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Tag: "crucial" at biology news

Who gives stem cells their marching orders?

...ved in this mysterious cellular signaling dance is crucial to our ability to coax stem cells to grow into specific tissues outside the body. And it is also important if we are to understand and perhaps correct what goes wrong when the chemical signaling system goes awry and stem cells become cancerous. Res...

Proteins necessary for brain development found to be critical for long-term memory

A type of protein crucial for the growth of brain cells during development appears to be equally important for the formation of long-term memories, according to researchers at UC Irvine. The findings could lead to a better understanding of, and treatments for, cognitive decli...

Selecting life: Scientists find new way to search for origin of life

...mino acids. This step, called chiral selection, is crucial to forming the molecules of life." Like amino acids, some minerals have pairs of crystal surfaces that have a mirror relationship to each other, called left and right faces. Calcite, one such mineral, is common today and was prevalent during the ...

Engineered yeast speeds ethanol production

...ction, a multi-step process in which yeast plays a crucial role. First, cornstarch or another polymer of glucose is broken down into single sugar (glucose) molecules by enzymes, then yeast ferments the glucose into ethanol and carbon dioxide. Last year, four billion gallons of ethanol were produced from 1...

Detailed 3-D image catches a key regulator of neural stem cell differentiation in action

...ion "action shot" of a protein switch that plays a crucial role in the development of the nervous system. Their findings, published in the Dec. 8 issue of the journal Molecular Cell, provide a template for the design of small molecule inhibitors to control that switch, a protein called Scp1, at will. "Scp1 ...

Powerful genome ID method extended to humans

...lthy and diseased genomes can guide researchers to crucial mutations. Though he called optical mapping "potentially very powerful," Green added that it requires such a high level of expertise that only a couple of laboratories in the world use the method. The Waterman group's algorithm may encourage ot...

Plants give up answers in the war on bacteria

... force the pores back open. For bacteria, entry is crucial to causing disease and probably survival. They could die if left lingering on the surface. Animal-based bacteria do not produce coronatine. "Now that we know a key step in bacteria's attack, we have something we can learn to interfere with," Melott...

Scientists win grants to develop $1,000 genome sequencing technology

...g the genome sequence of individuals is considered crucial to understanding and routinely treating hundreds of inherited diseases, predispositions to other diseases, and cancers. In order to spur the development of fundamentally new and innovative technologies necessary to reduce the cost of sequencing a g...

Researchers in Montréal and the US create model of key immune-system component

... functioning of the phagosome. "We have taken a crucial step here," Prof. Desjardins explains. "We can now reach a better understanding of the molecular processes involved in infections by using a global approach based on proteomics and genomics. This approach will expedite development of therapies and th...

Artificial cornea offers better results for infants, some blind patients

... well the eye is focused later on. That's why it's crucial to intervene early on." So far in Rochester, approximately 25 infants and children have been outfitted with the Boston device since 2003, including children from France and the United Kingdom whose families sought out Aquavella for treatment. The ...

Inheritance outside DNA

...changing DNA. Among other things, epigenetics is crucial to differentiation, the process which makes one cell from another, and thus is at the heart of the mystery of stem cells. Genomic imprinting is a type of epigenetic change that causes one copy of a particular gene to be turned off, depending on i...

Regulating the nuclear architecture of the cell

...e chromosome, the chromatin structure that plays a crucial role in chromosome segregation during cell division. What other functions abundant heterochromatin may perform are still an open question. Even epigenetics ultimately has its roots in the genes; the researchers' first step was to identify which g...

Novel regulatory mechanism identified for key tumor suppressor p53

...such as the one outlined in the new study might be crucial for cellular survival. "You can imagine that if the p53 protein were present at all times and able to bind to DNA, cells would be in big trouble," Berger explains. "They wouldn't be able to divide, and they'd die. We think this new mechanism may be...

Biologists probe the machinery of cellular protein factories

...ut the instructions for making those proteins. The crucial job of reading the genetic instructions and synthesizing the specified proteins is carried out by ribosomes, tiny protein factories humming away inside the cells of all living things. Harry Noller, the Sinsheimer Professor of Molecular Biology at t...

U of S Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization team discovers key step in flu virus replication

...tion. Yan Zhou and her team have discovered how a crucial pathway that supports the influenza A virus's ability to reproduce itself is activated, a finding that could pave the way for new drugs and vaccines. The paper will appear in the January 2007 issue of the Journal of General Virology and recently ...

MIT's molecular sieve advances protein research

...hich should help scientists learn more about these crucial molecules, said Han, who also has appointments in MIT's Research Laboratory of Electronics, Computational and Systems Biology Initiative, Center for Materials Science and Engineering and Microsystems Technology Laboratories. Han and his team, led by...

Researchers discover mechanism that determines when detailed memories are retained

...ine, a brain chemical already established as being crucial for learning and memory, appears to be the key to ...ontrol the levels of this key transmitter would be crucial for treating a number of memory-related disorders." Weinberger is a pioneer in research in the fi...

New dyslexia theory blames 'noise'

...sity] have argued for many years, attention ... is crucial for stable learning of categories." Ziegler called for preventive training for children with weak speech perception in noise in kindergarten or early primary grades, saying they are at greater risk for developing dyslexia. He also cited a Nor...

Public Library of Science to launch new, open access journal on neglected tropical diseases

...aid: "PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases will play a crucial role in boosting the efforts of neglected tropical disease researchers, health professionals, teachers, and advocacy groups in developing countries." "There are thousands of scientific and medical journals, but very few have focused on these diseas...

Twenty Years of Malaria Research: Outcomes and Perspectives

...ments for pregnant women, the unit has carried out crucial research into artemisinin combination therapies (ACTs) aimed at combating the rapid rise in drug-resistance. The unit has carried out the largest number of drug trials in malaria and research at the unit has been influential in changing WHO guideline...

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