Identifying genes that contribute to a low level of response to alcohol
...that previous research has already taken step one, uncovering that a lower response to alcohol is predictive of future alcoholism. Step two, he said, was the discovery of the greater similarity in alcohol response between siblings or between parents and their offspring than you would expect from the random pop...Early life stress harms mental function and immune system in later years
...ne methylation in offspring. Other new research is uncovering how stresses during pregnancy and early life can affect learning and memory, as well as immune function, much later in life, long after the stress has disappeared. Still other studies are unraveling the cellular basis for how early life stresses can ...Clues to the puzzle of 'talking' root cells
... a general basic model for tissue development, are uncovering new pieces of the puzzle of how one root cell sends its molecular instructions to another in the development process. Researchers have found hints that the channels by which such molecules move between plant cells may also be mirrored in animal cells...Genetic predisposition can play an important role in development of lung cancer
...gy database used in our study provided a means for uncovering the familial component by revealing more connections between patients, missed in most other populations," the authors write. The researchers found that a familial factor for lung cancer was shown to extend beyond the nuclear family, as evidenced by ...Evidence that human brain evolution was a special event
...hange than the housekeeping genes. In addition to uncovering the overall trend that brain-related genes -- particularly those involved in brain development -- evolved significantly faster in the human lineage, the study also uncovered two dozen "outlier" genes that might have made important contributions to th...Can plant research lead to new insights in cancer research?
...y are studying cell division in plants and thereby uncovering general principles. They are now revealing the importance of the DEL1 protein in the control of cell division in the Arabidopsis plant. The scientists suspect that the human variant of this protein, E2F7, performs the same essential function in human...Novel asthma study shows multiple genetic input required; single-gene solution shot down
... using association analysis may prove fruitful for uncovering additional loci that contribute to" human asthma. Since both mouse lines had a lesser degree of AHR than the parental strain, this "suggests the maximally severe phenotype depends on inheritance of more than the two interacting loci we have identif...2005's highest engineering honors awarded
...xplored regions, evaluating natural resources, and uncovering archaeological data. Continuous imaging from space enables analysis of environmental/weather patterns, ocean temperature variations, and changes in landmasses and their features. More than 800,000 Corona photographs, declassified in 1995, are the o...Scientists making advances receive international awards
... is conferred. Hannon will be honored for his work uncovering the biochemical mechanism of RNA interference of gene expression (RNAi) and his contributions to the discovery and development of short hairpin RNAs as tools for genetic manipulation of mammalian cells. Hannon's lecture, "RNAi: Application and mechan...Cholesterol-regulating protein maintains fat-storage, fat-burning balance
... sends out that permits fat-burning to happen, and uncovering that signal is the big mystery we're trying to solve next, which may have therapeutic applications." A better understanding of the cholesterol-driven, fat-burning signal may lead to drugs that control the signal and boost the body's ability to burn ......agues, from The Rockefeller University, report the uncovering of a new interaction between FMRP and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) containing a tertiary RNA structure termed a "kissing complex". Their studies, published in the April 15th issue of Genes & Development, provide a new direction for efforts to understand ...Unrestrained retina too much of a good thing
... eye." The Salk team then spent the next two years uncovering the mechanisms involved. "It's fairly easy to describe the effect but it's much tougher to explain what's going on," said Mui. Using complex gene expression techniques, the researchers painstakingly discovered that the fate of the eye is determined o...Experts to explore genetics, therapies for connective tissue diseases at Jefferson
...nfection. In the last decade, scientists have been uncovering the molecular origins of such diseases, he says, noting that researchers have pinpointed at least 10 genes harboring mutations involved in EB. Such information has also helped explain how normal tissue functions. "The rare mutations we've found have ...'Vicious cycle' of protein formation involved in Parkinson's disease
...ion process, he said. Future research may involve uncovering methods to inhibit just the malicious form of the enzyme, while leaving the functions of the normal enzyme unaffected, Dr. Thomas said. Inhibiting only one form is vital, because the normal enzyme is necessary for cells to survive. Still, the finding...Sleeping beauty plays a significant role in identifying cancer genes
...leeping Beauty turned them on or off -- in effect, uncovering the fingerprint of each tumor's cancer genes. David Largaespada, Ph.D., associate professor and leader of the Genetic Mechanisms of Cancer Program, led the University of Minnesota Cancer Center research team. Their work focused on cancer gene discove...A bug's life: Exceptional genomic stability yet rapid protein evolution in a carpenter ant mutualist
...es of symbiotic microbes, scientists are currently uncovering the biological and mechanistic basis for these mutualistic associations. One of the primary genomic characteristics of obligate bacterial symbionts is a massive reduction in genome size compared to their free-living counterparts a phenomenon called...NHGRI expands effort to revolutionize sequencing technologies
...m leap in the scope and scale of research aimed at uncovering the genomic contributions to common diseases, such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes." Over the past decade, DNA sequencing costs have fallen more than 50-fold, fueled in large part by tools, technologies and process improvements developed as pa...Bad aftertaste? New sensory on/off switch may 'cure' bane of artificial sweetener search
... finding acceptable sugar substitutes is slow, and uncovering even a hint of the physiology of "aftertaste" has been even slower. But on the basis of recent experiments, Naim's team has developed a working hypothesis that certain bitter and artificial sweet tastants somehow enter the taste-bud cells where they ...Study points to molecular origin of neurodegenerative disorders, including Huntington's disease
...re that occurs in these molecules with the hope of uncovering their toxicity to the cell." Co-authors with Dokholyan are graduate student Sagar D. Khare, postdoctoral researcher Dr. Feng Ding and Kenneth N. Gwanmesia, undergraduate student in physics and pre-engineering at Delaware State University....