color

Timing is everything: First step in protein building revealed

...scent chemicals subtly interact, which changes the color orwavelength of light that is given off. If the di...ance between thefluorescent molecules changes, the color of the emitted light changesas well.The researchers successfully used this phenomenon, known asfluor...

Color-blind method opens new doors in DNA sequencing

...d. A common problem with the technique is that the color of light emitted by the dyes is similar. Even with complex computer programs to assist in deciphering the signals, this "cross-talk" between the dyes results in subtle variations that can cause nucleotides to be miscalled. The new method developed a...

Purdue proves concept of using nano-materials for drug discovery

...ed the devices with an enzyme that produces a blue color when combined with a liquid that contains molecules small enough to easily pass through the pores. The enzyme, which is a protein, was placed inside the vessels - on the inner surface of the alumina membranes - and the liquid was placed outside each ...

Scientists discover the cellular roots of graying hair

...kin cancer. Thescientists traced the loss of hair color to the gradual dying off ofadult stem cells that f...ines withhair-making cells called keratinocytes to color the hair, arespecialized cells spawned by colorless melanocyte stem cells. Thesecells were discovere...

Fundamental Finding Yields Insight into Stem Cells, Cancer; Opens Door to Drug Discovery

...kin cancer. Thescientists traced the loss of hair color to the gradual dying off ofadult stem cells that f...ines withhair-making cells called keratinocytes to color the hair, arespecialized cells spawned by colorless melanocyte stem cells. Thesecells were discovere...

Weizmann Institute scientists develop a new approach for directing treatment to metastasized prostate cancer in the bones.

...kin cancer. Thescientists traced the loss of hair color to the gradual dying off ofadult stem cells that f...ines withhair-making cells called keratinocytes to color the hair, arespecialized cells spawned by colorless melanocyte stem cells. Thesecells were discovere...

ASU researchers finds novel chemistry at work to provide parrot's vibrant red colors

...d defies previous assumptions and explanations for color variations in parrots, said Kevin McGraw, an assis...w. "This research is exposing a whole new world of color communication in parrots and the potential physiological and biochemical roles of the new molecules ...

Transport System Smuggles Medicines Into Brain

...d defies previous assumptions and explanations for color variations in parrots, said Kevin McGraw, an assis...w. "This research is exposing a whole new world of color communication in parrots and the potential physiological and biochemical roles of the new molecules ...

Scientists develop new color-coded test for protein folding

...ave developed a simple test that instantly changes color when a protein molecule attached to a gold nanoparticle folds or unfolds. The new technique, which works on the same principle as ordinary pH tests that measure the acidity of water, is described in the March 2005 issue of the journal Chemistry and B...

New insight into people who 'see' colors in letters and numbers

...he synesthetes really were seeing the colors, that color perception would help them distinguish shapes such...experiment, the researchers found that synesthetic color helped the synesthetes pick out specific numbers or letters in a crowded display. The researchers f...

Ophthalmologists Use Artificial Silicon Retina Microchip To Treat Vision Loss

...cluded the ability to read letters, improvement in color vision, and expansion of their visual field. Some patients gained new ability to recognize facial features -- something that they were unable to do before ASR chip implantation. Some patients have experienced improvement in activities of daily living...

Ophthalmologists implant five patients with artificial silicon retina microchip

...cluded the ability to read letters, improvement in color vision, and expansion of their visual field. Some patients gained new ability to recognize facial features -- something that they were unable to do before ASR chip implantation. Some patients have experienced improvement in activities of daily living...

Chemicals in tattoo inks need closer scrutiny

...U.S. Food and Drug Administration as cosmetics and color additives, the agency has not traditionally regula...erent brands of black ink as it is the most common color used in tattoos," Finley-Jones says. The researchers also are testing three different brands of red,...

Revolutionary nanotechnology illuminates brain cells at work

...this activity under the microscope by watching the color change. We stimulated the neurons and watched them secrete glutamate in response. We also saw the removal of the glutamate as the neurons returned to normal ready to fire again." "This is a tremendously exciting technology," remarked Wolf Frommer, l...

NASA study finds snow melt causes large ocean plant blooms

...nd colleagues used satellite observations of ocean color to show phytoplankton concentrations in the Western Arabian Sea have increased by more than 350 percent over the past seven years. The study is in this week's SCIENCE magazine When winter and spring snow cover is low over Eurasia, the amount of sola...

Bioelectronic ‘signatures?hold key to DNA mutations

...rily cause a mutation or determine our eye or hair color ?but, on average, SNPs occur about once in every 1,000 DNA bases, adding up to 3 million potential individual differences across the human genome. Wang’s method allows for an accurate, ultra-sensitive, rapid and low-cost identification of these SNP v...

Bee mites suppress bee immunity, open door for viruses and bacteria

...es are about the size of a pin head, dark brown in color and visible on close inspection. This bee mite probably arose in the Eastern or Chinese Honey Bee population and hopped over to the United States in 1987. They quickly infested western or European honey bees. One sign of infection is the presence of...

Bees, Brains and Addiction

...f bees. Bees learn to land on a tile of a certain color after they are rewarded just once with sugar water for landing on that color. A single nerve cell in a bee's brain, Sejnowski explains, is responsible for deciding if the information coming from the senses predicts the sugar reward and signaling to t...

New tool reveals secrets of migrating cells

...e glow and the cells light up. A certain energy or color of laser light is needed to make the dye, in this case green fluorescent protein, glow. But high-frequency, short-wavelength visible light, like green, doesn't penetrate tissue as deeply as longer, redder wavelengths. The idea behind two-photon imag...

Microscopic brain imaging in the palm of your hand

...ssue fluoresces, or radiates, light of a different color in response. However, a problem with one-photon fluorescence is that the deep tissue causes the photons to ricochet, or scatter, as they return to the detector. The result is a background haze in the images, almost like viewing the sample through a ...

Looks matter to female barn swallows

... females judge males by their looks -- the reddish color of the males' breast and belly feathers. If the m...hrogaster ) males have a wash of reddish-chestnut color from their throats to their bellies, and this color varies among birds from very pale red-brown to a...

Gambling monkeys give insight into neural machinery of risk

... we made the task more interesting by changing the color of the lights on each trial, the monkeys didn't care anything about it." In fact, when the researchers made the average payoff for the risky target less than for the safe target, "we found that they still preferred the risky target," said Platt. "B...

MSU researchers receive $4 million grant to uncover gene functions

...culture. The chloroplast gives green plants their color and carries out photosynthesis and produces oxygen. It can be thought of as the world's life-support system. It is an attractive target for biotechnology because it produces many different molecules important to agriculture and human health, such as ...

Tagging pathogens with synthetic DNA 'barcodes'

...ria and ebola and SARS viruses, and have found the color codes could clearly distinguish several different ... coli bacterial DNA, only probes with a particular color code will be programmed to bind to that DNA. The results can be seen under a fluorescent light micro...

Aloe vera coating may prolong freshness, safety of fruits and vegetables

... grapes were firmer, had less weight loss and less color change than the untreated grapes, measures which correspond to higher freshness, they say. A sensory panel (10 people) evaluated the quality of both the untreated and the gel-treated grapes by consuming some of the grapes. They found that the gel-tr...

Colorful bacteria more dangerous

...ed that the molecules that give certain bugs their color also help them resist attack by immune cells calle... be cause more disease than colorless strains. The color of these bugs comes from anti-oxidant molecules called carotenoids. Similar molecules also give carr...

'Underground' tunnels discovered as means for communication between immune system cells

...arance of the thin membranes, there were bursts of color indicative of calcium flux. Given their earlier results, the researchers anticipated that by repeating the experiment with macrophages there'd be no response. But as luck would have it, the microscopic bacteria sample somehow got clogged inside the t...

New technique could alter field of mouse genetics

...escent protein and an enzyme that changes the coat color of a white mouse to grey or black. The transposon acts as a genetic beacon, so researchers can easily track its location without having to sequence the entire genome, as can happen with the chemical mutagen technique. In three months, the two gradua...

Quick identification needed to save Florida's citrus industry from devastating disease

...roughout the tree with lopsided fruit that fail to color properly. Citrus greening has seriously affected citrus production in Asia, Africa, the Indian subcontinent and the Arabian Peninsula, and was recently discovered in Brazil. ...

Out of sight, out of mind? Not necessarily

... accuracy for both the directional orientation and color tasks was significantly above chance," said Tony Ro, associate professor of psychology and principal investigator for the study. "Even though the human primary visual cortex activity was temporarily shut down, it's clear that detailed visual informa...

A step toward the $1,000 personal genome using readily available lab equipment

... revealing the identity of the base. Recording the color data from multiple passes over the same sequences, a camera documents the results and routes them to computers that reinterpret the data as a linear sequence of base pairs. In their study, the researchers matched the sequence information against a r...

Color perception is not in the eye of the beholder: It's in the brain

...roscience, strongly suggest that our perception of color is controlled much more by our brains than by our ...f the Center for Visual Science. "We've shown that color perception goes far beyond the hardware of the eye, and that leads to a lot of interesting questions...

Female butterflies go for sparkle -- not size -- when choosing to mate

...ng decisions. "It's very easy to change the size, color composition and shape of these patterns, using artificial selection," said Monteiro. "The question then becomes, 'Why do these populations remain unchanged?' What are the selective forces that maintain these patterns constant through time in any one ...

Method slashes quantum dot costs by 80 percent

...ibilities discussed for quantum dots - bioimaging, color displays, lasers, etc. - relate to their size-controlled fluorescence. For example, CdSe quantum dots have the ability to absorb high-energy photons of ultraviolet light and re-emit them as photons of visible light. They glow different colors, depend...

The right drug at the right time

...ibilities discussed for quantum dots - bioimaging, color displays, lasers, etc. - relate to their size-controlled fluorescence. For example, CdSe quantum dots have the ability to absorb high-energy photons of ultraviolet light and re-emit them as photons of visible light. They glow different colors, depend...

Scientists closer to new cancer detection method

...be inside a few drops of body fluid or blood and a color change would be an indication of the existence of a cancer biomarker in the body. In that event, the person could seek a more thorough examination." ...

Gene therapy works in mice to prevent blindness that strikes boys

...ds and cones that help the brain process light and color - were spared from the disease and the connections between the layers of the retinas were intact. In addition, the protein appears capable of moving within the retina to its target sites and the beneficial changes appear to be long lasting, research...

Protein behind autumn color splendor identified

... now identified a protein that helps bring out the color splendor of plants in the fall. The research team's findings are being published in the scientific journal PNAS, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . The different pigments in a leaf are bound to different proteins. Most of the chl...

Sudden change in social status triggers genetic response in male fish, study finds

...ing male undergoes a rapid metamorphosis. His body color changes from dull gray to flashy blue or yellow, a...dergo a temporary change in the dark--their bright color turns pale, and their eyebar fades. "But when the lights come on, the dominant male slowly reactivat...

Toasty oat aroma influenced by presence of health-linked polyphenols

...produces desirable changes, such as a golden brown color and toasty aroma, but also can sometimes cause off...produces desirable changes, such as a golden brown color and toasty aroma, but also can sometimes cause off-flavors or stale odors. The reaction not only pr...

Chemical compound inhibits tumor growth, size in new mouse study

...produces desirable changes, such as a golden brown color and toasty aroma, but also can sometimes cause off...produces desirable changes, such as a golden brown color and toasty aroma, but also can sometimes cause off-flavors or stale odors. The reaction not only pr...

Multiple genes permit closely related fish species to mix and match their color vision

...vered clues to understanding how the components of color vision can undergo change over a relatively short ...e cichlids offer a unique opportunity to study how color vision can undergo change in rapidly evolving species. For example, because color plays a significan...

Brain activity related to processing faces is similar in people with, without autism

...in black and white, fMRI offers digitally enhanced color images of brain function, depicting localized changes in blood flow and oxygenation. When particular regions of the brain increase their neural activity in association with various actions or thought processes, they emit enhanced blood oxygen level...

Portable cocaine sensor developed at UC Santa Barbara

... cocaine manufacturers add a chemical to block the color change. "Our sensor can detect cocaine no matter what they have cut it with: powdered sugar, flour, or the coffee that is sometimes used to mask the smell from dogs." At this point the new sensor detects cocaine in the blood or saliva to a degree of...

Newly identified mechanism helps explain why people of African descent are more vulnerable to TB

...her levels of melanin -- the pigment that provides color to skin absorbs UV light and reduces African Americans' ability to produce vitamin D. When the macrophages were stimulated by molecules of the tubercle bacillus that trigger Toll-like receptors, the research team found that cells cultured in serum pr...

Behavioral studies show UV contributes to marsupial color vision

...ce that marsupials, like primates, have functional color vision based on three different types of color photoreceptor cones--but unlike primates, a component of marsupial color vision includes sensitivity...

Sea coral's trick helps scientists tag proteins

...intense pulse of visible blue light. The dramatic color change "makes it possible to precisely label an object, such as a cell, organelle, or protein, with a flash of light and then to follow the object's movement over time," said Konstantin Lukyanov, whose group conducted the Dendra research in the lab o...

Cuttlefish masters of disguise despite colorblindness

... researchers tested cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) color perception through observing the animal's behavior...eckerboard pattern when placed on substrates whose color intensities were matched to the Sepia visual system, suggesting that these checkerboards appeared to...

Lizard 'third eye' sheds light on evolution of color vision

...lex animals like humans. Although the blue-green color comparison method used by the parietal eye is not ...does reveal one potential step in the evolution of color vision, the Hopkins researchers say. Human light-reception cells responsible for color vision are c...

African amphibians make extreme parental sacrifice: The skin off their backs

...observations, coupled with the unusually pale skin color of mothers caring for young, led Nussbaum and colleagues to speculate that S. annulatus hatchlings fed on glandular secretions from the mother's skin, but the scientists never observed such behavior. In the current study, the team collected 21 B. ta...

The diversity of marine life in the Gulf of Maine region is much greater than previously thought

...es that give otherwise blue oceans (reflecting the color of the sky) their varying colors. Two of the microscopic plant species are of the genus Alexandrium and are the source of the paralytic shellfish poisoning known as "red tide." A major red tide swept the New England coast in 2005, shutting down t...

Poison dart frog mimics gain when birds learn to stay away

.... "A mimic species can actually become a different color pattern if it can enjoy the protection of the pred...reak down because predators would stop associating color patterns with toxicity.) If the mimics looked like the more toxic species, they might fall prey to ...

Study may help slay 'Yellow Monster'

...rade uranium ore is nicknamed "yellowcake" for its color and powdered consistency. The Navajo have another name: Leetso, or "yellow monster." The yellow monster surfaced on the Navajo Nation with uranium mining that started in the 1940s and continued for the next several decades. In its aftermath came ill...

Plastic surgeons countdown first full facial transplantation

... impossible to match the skin quality, texture and color of the face with any other tissue available on the...rgically match facial skin texture, pliability and color is through facial transplantation. "There is no doubt that facial transplantation can improve the ...

Major obesity gene is 'lost in the shuffle'

...n other physiological processes ?ranging from hair color determination to energy homeostasis. Mice that over-produce ASIP are extremely obese, exhibit symptoms of diabetes, and have yellow fur, while mice that lack the ASIP gene are black in color. The gene is widely expressed in tissues throughout t...

Iron critical to ocean productivity, carbon uptake

...wait to begin dividing and growing. But that green color wasn't an indication of health, it was an indication of stress from a lack of iron." The study is also important because it looked at the availability of iron throughout the tropical Pacific Ocean instead of small portions of it. Behrenfeld and his ...

MIT 'seeing machine' offers hope to blind

...w working toward a large-scale clinical trial of a color seeing machine (the device tested in the pilot trial was black and white). With the color version, participants can explore a museum gallery containing some of Goldring's art. When a person ...

UF scientists restore sight to chickens with blinding disease

... retinal diseases." Like people, chickens possess color vision and function best in daylight. The predominant photoreceptor cell type in the chicken retina, the cone cell, is the same cell type that is essential for normal human vision. To develop the treatment, UF scientists constructed a virus able to...

Study supports 'urgent' need for worldwide ban on lead-based paint

...etal previously used to improve the durability and color luster of paint used in homes and other buildings and on steel structures, such as bridges. Now scientifically linked to impaired intellectual and physical growth in children, lead is also found in some commonly imported consumer products, including ...

Snakes' virtual glasses, leopard spots and all-optical transistors

... surface of a metal. Varying the intensity and the color of the control beam causes the plasmons to interact in ways that enhance or decrease the transmission of the signal beam through the film. That is, the film acts as an all-optical transistor, with the potential to serve as a building block in optical...