Diatom genome reveals key role in biosphere's carbon cycle
...hen a heterotroph, a single-cell microbe, engulfed what scientists say was likely a kind of red alga. The two became one organism, an arrangement called endosymbiosis, and swapped some genetic material to create a new hybrid genome. "This project helps illustrate the amazing diversity of life on our pla...NIH awards new $14.5 million, five-year grant to the Scripps Research Institute
... lot of biology can be understood simply by seeing what a molecule looks like, but the scale of biological...ight, which means that scientists who want to know what an individual membrane protein "looks" like in nature have to rely on some other type of biophysical...Studying the chemistry of drugs in wastewater
...periments to help answer this question by studying what happens to pharmaceuticals when they react with chlorine--a disinfectant commonly used in wastewater treatment. Scientists around the world often find drugs in water samples taken from streams and other waterways, but little is known about byproducts...Don't stand so close to me: A new view on how species coexist
...id wasps within a computer model, and then watched what happened over very long periods of time - up to 100,000 generations. Parasitoid wasps, insects that kill other insects by laying eggs in them, account for a fifth of all known multi-celled species. Their 200,000 species places them approximately next...Commandeering cellular machinery: recognition mechanism to detect small molecules
...clear receptors themselves so they don't recognize what they normally recognize, and instead recognize the small molecules we want to detect. That would allow us to develop a new type of sensing mechanism." A paper published in the September 27 October 1, 2004 issue of the journal Proceedings of the Nati...College students recognized & rewarded for their innovative work
..., of Northwestern University have worked to create what they call "bio barcode amplified detection systems." The process has a simple goal: to find miniscule amounts of microscopic biological materials. Because their invention is so much more sensitive and precise than previous types of tests, it could ...HHMI researchers Richard Axel and Linda Buck win 2004 Nobel Prize
...y at a very low level." Finally, Buck came up with what Axel calls "an extremely clever twist." She made three assumptions that drastically narrowed the field, allowing her to zero in on a group of genes that appear to code for the odorant receptor proteins. Her first assumption--based on bits of evidence...How roots control plant shoots
... sent a signal to halt leaf growth, Van Norman did what Sieburth calls "a brilliant experiment." She grew ...wing. Sieburth says the study didn't demonstrate what those conditions might be, but lack of water and compacted soil are likely because such conditions w...New Stanford center probes nanoscale material
...e to handle it in order to engineer it, and that's what our center's all about." The CPN, which will have ...e science and technology, and we're excited to see what possibilities these tools will open up," Goldhaber-Gordon said. The probes will enhance the capabili...Stanford researchers establish center for physics-based simulations of biological structures
...back as to whether it's working or not working and what it needs to do." The center also will support creation of new courses in the Bioengineering Department and a newsletter about biomedical computation geared for the public. It will provide on-site training to users of the simulation toolkit, as well ...Daphne Koller named MacArthur Fellow
... her methods are further developed. When asked what she plans to do with the award, Koller said that the matter will require significant thought. "It's really a major decision, and they give you some time to think about it." The news always comes as a big surprise, since the selection process is confi...Internet data-mining of natural history
...ity of researchers everywhere to better understand what the natural history data are telling us." Caruana says the plan to develop new data mining techniques that will allow modeling of long-term population trends, geospatial abundance patterns, and seasonal or irruptive species movements will result in ...Plants provide model for new shape-changing materials
...o fly southward at lightening speed, it must sense what the outside forces and pressures are for its trajectory. Similarly, for an aircraft wing, engineers would need a material that's mechanically flexible. But the designers also need a material with a surface that's controlled by sensors and electrical...Protein energy profiles offer clues about amyloids
...predict which proteins are prone to misfold and at what point the folding process is likely to break down....oteins go wrong is by not folding at all, which is what we find in diseases involving amyloids. In these situations, the misfolded proteins assemble togethe...September/October 2004 Annals of Family Medicine tip sheet
...h may help shape future research design: assessing what the population is willing and able to accept, considering what treatment providers can be expected to implement, assessing the setting's capacity to accommodate in...Most promising clinical uses for stem cells from fat agreed on by international society
...s. A key question the group answered was simply what to call the cells, with the decision in favor of t...d how they differentiate into other cell types and what factors they secrete. In developing its consensus, the society focused on three main areas, wi...Marine Biological Laboratory summer investigator wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry
...be exactly the system that Hershko needed to study what role, if any, ubiquitin played in the process. In collaboration with Robert Palazzo, now at Rensselear Polytechnic Institute, Hershko determined that cyclin is degraded by the ubiquitin system during the cell cycle. Working with Joan Ruderman of Harv...Brain circuit may permit scientists to eavesdrop on memory formation
...x that occurs after learning," said Schuman. "Now, what is needed is an exploration of the specific firing patterns of neurons that make up the TA projection during learning and the consolidation period. It's interesting that a lot of the important activity likely takes place off-line, when the animal is ...Old bones unearth new date for giant deer's last stand
... forward by 3,000 years or so, we still can't tell what actually killed off these beasts. Man could have b...Black Sea. The next question we need to address is what finally killed them off, whether it was hunting, agricultural clearing of land or changes in climate......iation and medical oncologists have struggled with what a bouncing PSA means for a patient's prognosis, and how or if to offer further treatment. "Because a steady rise in PSA can mean that cancer has recurred, physicians often interpret a bounce as the possibility that the cancer may still exist after t...