Researchers pioneer new gene therapy technique using natural repair process
...otein also were restored. The change to the cells seems permanent, Dr. Porteus said, and the correct gene is easily maintained after many cell divisions. "The rates of correction that we see are extremely exciting," said Dr. Porteus, who was recently awarded a 2004 Distinguished Young Researcher Award fr...Researchers Identify Cause of Early Bird Sleep Disorder
... number (about .3 percent) of the human population seems to have this "circadian clock" shift. And in earlier research, Ptacek and his colleagues had discovered an entirely different gene that causes a similar clock-shift. Both arise because of so-called point mutations in the genes. This means that alteri...Leprosy genome tells story of human migrations, French researchers report in Science
...the bacterium's genome is exceedingly stable. "It seems that there was only a single source of the bacterium that was at the origin of this global pandemic," Cole said. Each of the four SNP combinations was most common in a certain geographic region, allowing the researchers to trace how the pathogen had...Researchers reveal secrets of flying snakes
It seems size does matters after all. But for flying snakes, smaller is better, according to University of Chicago researchers. In the May 15, 2005, issue of the Journal of Experimental Biology, scientists described the effects of size and behavior of flying...Scientists discover odd-ball rodent
... little is known about the Kha-Nyou, other than it seems to prefer areas of limestone outcroppings and forest cover, and it appears to be a nocturnal vegetarian. It also gives birth to one offspring at a time, rather than a litter. Dr. Timmins, who also discovered a new species of striped rabbit from the ...Map of life on Earth could be used on Mars
...erent from those of their "peculiar" ancestors. It seems that, on some level, humans and bacteria can relate. "If we see these major patterns of divergence on Earth, we should expect to see similar patterns on life on Mars, that is, if life ever existed there," Blank said. "Not the same patterns, because ...Immune system's distress signal tells bacteria when to strike back
... gave human hosts a temporary advantage, "but that seems to be waning a bit," he added. "We need to learn new ways to understand our germs and think about how to placate rather than annihilate them." ...Scientists discover global pattern of big fish diversity in open oceans
... these predatory fish, 22 degrees C (77 degrees F) seems to be the optimum temperature. The only other global study of oceanic diversity is for foraminifera -- tiny, single celled zooplankton. These two studies show surprising congruence. "The smallest animals in the ocean and some of the largest show the...Proteomics brings researchers closer to understanding microbes that produce acid mine drainage
..., bacterial scum on the floor of an abandoned mine seems an unlikely place to study community development, but a biological breakthrough is allowing University of California, Berkeley, researchers to probe the give and take in this microbial mat. Last year, the UC Berkeley team joined with the Department ...Researchers extend mouse lifespan by protecting against free radicals
...uction. Removing hydrogen peroxide "at the source" seems to be the most effective strategy for enhancing lifespan, Rabinovitch said. The scientists also found that the mitochondrion-targeted catalase mice had healthier heart muscle tissue, indicating that the catalase helped protect from age-related heart...Achilles heel of the herpes virus possibly found
...f viral receptor. Unlike other viruses so far, HSV seems to have evolved to take advantage of a broadly present cellular protein that has properties like that of known cellular fusion machinery," says Fuller. "No other virus has been shown to use a cellular fusion protein for entry into cells." She explai...Study shows humans have ability to track odors, much like bloodhounds
...e campus's Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute. "It seems that we have this ability and that, with practice, you could become really good at it." In future experiments, UC Berkeley biophysics graduate student Jess Porter and Sobel plan to train volunteers to track odors in the field and test the limits of ...Newly discovered genetic disease sheds light on body's water balance
...clinical medicine," said Gitelman. "When something seems to fit a classic pattern, but actually doesn't, our job as physician scientists is to recognize the discrepancy and get to the bottom of the situation." First, Gitelman and his colleagues worked to find an innovative treatment for the two young pati...Researchers Discover That Microbes Can Produce Miniature Electrical Wires
...w microorganisms can handle electrons, and it also seems likely that microbial nanowires could be useful materials for the development of extremely small electronic devices.?/p> “The microbial world never stops surprising us,?said Dr. Aristides Patrinos of the U.S. Department of Energy, which funds the...Study: Harmless virus kills some cancers
..."Even without co-mingling with another virus, AAV2 seems to be able to infect and express itself in other types of cancer cells also disrupting their ability to survive and inducing cell death," Meyers said. "Although we suspect it is, more studies are needed to determine if the mechanism through which AAV...Pinpointing the cause of a neurodegenerative disorder
...other glutamine repeat disorders, said Zoghbi. "It seems to be a recurring theme in neurodegenerative disorders that having extra copies of a normal protein, not just a mutated one, can cause pathology. There have been observations that having extra copies of the normal alpha synuclein protein that causes ...Deep sleep short-circuits brain's grid of connectivity
...the fading of consciousness during dreamless sleep seems to occur as the different regions of the cerebral cortex that mediate perception, thought and action become functionally disconnected. Tononi and his team observed the disconnect when brief, magnetically generated pulses of electricity were directed...Frog peptides block HIV in lab study
...the fading of consciousness during dreamless sleep seems to occur as the different regions of the cerebral cortex that mediate perception, thought and action become functionally disconnected. Tononi and his team observed the disconnect when brief, magnetically generated pulses of electricity were directed...Promiscuous Catalytic Activity Possessed by Novel Enzyme Structure
...r been seen before. The key to Orf2’s flexibility seems to reside in the active site, the region of the en... soluble, easy-to-work-with bacterial protein that seems to be able to do reactions that you can find somewhere else in nature, but where people have not bee......r been seen before. The key to Orf2’s flexibility seems to reside in the active site, the region of the en... soluble, easy-to-work-with bacterial protein that seems to be able to do reactions that you can find somewhere else in nature, but where people have not bee...