- New secretary general at Europabio
EuropaBio announces that Nathalie Moll has been appointed as Secretary General from 1 April this year. “Nathalie brings with her a wealth of experience in biotechnology and European public policy, gained bothat an EU and Member...
(Issue date: 21 February 2010)
- Video of virus in action shows viruses can spread faster than thought possible
New video footage of a virus infecting cells is challenging what researchers have long believed about how viruses spread, suggesting that scientists may be able to create new drugs to tackle some viruses. Previously, viruses were...
(Issue date: 24 January 2010)
- Scientists discover cells critical to cause and relapse of childhood leukaemia
Scientists at The Royal Melbourne Hospital and the University of Melbourne have discovered the cells that cause a common type of childhood leukaemia - T cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (T-ALL). Targeting of these cells may...
(Issue date: 24 January 2010)
- Study Reveals Unexpected Function for Seemingly Redundant Protein
In a surprising finding, researchers at North Carolina State University have discovered the critical importance of a protein previously believed to be a redundant "on switch" for certain immune-system responses.
Scientists...
(Issue date: 24 January 2010)
- Lack of cellular enzyme triggers switch in glucose processing
A study investigating how a cellular enzyme affects blood glucose levels in mice provides clues to pathways that may be involved in processes including the regulation of longevity and the proliferation of tumour cells....
(Issue date: 24 January 2010)
- Researchers identify a new gene involved in autophagy, the cellular recycling programme
All cells are equipped with a recycling programme to collect and remove unnecessary cellular components. Autophagy sequesters and digests aged organelles, damaged proteins and other components, which, if not disintegrated and...
(Issue date: 24 January 2010)
- New genetic map will speed up plant breeding of the world's most important medicinal crop
Plant scientists at the University of York have published the first genetic map of the medicinal herb Artemisia annua.
The map is being used to accelerate plant breeding of Artemisia and rapidly develop the species into a...
(Issue date: 17 January 2010)
- Green Sea Slug Is Part Animal, Part Plant
It’s easy being green for a sea slug that has stolen enough genes to become the first animal shown to make chlorophyll like a plant.
Shaped like a leaf itself, the slug Elysia chlorotica already has a reputation for kidnapping...
(Issue date: 17 January 2010)
- ANGIOTENSIN RECEPTOR BLOCKERS ASSOCIATED WITH LOWER INCIDENCE, PROGRESSION OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have found that angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs)—a particular class of anti-hypertensive medicines—are associated with a striking decrease in the occurrence and...
(Issue date: 17 January 2010)
- Key Mechanism for the Proliferation of Epstein-Barr Virus Discovered
Scientists of Helmholtz Zentrum München have elucidated a crucial mechanism in the lytic cycle of Epstein-Barr virus. A team of researchers led by Professor Wolfgang Hammerschmidt identified the function of a protein which plays...
(Issue date: 17 January 2010)
- Cancer Stem Cells Suppress Immune Response Against Brain Tumour
Cancer-initiating cells that launch glioblastoma multiforme, the most lethal type of brain tumour, also suppress an immune system attack on the disease, scientists from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report...
(Issue date: 17 January 2010)
- Sequencing wasp genome sheds new light on sexual parasite
About 100 million years ago, the bacterium Wolbachia came up with a trick that has made it one of the most successful parasites in the animal kingdom: It evolved the ability to manipulate the sex lives of its hosts.
"When it...
(Issue date: 17 January 2010)
- New insights into mushroom-derived drug promising for cancer treatment
A promising cancer drug, first discovered in a mushroom commonly used in Chinese medicine, could be made more effective thanks to researchers who have discovered how the drug works. The research was carried out by The University...
(Issue date: 10 January 2010)
- Marseillevirus, a new member of the giant viruses
After Mimivirus, Mamavirus and the virophage, the group of giant viruses now has a new member called Marseillevirus. Discovered in an amoeba by the team led by Didier Raoult at the Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses...
(Issue date: 10 January 2010)
- Study in mice indicates long-term exposure to electromagnetic waves emitted by cell phones may even boost normal memory
The millions of people who spend hours every day on a cell phone, may have a new excuse for yakking. A surprising new study in mice provides the first evidence that long-term exposure to electromagnetic waves associated with cell...
(Issue date: 10 January 2010)
- What came first in the origin of life?
A research published rejects the theory that the origin of life stems from a system of self-catalytic molecules capable of experiencing Darwinian evolution without the need of RNA or DNA and its replication. The research, which...
(Issue date: 10 January 2010)
- Sleeping Beauty Hooks Up with Herpes to Fight Brain Disease
Neuroscientists have forged an unlikely molecular union as part of their fight against diseases of the brain and nervous system. The team has brought together the herpes virus and a molecule known as Sleeping Beauty to improve a...
(Issue date: 10 January 2010)
- Discovery of a new molecular mechanism that guides visual nerves towards the brain
The laboratory of Dr. Frédéric Charron, a researcher at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), has discovered a new molecular mechanism that permits the guidance of visual nerves towards the brain. The research...
(Issue date: 10 January 2010)
- Scientists Crack Mystery of Protein's Dual Function
Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute have solved a 10-year-old mystery of how a single protein from an ancient family of enzymes can have two completely distinct roles in the body. In addition to providing guidance for...
(Issue date: 04 January 2010)
- Evolution caught in the act
Mutations are the raw material of evolution. Charles Darwin already recognised that evolution depends on heritable differences between individuals: those who are better adapted to the environment have better chances to pass on...
(Issue date: 04 January 2010)
