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Tag: "blocks" at biology news

Redesigned protein accelerates blood clotting

...le amino acid (out of the more than 2,300 building blocks making up factor VIII) with the potential, if replaced, to change the performance of entire protein. Researchers proved the theory in the current study by swapping out a glutamic acid naturally occurring at a specific point in a calcium binding site ...

Gene expands malaria's invasion options

...r means of entry. "If both genes are disrupted, it blocks both ways of getting in," he says. ...

Genomic sequences processed in minutes, rather than weeks

...rk that is essential to understanding the building blocks of the genome -- or rather, how they work and fit together. Genomes represent an organism's entire DNA, including its genes. When the gene's sequences are analyzed they can provide clues to diseases and possible treatments. Using ScalaBLAST, researc...

Researcher gets NSF grant to create mutant maize lines

...of nutrition, researchers might target a gene that blocks an enzyme used in the pathway that processes beta carotene, or vitamin A, thereby creating a maize plant rich in the vitamin. The project is especially important given the breadth of uses for maize, Brutnell adds. "If you walk into a grocery store, ...

Scientists discover the body's marijuana-like compounds are crucial for stress-induced pain relief

...ornia-Irvine, is the discoverer of a compound that blocks the breakdown of this marijuana-like compound call...could work similar to something like Prozac, which blocks the body's reuptake of the compound serotonin, causing it to be active longer, Hohmann said. Appare...

Bioinformatics reveals new gene regulation system

... These enzymes convert the ribonucleotide building blocks of RNA into the deoxyribonucleotides used to build DNA. This conversion is critical for duplicating a bacterium's entire genome before it divides to reproduce. The search revealed a conserved palindromic sequence occurring upstream of many ribonucle...

MicroRNAs play a big part in gene regulation - and evolution

... and then translated into the amino acids building blocks of proteins. But not all genes code for proteins--some make RNA molecules called microRNAs. These small RNA molecules interfere with--and therefore control--the production of proteins. A new paper in PLoS Computational Biology shows how important mic...

Stem cell treatment improves mobility after spinal cord injury

...endrocyte cells. Oligodendrocytes are the building blocks of myelin, the biological insulation for nerve fibers that is critical for maintenance of electrical conduction in the central nervous system. When myelin is stripped away through disease or injury, sensory and motor deficiencies result and, in some ...

Gene silencing technique offers new strategy for treating, curing disease

...ic acid, or PNA, which physically binds to DNA and blocks enzymes from copying, or transcribing, the DNA into messenger RNA. More importantly, the researchers also employed RNA itself as a silencing agent. Previous work by other scientists had shown that RNA might be able to target chromosomal DNA, so once...

Tamoxifen-like drug suggests new ways to selectively block estrogen

... estrogen and block others. For example, tamoxifen blocks the effects of estrogen in the breast and thus is widely used to treat and prevent breast cancers that depend on estrogen. But it has the opposite effect in the uterus, acting like estrogen to stimulate tissue growth and increasing the risk of uterin...

Life detection instrument passes key test on road to Mars

...uld unambiguously detect amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. More importantly, she and Mathies were able to detect the preference of Earth's amino acids for left-handedness over right-handedness. This "homochirality" is a hallmark of life that Mathies thinks is a critical test that must be done on...

Eliminate Data Analysis Bottlenecks in Drug Discovery

...se." A current diabetes-fighting drug, metformin, blocks steps in the glucose-making process, but the new research identifies a critical regulatory step the researchers say could be targeted as well. PGC1, which Puigserver isolated and cloned in 1998 as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard, controls gene expr...

Computational verification of protein-protein interactions by orthologous co-expression

...se." A current diabetes-fighting drug, metformin, blocks steps in the glucose-making process, but the new research identifies a critical regulatory step the researchers say could be targeted as well. PGC1, which Puigserver isolated and cloned in 1998 as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard, controls gene expr...

PHACCS, an online tool for estimating the structure and diversity of uncultured viral communities using metagenomic information

...se." A current diabetes-fighting drug, metformin, blocks steps in the glucose-making process, but the new research identifies a critical regulatory step the researchers say could be targeted as well. PGC1, which Puigserver isolated and cloned in 1998 as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard, controls gene expr...

Future diabetes drugs may target new protein interaction

...se." A current diabetes-fighting drug, metformin, blocks steps in the glucose-making process, but the new research identifies a critical regulatory step the researchers say could be targeted as well. PGC1, which Puigserver isolated and cloned in 1998 as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard, controls gene expr...

To Stop Evolution: New Way Of Fighting Antibiotic Resistance Demonstrated By Scripps Scientists

...ied a master regulatory switch that, if inhibited, blocks the ability of the cells to mutate. This was the protein LexA, which belongs to the class of signaling enzymes known as serine proteases and works by cutting the amino acid chain of other proteins. Romesberg and his colleagues showed that LexA's act...

Molecular fossils uncover link between viruses and the immune system

...e plausible explanation may be that viral building blocks served as precursors for the evolutionary more recent immune system of animals. These results are an outcome of recent advances in structural biology, a new discipline integrating applied physics, biochemistry and biology, which have permitted detai...

Defensins Ward Off HIV In Two Ways

...he authors also show that the way alpha-defensin-1 blocks HIV infection in cells is by inhibiting a CD4+ cell-signaling molecule called PKC. The finding that alpha-defensin-1 acts on both the virus and the cell offers insights into the function of alpha-defensin-1 in innate immunity against HIV. In additio...

Roots Engage in Underground Chemical Warfare

... exposure to the antimicrobial substances, it also blocks the plant's ability to produce them. Both Vivanco and Ausubel are supported by separate awards from the division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences at the National Science Foundation (NSF). Vivanco is a recipient of NSF's prestigious Faculty Ear...

Used in a new way, RNA interference permanently silences key breast cancer gene

...ene's product, its messenger RNA. This action then blocks translation and production of the protein that the gene encodes. In this study, the researchers used a lentivirus (a type of retrovirus) to deliver a specifically designed long-acting small interfering RNA (termed a short hairpin RNA, shRNA) for mou...

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