Navigation Links
Scientists develop new method to investigate origin of life
Date:9/2/2008

Scientists at Penn State have developed a new computational method that they say will help them to understand how life began on Earth. The team's method has the potential to trace the evolutionary histories of proteins all the way back to either cells or viruses, thus settling the debate once and for all over which of these life forms came first. "We have just begun to tap the potential power of this method," said Randen Patterson, a Penn State assistant professor of biology and one of the project's leaders. "We believe, if it is possible at all, that it is within our grasp to determine whether viruses evolved from cells or vice-versa."

The new computational method will be described in a paper to be published in a future issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The journal also will post the paper on the early on-line section of its Web site sometime during the week ending 6 September 2008.

The team is focusing on an ancient group of proteins, called retroelements, which comprise approximately 50 percent of the human genome by weight and are a crucial component in a number of diseases, including AIDS. "Retroelements are an ancient and highly diverse class of proteins; therefore, they provide a rigorous benchmark for us to test our approach. We are happy with the results we derived, even though our method is in an early stage," said Patterson. The team plans to make the algorithms that they used in their method available to others as open-source software that is freely available on the Web.

Scientists map out the evolutionary histories of organisms by comparing their genetic and/or protein sequences. Those organisms that are closely related and share a recent common ancestor have greater degrees of similarity among their sequences. In their paper, the researchers describe how they used 11 groups of the retroelement proteins -- ranging from bacteria to human HIV -- to trace the evolutio
'/>"/>

Contact: Barbara K. Kennedy
science@psu.edu
818-633-4682
Penn State
Source:Eurekalert  

Page: 1 2 3

Related biology news :

1. UK scientists working to help cut ID theft
2. Scientists show that mitochondrial DNA variants are linked to risk factors for type 2 diabetes
3. Comet probes reveal evidence of origin of life, scientists claim
4. Scientists link fragile X tremor/ataxia syndrome to binding protein in RNA
5. Male elephants get photo IDs from scientists
6. Scientists retrace evolution with first atomic structure of an ancient protein
7. Muscle mass: Scientists identify novel mode of transcriptional regulation during myogenesis
8. Carnegie Mellon scientists develop nanogels that enable controlled delivery of carbohydrate drugs
9. Clemson scientists shed light on molecules in living cells
10. Scientists tackle mystery mountain illness
11. T. rex quicker than Becks, say scientists
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
Related Image:
Scientists develop new method to investigate origin of life
Scientists develop new method to investigate origin of life
(Date:1/9/2009)... , Now, a pair of Scripps Research Institute scie...ng that question. The scientists have synthesized ...themselves without the help of any proteins or oth...ndefinitely. , The work was published on Thursd...anced, online edition of the journal Science . ,...
(Date:1/9/2009)... , HOBOKEN, N.J. Citing the importance of proper... Stevens Institute of Technology has received a gr...ls of undergraduate students. , Through a $25,0...on, the Writing and Communications at the Institut...workshops to engineering students in their junior ...
(Date:1/8/2009)... , Researchers have uncovered why some dietary fa...id (found in olive oil), are more prone to induce ...te increased intestinal absorption of pro-inflamma...s (LPS). This study appears in the January issue o...ains (such as those found in milk and cheese produ...
(Date:1/8/2009)... , , Boulder, CO, USA - GEOLOGY topics include...hysical data from the Black Sea, hazardous volcani... erosion rates, surface cracks in the Atacama Dese...onds, Earth,s magnetic field and the cosmic-ray-cl...fic, early marine fossils preserved in French ambe...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Scripps scientists develop first examples of RNA that replicates itself indefinitely 2Scripps scientists develop first examples of RNA that replicates itself indefinitely 3Scripps scientists develop first examples of RNA that replicates itself indefinitely 4Stevens receives $25,000 grant from the Engineering Information Foundation 2January GEOLOGY media highlights 2January GEOLOGY media highlights 3January GEOLOGY media highlights 4January GEOLOGY media highlights 5January GEOLOGY media highlights 6January GEOLOGY media highlights 7January GEOLOGY media highlights 8January GEOLOGY media highlights 9January GEOLOGY media highlights 10January GEOLOGY media highlights 11January GEOLOGY media highlights 12Health Insurance Industry Hosts Roundtable Discussion on Health Care Reform in Albuquerque 26180 1Health Insurance Industry Hosts Roundtable Discussion on Health Care Reform in Albuquerque 26180 2Health Insurance Industry Hosts Roundtable Discussion on Health Care Reform in Albuquerque 26180 3NewsRx Adds Pediatrics and Psychiatry Titles 7584 1NewsRx Adds Pediatrics and Psychiatry Titles 7584 2Intarcia Therapeutics Inc Announces Appointment of Kenneth Luskey M D as Vice President Clinical Research 7582 1Intarcia Therapeutics Inc Announces Appointment of Kenneth Luskey M D as Vice President Clinical Research 7582 2Intarcia Therapeutics Inc Announces Appointment of Kenneth Luskey M D as Vice President Clinical Research 7582 3Advanced blood analysis may speed diagnosis of heart attacks 26177 1Advanced blood analysis may speed diagnosis of heart attacks 26177 2Advanced blood analysis may speed diagnosis of heart attacks 26177 3
... Virus appears to be triggered by a complex intera...ather patterns, scientists say, which leads to "am...ons. , Researchers from Oregon State University an...ose factors mesh to create heightened risk of the ... to expand their studies to the rest of the nation...
... real age? Just look at their hands, reports a stu... Surgery®, the official medical journal of the Ame...ng to the study, most people can accurately tell a...imary motivation to have plastic surgery is to loo...ing appearance. However, looking younger after yo...
...e discovery of a novel class of mutations that dis...ecific phenotype. The mutation created the appeara...ion site in a gene that did not have it in its nor...e myostatin. This gene is expressed in the skeleta...s to inhibit muscular growth. The mutation discove...
...rsity of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center have gained n...evelops and then commits itself to a specific role... during which a cell has been designated to play a...n as such. , The discovery provides a new vantage ...m develops. It also raises the possibility of re-d...
Other Biology News:New strategy developed to combat West Nile Virus 2New strategy developed to combat West Nile Virus 3The appearance of your hands can reveal your age, study finds 2Study provides first look at the 'birth' of a retina cell 2Study provides first look at the 'birth' of a retina cell 3
(Date:1/9/2009)...ecial Meeting to Enable Stockholders to Determine ...ransaction Proposed by MediciNova, Inc. Offers Avi...nity , , SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 9 ...ffiliates ("BVF") today announced that it has requ...("Avigen") (Nasdaq: AVGN ) call a Special Meetin...
(Date:1/9/2009)...Jan. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Victhom Human Bion...e unveiling of its updated corporate Website at w...ure that highlights advances in the Company,s two ...ing an implantable neurostimulation device for gai...d manufacturing computerized prostheses for above-...
(Date:1/9/2009)...TH, N.J., Jan. 9 Scherin... live audio webcast of a presentation by Thomas P....sident, Schering-Plough Research Institute, at the...San Francisco on Monday, Jan. 12, at approximately...ected to talk about the company,s R&D pipeline...
(Date:1/9/2009)...RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. and SANTA CLARA, Cali...ne and XenoPort, Inc. announced today that GSK has... U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requestin... Extended Release Tablets for the treatment of m...RLS). , , The FDA had requested that the data...
Breaking Biology Technology:Biotechnology Value Fund, L.P. Calls Special Meeting of Avigen Stockholders To Remove Incumbent Directors and Elect Slate of Stockholder-Focused Nominees 2Biotechnology Value Fund, L.P. Calls Special Meeting of Avigen Stockholders To Remove Incumbent Directors and Elect Slate of Stockholder-Focused Nominees 3Biotechnology Value Fund, L.P. Calls Special Meeting of Avigen Stockholders To Remove Incumbent Directors and Elect Slate of Stockholder-Focused Nominees 4Biotechnology Value Fund, L.P. Calls Special Meeting of Avigen Stockholders To Remove Incumbent Directors and Elect Slate of Stockholder-Focused Nominees 5Victhom Announces Launch of Enhanced Company Website 2GSK and XenoPort Resubmit New Drug Application for Solzira(TM) in Restless Legs Syndrome 2GSK and XenoPort Resubmit New Drug Application for Solzira(TM) in Restless Legs Syndrome 3
...rt of a local equity investor, an early-stage vide...re-production game development, and it is intent o... Microsoft , Sony , and Nintnedo . , ,Selling it...hallenge for Frozen Codebase Productions, LLC an...tment will help. Frozen Codebase received a $270,0...
...g FDA clearance for two new brain imaging applicat...repared to market its products to healthcare provi...inistration Center for Devices and Radiologic Heal...d two new products to its line of brain mapping so...etic resonance imaging technology. , ,These produc...
...ld, an electronic voter registration database woul...al dilemma that Florida faced after the 2000 presi...abase across the state has proved problematic and ... ticking. , ,The Web-based, statewide voter regist...he Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002 was suppo...
...ert Scoble (formerly with Microsoft, now with Pod...a marketing site without an RSS feed." http://sco... there are many marketers who should be out on the...ecent study, Jupiter Research found that only 29...n sales were currently publishing content using RS...
Other Biology Technology:Emerging game developer begins work on prototypes 2Kyron wins FDA approval for brain imaging technology 2Cities unsure about voter registration software 2Cities unsure about voter registration software 3Cities unsure about voter registration software 4Cities unsure about voter registration software 5No RSS feed? You're fired! 2No RSS feed? You're fired! 3No RSS feed? You're fired! 4
Request Info
Request Info
Request Info
Bethyl Laboratories packages antibodies, conjugates and calibrators to provide quantitative ELISA kits. Each kit contains the following components, sufficient for 1000 single well assays.
Biology Products: