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Tag: "plastic" at biology news

Estrogen-like Component of Plastic Stimulates Growth of Certain Prostate Cancer Cells

... estrogen-like chemicalcommonly used to synthesize plastic food containers has been shown toencourage the growth of a specific category of prostate cancer cell,potentially affecting the treatment efficacy for a subset of prostatecancers.According to a study published in the January 1 issue of CancerResearch,...

World's largest rainforest drying experiment completes first phase

...fall was diverted with six thousand 2' by 6' clear plastic panels suspended 3 to 12 feet above the soil. The ...e compared for a year prior to installation of the plastic panels to register any differences in behavior that already existed when we began the experiment. A...

Biochemists report discovery of structure of major piece of telomerase; implications for cancer

...time a cell divides, telomeres, which act like the plastic tips on the ends of shoelaces, get shorter. In the natural aging process, the telomeres eventually get so short that cells can no longer divide, and they die. While telomerase is turned off in most types of healthy cells in our bodies, it is active i...

A little stress gives beneficial oomph! to immune system

... of the mice in the study were restrained in clear plastic ventilated tubes for two-and-a-half hours. These mice ?the stressed group ?could not turn around in the tube, but they could move forward and backward. This restraint created a brief spell of psychological stress, similar to the kind of stress a pers...

Compounds in plastic packaging act as environmental estrogens altering breast genes

Compounds found in plastic products used to wrap or contain food and beverage...agents because they can sometimes leach out of the plastic and migrate into the food, especially after heating or when the plastic is old or scratched. In two ...

Brain May Be Less Plastic Than Hoped

...latest data indicate that adult brains may be less plastic than scientists had hoped. In children, the brain's ability to compensate for injuries is well known. Children with severe epilepsy who lose an entire hemisphere during surgery can regain motor control on the affected side of their body and go on to...

UN environmental agency steps up battle against marine pollution

Coastal pollution, including plastic waste, discarded lead-acid batteries and used oils and lubricants, will come under renewed attack under a new agreement signed by the United Nations environmental agency and an international treaty body controlling hazardous wastes. The Memorandum of...

Engineers improve plastic's potential for use in implants by linking it to biological material

...ty of Texas at Austin have found a way to modify a plastic to anchor molecules that promote nerve regeneratio...ering and other purposes because it is a non-toxic plastic that conducts electricity. As a result, it could be used to extend previous experiments in Schmidt's...

New complete muscle grown in the lab

...cratch by seeding a sponge-like, three-dimensional plastic scaffold with myoblasts and endothelial cells, whi...archers mixed different cell types together on the plastic mold for the tissue. The different cells quickly organized themselves on the scaffold, with the myob...

Investigating 'brain shrinkage' in alcoholics

... a material called 'myelin' that is similar to the plastic coating around electrical wires. Nerve cells also have shorter and more numerous fibres or processes called dendrites with many fine branching processes ?similar to the root system of a tree ?that allow them to 'talk' with neighbouring neurons, often...

Locusts' built-in 'surface analysis' ability directs them to fly overland

...ing polarized light -- for example from mirrors or plastic surfaces." The sea reflects polarized light much ...of doing so might be through more extensive use of plastic sheeting as shields to create the reflection of the polarized light that the locusts avoid. ...

A little telomerase isn't enough

...A that protect chromosomes in much the same way as plastic tips on shoelaces prevent the fabric from fraying. Each time a cell divides, its chromosome ends get a little shorter, and eventually the cell can no longer divide because its critical genetic information is exposed. In stem cells, however, a protein...

Pillows - a hot bed of fungal spores

...and sinusitis. Fortunately, hospital pillows have plastic covers and so are unlikely to cause problems, but patients being discharged home - where pillows may be old and fungus-infected - could be at risk of infection. Aspergillus can also worsen asthma, particularly in adults who have had asthma for man...

Why Christmas trees are not extinct

...he researchers connected both ends of each twig to plastic tubing, used an elevated reservoir's gravity to force water into one end of each twig, and then used an electronic balance to weigh water dripping out the other end. Then, based on the number of conduits and valves in twigs and their known dimensions...

Model identifies genes that induce normal skin cells to become abnormal

...e specific gene proteins) associated with a highly plastic cell type similar to the aggressive melanoma cells used in the study. Removal of the "transdifferentiated" skin cells from the melanoma microenvironment caused the cells to revert to their original appearance. "There were no significant genetic cha...

Cells from amniotic fluid used to tissue-engineer a new trachea

...," he says. "They grow very well, and they're very plastic you can coach them to do what you want." Last year, Fauza reported using similar techniques in newborn lambs to repair congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH), or a hole in the diaphragm that separates the lungs from the visceral organs. If the hole...

Microbes convert 'Styrofoam? into biodegradable plastic

...te the possibility of converting a petroleum-based plastic waste into a reusable biodegradable form. O’Conno...rene, which converted the oil into a biodegradable plastic known as PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoates). The process might also be used to convert other types of disca...

Guiding principles for facial transplantation unveiled

...plantation-ASPS/ASRM Guiding Principles, to assist plastic surgeons considering participation in facial trans... "This is truly a remarkable and historic time in plastic surgery," said Bruce Cunningham, MD and ASPS president. "The ability to help restore some hope to a ...

Rice bioengineers pioneer techniques for knee repair

...sks. Most tissue engineering involves honeycombed plastic templates or hydrogels called scaffolds that are used to guide colonies of donor cells. Donor cells can be either adult stem cells or other immature cells. Athanasiou's latest work was done using chondrocytes, or cartilage cells. Athanasiou, a forme...

First SCID gene chip to be introduced at Academy meeting on immunodeficiencies

...e Combined Immune Deficiency (SCID) who lived in a plastic enclosure until his death. Exciting New Breakthroughs in Diagnosis and Treatment of SCID In the past, a newborn diagnosed with SCID would not survive to his or her first birthday. Now, researchers have attained a ninety percent success rate i...

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