Tag: "patch" at biology news

Modified mushrooms may yield human drugs

... regulatory elements from a mushroom gene. We then patch these genetic elements in the plasmid and insert it back into the bacterium," he added. The researchers then snipped small pieces off the mushroom's gill tissue and added it to a flask containing the altered bacterium. Over the course of several...

Survival of the rarest: Fruit flies shed light on the evolution of behavior

...sitters, then the sitters are going to use up that patch and you're going to do better by moving out into a...rs are going to move out and you'll be left on the patch to feed without competition." More generally, Fitzpatrick says these results may help explain why...

Leeches ferry infection among newts

...en by leeches, which leave behind a characteristic patch of blood under the skin. Raffel, whose work is funded by the National Science Foundation, says "when a leech sticks its proboscis into an infected newt, either the mechanical action of the probe or the anti-inflammatory chemicals injected by the...

Allergy to hair dye increasing

...that the frequency of positive reactions to PPD on patch testing is increasing. This was confirmed in a recent survey in London, which found a doubling in frequency over six years to 7.1% in a clinic for adults with contact dermatitis. This trend has also been observed in other countries. Market researc...

Penn study on olfactory nerve cells shows why we smell better when we sniff

...t humans do not. The first, the septal organ, is a patch of smell-sensitive tissue on the septal wall of the nasal cavity. The second, the main olfactory epithelium, is a smell-sensitive tissue inside the nasal cavity. Synchronized Breathing The septal organ is only about 1 percent the size of the ...

Engineering the heart piece by piece

Some day, heart attack survivors might have a patch of laboratory-grown muscle placed in their heart, to replace areas that died during their attack. Children born with defective heart valves might get new ones that can grow in place, rather than being replaced every few years. And people with clogged...

Discovery of the first resistance gene to rice yellow mottle virus

...t are situated in the same domain of the gene in a patch on the surface favourable for interaction with the virus. In these varieties, the mutation does not appear to alter the protein's role in its primary biological functions, but can prevent its interaction with the virus which is then blocked in one of...

Neural networking nanotubes

...to the SWNT film layer, and a so-called whole cell patch clamp used to measure any electrical effect on the nerve cells. When a lateral voltage is applied, a relatively large current is carried along the surface but only a very small current, in the region of billionths of an amp, is passed across the film...

Some butterflies travel farther, reproduce faster

...nd shelter. Populations established on an isolated patch may require a good flier to reach a new patch to start a new population. Flight capability varies quite a lot among females, who carry the eggs ...

Slow brain waves play key role in coordinating complex activity

...ctions and operate on different spatial scales - a patch of high frequency activity is very localized, abou...trong coupling. "We used to think that one little patch of cortex takes care of this function and another little patch takes care of that function, but now ...

Batfish to the rescue!

...ughes and Andrew Hoey were testing a weed-infested patch of coral near Orpheus Island on Australia's Great Barrier Reef to see whether local herbivorous fish could restore it to a normal state. The ensuing action was captured on underwater TV cameras. When the cage was removed from a particularly weedy ...

New biochip helps study living cells, may speed drug development

...ow and hand-eye coordination," Porterfield said of patch clamping. The chip, on the other hand, is automated and could be mass-produced in the future. Such a readily available chip could record reams more data than patch-clamping, he said. Ion channels and pumps establish a difference in electrical p...

Researchers add to understanding of how brain cells communicate

...er modeling, the researchers used the technique of patch clamp recording, which takes a tiny piece of cell ...y were able to use the remarkable precision of the patch clamp to see exactly when the magnesium ion entered and exited the ion channel. "Because of our cu...

Smoking changes brain chemistry

...less of whether or not the patient used a nicotine patch and correlated directly with the patient's smoking history: the greater the number of pack years (one pack per day for one year equals one pack year), the lower the NAA level. "The ACC is involved in mediating conditioned reinforcement, craving a...

Ultra low-dose estrogen shown safe for post-menopausal women

...l, a form of estrogen, or a placebo through a skin patch for two years. The women were given a battery of s...uring, because it suggests that women can use this patch without harm for two years," says Yaffe. "It would benefit their bones and might have a beneficial e...

Agriculture and tropical conservation: rethinking old ideas

... and will it support the necessary migrations from patch to patch as local extinctions occur, which they inevitably do?" If forest patches are separated by barren p...

Blood test predicts success of quitting smoking using the nicotine patch

...octors to predict which smokers using the nicotine patch are likely to experience the least amount of cravi...likely to benefit from a standard dose of nicotine patch from those who may need a higher dose patch or an alternative therapy in order to succeed in quittin...

UC Davis researchers move biotechnology closer to replacing electronic pacemakers

...thm, rate or sequence. The sinoatrial (SA) node, a patch of cells called the pacemaker, generates cardiac rhythms for coordinated contractions and blood pumping. Malfunctions due to aging or diseases can lead to a range of potentially lethal arrhythmias, such as slow heart rates or rhythms called bradycard...

How sperm crack the whip

...dy the CatSper ion channel with a technique called patch clamp recording. In this widely used method of stu... in 2001, we made more than a thousand attempts to patch clamp sperm without success," said Clapham. "We had been quite frustrated by it. However, Yuriy fina...

High-resolution light microscope reveals the fundamental mechanisms of nerve communication

... they remained together, localized in the membrane patch whichpreviously formed the vesicle. With the aid of STED microscopy the researchers in Göttingen were able to show that the synaptotagmin molecules of a single vesicle remain together after fusion. The membrane ofthe nerve cell thus behaves in an 'ec...

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