- Scientists reveal new pattern in our daily clock
Our brain’s daily clock encodes time in a complex pattern that was previously unknown, and not by simply increasing its activity as the day progresses, scientists have revealed.
The findings of a study turn a long-held theory on...
(Issue date: 11 October 2009)
- How RNA polymerase II gets the go-ahead for gene transcription
All cells perform certain basic functions. Each must selectively transcribe parts of the DNA that makes up its genome into RNAs that specify the structure of proteins. The set of proteins synthesised by a cell in turn determines...
(Issue date: 11 October 2009)
- ATP is a key to feel warm temperature
A Japanese research group led by Prof. Makoto Tominaga and Dr. Sravan Mandadi (National Institute for Physiological Sciences: NIPS) found that ATP plays a key role in transmitting temperature information from skin keratinocytes...
(Issue date: 11 October 2009)
- Three-dimensional structure of human genome deciphered
Scientists have deciphered the three-dimensional structure of the human genome, paving the way for new insights into genomic function and expanding our understanding of how cellular DNA folds at scales that dwarf the double...
(Issue date: 11 October 2009)
- Cholesterol necessary for brain development
A derivative of cholesterol is necessary for the formation of brain cells, according to a study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet. The results can help scientists to cultivate dopamine-producing cells...
(Issue date: 03 October 2009)
- Mechanism for Potential Friedreich's Ataxia Drug Uncovered
Using clever chemistry, a Scripps Research team has pinpointed the enzyme target of a drug group that stops the progression of the devastating disease Friedreich's ataxia in mice and may do the same for humans. The findings,...
(Issue date: 03 October 2009)
- Oestrogen link in male aggression sheds new light on sex-specific behaviours
Territorial behaviour in male mice might be linked to more "girl-power" than ever suspected, according to new findings at UCSF. For the first time, researchers have identified networks of nerve cells in the brain that are...
(Issue date: 03 October 2009)
- Oldest Hominid Skeleton Provides New Evidence for Human Evolution
A Los Alamos National Laboratory geologist is part of an international research team responsible for discovering the oldest nearly intact skeleton of Ardipithecus ramidus, who lived 4.4 million years ago. The discovery reveals...
(Issue date: 03 October 2009)
- Umbilical cord blood as a readily available source for off-the-shelf, patient-specific stem cells
Umbilical cord blood cells can successfully be reprogrammed to function like embryonic stem cells, setting the basis for the creation of a comprehensive bank of tissue-matched, cord blood-derived induced pluripotent stem (iPS)...
(Issue date: 03 October 2009)
- CSHL scientists identify protein that enhances long-term memory by controlling rest periods
As most good students realise, repeated studying produces good memory. Those who study a lot realise, further, that what they learn tends to be preserved longer in memory if they space out learning sessions between rest...
(Issue date: 03 October 2009)
- To regenerate muscle, cellular garbage men must become builders
Crucial role of macrophages in muscle regeneration uncovered by EMBL scientists
(Issue date: 24 September 2009)
- All tied up: Tethered protein provides long-sought answer
The tools of biochemistry have finally caught up with lactose repressor protein. Biologists from Rice University in Houston and the University of Florence in Italy this week published new results about "lac repressor," which was...
(Issue date: 24 September 2009)
- Explaining why pruning encourages plants to thrive
Scientists have shown that the main shoot dominates a plant’s growth principally because it was there first, rather than due to its position at the top of the plant.
Collaborating teams from the University of York in the UK and...
(Issue date: 24 September 2009)
- Rethinking Alzheimer's disease and its treatment targets
The standard explanation for what causes Alzheimer's is known as the amyloid hypothesis, which posits that the disease results from of an accumulation of the peptide amyloid beta, the toxic protein fragments that deposit in the...
(Issue date: 24 September 2009)
- Chemists Reach from the Molecular to the Real World with Creation of 3-D DNA Crystals
New York University chemists have created three-dimensional DNA structures, a breakthrough bridging the molecular world to the world where we live. The work also has a range of potential industrial and pharmaceutical...
(Issue date: 14 September 2009)
- Biologists discover "death stench" is a universal ancient warning signal
The smell of recent death or injury that repels living relatives of insects has been identified as a truly ancient signal that functions to avoid disease or predators, biologists have discovered. David Rollo, professor of biology...
(Issue date: 14 September 2009)
- When Proteins Change Partners
Dieter Wolf, M.D., and colleagues at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have illuminated how competition between proteins enhances combinatorial diversity during ubiquitination (the process that marks proteins for...
(Issue date: 14 September 2009)
- Scientists Discover Mechanism to Make Existing Antibiotics More Effective at Lower Doses
A new study by researchers at the NYU School of Medicine reveals a conceptually novel mechanism that plays an important role in making human pathogens like Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus anthracis resistant to numerous...
(Issue date: 14 September 2009)
- U-M researchers find gene that protects high-fat-diet mice from obesity
University of Michigan researchers have identified a gene that acts as a master switch to control obesity in mice. When the switch is turned off, even high-fat-diet mice remain thin.
Deleting the gene, called IKKE, also appears...
(Issue date: 14 September 2009)
- We're all mutants, say scientists
Each of us has at least 100 new mutations in our DNA, according to research. Scientists have been trying to get an accurate estimate of the mutation rate for over 70 years. However, only now has it been possible to get a reliable...
(Issue date: 05 September 2009)
