In a tiny squid, bacterial toxin governs organ development
...volution where "all animals arose in the microbial soup of the ocean. In that context," she notes, "animals could develop a set of body plans that repel bacteria or associate with them." In people, it is estimated that there are no fewer than 2,300 different kinds of bacteria that live in either bene...Researchers develop new method for facile identification of proteins in bacterial cells
... to identify a unique dioxin-degrading enzyme in a soup of hundreds of cell proteins. The technique avoids elaborate conventional sample preparation steps by coaxing the cells into mass production of the protein the researchers wish to analyze. "Finding a specific target in a mixture of hundreds of protei...Scientists crack 40-year-old DNA puzzle and point to 'hot soup' at the origin of life
...n it needs to be also suggests that the primordial soup where life began on earth was hot and not cold, as many scientists believe. In a paper published in the Journal of Molecular Evolution this week, researchers from the University of Bath describe a new theory which they believe could solve a puzzle th...Life's origins were easier than was thought
...s also available in Spanish . In the primordial soup that produced life on earth, there were organic molecules that combined to produce the first nucleic acid chains, which were the first elements able to self-replicate. According to one of the more accepted theories, these molecules were ribonucleic a...At Berkeley: Intelligently designed molecular evolution
...ar Grand fir enzyme synthase, it naturally makes a soup of small amounts of 52 different products. We were able to focus it instead on making large amounts of one of seven of those products." While the researchers have not yet reached the point where they can design a promiscuous enzyme to make any kind ...Controversial findings help explain evolution of life
...what was once a hostile and unforgiving primordial soup of chemicals and radiation. More and more research is being focused on this area since a study proving the existence of this "dark state" was published by OSU researchers in the Journal of Physical Chemistry even though other journals had repeatedly...Methane-belching bugs inspire a new theory of the origin of life on Earth
...ccording to the heterotrophic theory, a primordial soup of simple molecules arose first, driven by nonbiological energy sources like lightning, and led eventually to primitive life forms. One difficulty with this theory is due to the huge variety and complexity of organic molecules that would have had to ...Atomic-resolution structure of a ribozyme yields insights into RNA catalysis and the origins of life
...f-replicating molecules in a pre-biotic primordial soup were composed of RNA, known as the "RNA World" hypothesis, is one of the central tenets upon which many theories of the origin of life are now based. Research on the structure and function of RNA enzymes, or ribozymes, has been one of the main acti...Researchers devise new tools to help pinpoint treatments for heart failure
... membrane rather than distributed as a homogeneous soup throughout the cell. The researchers think this ability of different regions of the cell to respond differently to external stimuli may explain the ability of heart cells to produce appropriate responses to the myriad different stimuli they receive. ...Adult stem cells are touchy-feely, need environmental clues
...ed the study of the chemical microenvironment, the soup of chemical messenger signals that are generally thought to guide stem cells through the process of differentiation, where relatively "blank" stem cells turn into specific cell types. For the first time, the Penn researchers have proven that the phy...UW-Madison researchers find new way to 'sweeten' key drugs
... adds, may have implications beyond the ability to soup up natural drugs because similar sugar-transferring enzymes play many other roles in biology. More immediately, the new finding means that it may now be possible to alter the beneficial properties of many of nature's most useful compounds to create ...Who gives stem cells their marching orders?
...wesome feat of nature. As they bathe in a chemical soup they've manufactured themselves, stem cells react ... cancerous. Research has shown that the chemical soup in the developing embryo contains a protein factor called Nodal, a powerful "master chef" that contr...Dairy is necessary, even for lactose-intolerant children
...or a great snack. Combine plain yogurt with dry soup mix to make a tasty dip for freshly cut vegetables. Try a yogurt-bran breakfast parfait! Layer crumbled bran muffin, sliced fruit and yogurt in a clear bowl or cup for a balanced breakfast that is pleasing not only to the eye, but to the stomach a...Tiny Tampa Bay fish key to evolution of immune system
...on found in people. The bay waters are a microbial soup teeming with microorganisms, yet the worm-like bottom-feeder is remarkably adept at standing up to the bacterial, viral and chemical threats in its environment. Understanding how it does so could lead to improved biodefense and better immune-boosting...Selecting life: Scientists find new way to search for origin of life
...ht- and left-handed -amino acids in the primordial soup could be concentrated and selected on a readily available mineral surface. The challenge since has been to determine which of the countless biomolecules/surface interactions are the most likely candidates to the first steps to life. "Crystal surfa...Shotgun sequencing finds nanoorganisms
... he was able to fish the microbes out of the slime soup and found that they were extremely small, around 200 nanometers in diameter, the size of large viruses. Bacteria average about five times this diameter. These therefore could be the smallest organisms ever found, though Baker needs to culture them ...Like salty food? Chances are you had low blood sodium when you were born
...ested for their preferred concentration of salt in soup and sugar in tea, followed by orally administered spray tests involving table salt and table sugar. Between the tests the children and escorting parent(s) were interviewed about dietary and seasoning preferences. The children were then invited to eat...Soy found protective against localized prostate cancer
... of 147 foods, the most popular of which were miso soup (primarily made from fermented soybeans), natto (a...nd tofu, made from soy milk. Japanese consume miso soup more frequently, usually daily, than other soy foods, and miso, natto, and tofu account for about 90...MIT's ocean model captures diversity of underwater forests
...acteristics of the oceans, but adds to the virtual soup about 100 random types of phytoplankton. The model randomly generates the single-celled plants, which differ primarily in their size, and in their sensitivity to light, temperature and nutrient availability, then allows the ocean to self-select those...University of Arizona neurobiologist John Hildebrand elected to the National Academy of Sciences
...'s neural circuitry analyzes the airborne chemical soup that the moth uses to figure out where to feed, where to find a mate and where to lay eggs. The team's findings can be applied to other animals' nervous systems. The olfactory mechanisms the moth uses, he said, "are essentially the same mechanisms ...