules. He will also study unique compounds, provided by colleagues at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and the University of California, Davis, that boost beneficial eicosa...New imaging method clarifies nutrient cycle
...hick-walled relatives that fix nitrogen but do not produce oxygen. Using NanoSIMS, Capone and Nealson followed nitrogen as it is fixed in heterocysts and then transported to the other cells, where it is needed as a nutrient. Capone and Nealson also were able to observe cellular differentiation: as the si......r of days until they lay eggs and these develop to produce a new generation, one which can be identified more precisely. Besides, having a population of males and females, they can be kept in order to continue to breed and lay eggs, thereby creating what is known as a breeding colony. The eggs are laid on a ...Common environmental chemicals in diet affect fetal ovarian development
...riggering these diseases, then we might be able to produce better treatments, but it would also be important to devise legislation to begin reducing the levels of such chemicals. We would then look to work with chemical and agricultural industries to find safer chemicals by improving how they assess fetal d...Link between immune system and mammary gland could shed new light on breast cancer
...ental part of the immune system and the cells that produce milk in the breast during lactation. The resear...uct cells to begin dividing and differentiating to produce large numbers of milk-producing cells. These cells then release more cytokine molecules to get the b......emotherapy agent, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), which can produce toxic side effects in normal cells. They expanded the number of mesenchymal stem cells in the laboratory and then used a retrovirus vector to insert the gene cytosine deaminase into the cell. This gene can convert a less toxic drug, 5-fluorocytosine...Today's waste, tomorrow's fuel
...r goal is to see these techniques being applied to produce clean fuel cells to create reliable, greener energy whilst minimising waste....Stem cell procedure successfully treats amyloidosis patients
...sis occurs when clonal plasma cells in bone marrow produce proteins that misfold and deposit in tissues, leading to organ failure and death. Between 1,200 and 3,200 new cases are reported each year in the United States, although researchers believe the disease is highly underdiagnosed. To determine whethe...American Chemical Society's Weekly PressPac -- June 27/July 3, 2007
...ys Hongjie Dai and colleagues note that efforts to produce such molecules have been hindered because the required form of platinum loses activity in the body and becomes ineffective before reaching the tumor. Their solution was to develop a carbon nanotube delivery system, ultimately for shuttling platinum c...Manganese levels increase in scrapie-infected sheep before clinical symptoms develop
...al Science, also show that scrapie-resistant sheep produce elevated levels of the metal when challenged with the disease. This suggests that elevated manganese levels in the blood and central nervous system are caused by the animals initial response to the disease. The findings raise the possibility of u...Generalized reciprocity in rats
... gaining food from a partner who pulled a stick to produce the food. Rats could therefore be grouped into two classes: those that had previously received help and those that had not. The rats who had previously been helped were then more likely to help another unknown partner receive food. This simple mechan...Mother-of-pearl -- Classic beauty and remarkable strength
...echanism of formation, then we could, for example, produce cars that absorb all the energy at the impact point but do not fracture. "But from my point of view, it's most interesting because of the fundamental mechanisms of how it forms - these natural self-assembly mechanisms we are only just beginning to ...First baby is born after oocytes were matured in the lab and frozen
...stration of hormones to stimulate their ovaries to produce eggs can have the dangerous side-effect of over-stimulating their ovaries, resulting in the potentially life-threatening ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). Therefore, being able to obtain successful pregnancies after retrieving immature eggs f...Doing nature one better: Expanding the genetic code in living mammalian cells
...an cells doesnt work since they flat out refuse to produce bacterial tRNAs. While it is easy to screen large numbers of mutated aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases in bacteria and yeast, it cant be done in mammalian cells in the same way. But Wang and his team got around both obstacles. We found that we could coerc...New method for reading DNA sheds light on basis of cell identity
...ins but also so-called non-coding genes that only produce RNAs. These marks could provide a practical handle for precisely mapping all of the genes in the genome, a task that has proven quite challenging by other methods. ...Extracting eggs from pre-pubertal cancer patients brings hope for future fertility
...e. In adult women, the ovaries are stimulated to produce eggs which are removed, fertilised and frozen. In younger girls this is not possible, and the method normally used is to freeze the ovarian cortex, which contains the egg-producing follicles, for transplantation at a later date. But the cort...