- Researchers crack structures of human protein family
Scientists from the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) have characterised the structures of a family of proteins associated with a range of human diseases, which will aid the development of new therapeutic targets. In the...
(Issue date: 25 January 2009)
- Gene's past could improve the future of rice
In an effort to improve rice varieties, a Purdue University researcher was part of a team that traced the evolutionary history of domesticated rice by using a process that focuses on one gene. Scott A. Jackson, a professor of...
(Issue date: 25 January 2009)
- Cancer-causing gene discovery suggests new therapies
Scientists have discovered a novel way by which a much-studied cancer-promoting gene accelerates the disease. The finding suggests a new strategy to halt cancer’s progress. Up to now, research has largely focused on how the...
(Issue date: 25 January 2009)
- DASNR researchers make breakthrough against poxviruses
Smallpox has a nasty history throughout the world. Caused by poxviruses, smallpox is one of the few disease-causing agents against which the human body’s immune system is ineffective in its defence.
A major breakthrough by...
(Issue date: 25 January 2009)
- Efficient working in confined spaces
Each cell in an organism possesses its own protein factories known as ribosomes. Every second, these enzyme complexes produce new proteins with messenger molecules (mRNA) from the cell nucleus as blueprints. In order to generate...
(Issue date: 25 January 2009)
- Dartmouth researchers identify potential cancer target
Dartmouth Medical School researchers have found two proteins that work in concert to ensure proper chromosome segregation during cell division. This finding is relevant for treating solid cancerous tumours that lose the ability...
(Issue date: 19 January 2009)
- Neurons show sex-dependent changes during starvation
When it comes to keeping brains alive, it seems nature has deemed that females are more valuable then males. As reported, researchers found that nutrient deprivation of neurons produced sex-dependent effects. Male neurons more...
(Issue date: 19 January 2009)
- Team Develops New Technique to Tap Full Potential of Antibody Libraries
Antibodies are the attack dogs of the immune system, fighting off bacterial and other invaders. Massive libraries of synthetic antibodies that mimic this natural response, for instance to attack proteins critical to a particular...
(Issue date: 19 January 2009)
- Human Beta Cells Can Be Easily Induced to Replicate
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have successfully induced human insulin-producing cells, known as beta cells, to replicate robustly in a living animal, as well as in the lab. The discovery not only...
(Issue date: 19 January 2009)
- Is there a relationship between sleep-wake rhythm and diabetes?
An international research team with German participation including Helmholtz Zentrum München, among other institutions, has succeeded in identifying a new gene variant which is associated with elevated fasting glucose levels and...
(Issue date: 19 January 2009)
- Roche NimbleGen partners with Biogemma on the development of Sequence Capture technology for targeted high-throughput sequencing of crop genomes
Roche NimbleGen and Biogemma entered into a research agreement which will apply Roche NimbleGen’s array-based Sequence Capture complexity reduction technology to provide targeted re-sequencing of crop plant genomes. The goal of...
(Issue date: 11 January 2009)
- The Immortal Molecule
One of the most enduring questions is how life could have begun on Earth. Molecules that can make copies of themselves are thought to be crucial to understanding this process as they provide the basis for heritability, a critical...
(Issue date: 11 January 2009)
- IDT and LI-COR Biosciences Sign Agreement: IDT to Manufacture Oligos Incorporating IRDye Infrared Dyes
Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT), a world leader in oligonucleotide production, announces a license agreement with LI-COR Biosciences to manufacture oligos for worldwide sale using the unique LI-COR IRDye 700, IRDye 800, and...
(Issue date: 11 January 2009)
- Researchers First to "See" Reactive Oxygen Species in Vital Enzyme
Using two simultaneous light-based probing techniques at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, a team of researchers has illuminated important details about a class of enzymes involved in...
(Issue date: 11 January 2009)
- Discovery contributes to understanding the intricate mechanics of cell division
A group of Dartmouth researchers has found a new function for one of the proteins involved with chromosome segregation during cell division. Their finding adds to the growing knowledge about the fundamental workings of cells, and...
(Issue date: 11 January 2009)
- Research Shows Cell's Inactive State is Critical for Effectiveness of Cancer Treatment
A new study sheds light on a little understood biological process called quiescence, which enables blood-forming stem cells to exist in a dormant or inactive state in which they are not growing or dividing. According to the...
(Issue date: 11 January 2009)
- UQ scientists closing the zap on dengue fever
A mosquito-borne virus that each year harms up to 100 million people and kills more than 20,000 is a step closer to being controlled after a breakthrough by Queensland scientists.
Researchers from The University of Queensland...
(Issue date: 05 January 2009)
- Gene Mutations Linked to Statin Resistance
Scientists at Duke University Medical Center have identified genetic mutations that may help explain why some people don't respond very well to statins, drugs taken by millions of Americans to fight high cholesterol and prevent...
(Issue date: 05 January 2009)
- Grape Seed Extract Kills Laboratory Leukaemia Cells, Proving Value of Natural Compounds
An extract from grape seeds forces laboratory leukaemia cells to commit cell suicide, according to researchers from the University of Kentucky. They found that within 24 hours, 76 percent of leukaemia cells had died after being...
(Issue date: 05 January 2009)
- Fewer deaths with preventive antibiotics
Administering antibiotics as a preventive measure to patients in intensive care units (ICUs) increases their chances of survival. This has emerged from a study involving nearly six thousand Dutch patients in thirteen hospitals....
(Issue date: 05 January 2009)
