small 2 1

Tag: "small" at biology news

Scratch no more: Gene for itch sensation discovered

...eptor), which codes for a receptor found in a very small population of spinal cord nerve cells where pain and itch signals are transmitted from the skin to the brain. The researchers, led by Zhou-Feng Chen, Ph.D., found that laboratory mice that lacked this gene scratched much less than their normal cage-m...

One species, many genomes

...ially different from the laboratory strain of this small mustard plant, a favorite of many plant biologists. Which detailed differences distinguish the genomes of strains from the polar circle or the subtropics, from America, Africa or Asia has been investigated for the first time by research teams from TÃ...

Common cancer gene sends death order to tiny killer

...se of damaged genes in their nuclei. MicroRNAs are small chains of ribonucleic acid (RNA) made by the same machinery that produces other types of RNA in the cell, such as the messenger RNAs that carry the instructions to make proteins. Once produced, microRNAs stick to messenger RNAs and, like crumpled pap...

Agent slows aging in mice

... Miller says prior studies typically have been too small and their results hard to confirm in subsequent studies. “The National Institute on Aging decided to fund grants at three institutions to do studies of this sort in the right way,” he says. In six to 10 months, once all the mice in the control gr...

Enzyme delivered in smaller package protects cells from radiation damage

... "Because we now can deliver MnSOD in this very small vector, we will be able to get this radioprotective enzyme more efficiently into all of the cells of the body and give patients receiving total body radiation for systemic cancers better long-term outcomes. This also has implications for the prophyla...

Blood test may help signal tumor's remission, return in throat cancer patients

...analyze the concentrations of each protein, only a small amount of blood was required for the test. The majority of the patients had a complete response to therapy. Patients whose blood levels of these cytokines and growth factors dropped and remained low following treatment were more likely to continu...

Liver cancer patients with high serum levels of hepatitis B virus face poorer outcomes

...hors report. Though the study was limited by a small patient cohort, and the fact that all had advanced disease, the authors concluded, “Based on the present findings, the incorporation of anti-viral therapies to reduce HBV viral load should be considered as part of management for HCC patients undergoi...

How sneaky HIV escapes cells

...e-bound molecules to the outside world by means of small sacs known as exosomes. By studying human T-cells under a microscope, Gould, Yi Fang, Ning Wu, and other members of his team discovered what’s needed to qualify proteins for exosomal travel. “Surprisingly, all that’s needed for a protein to get ou...

A new plant-bacterial symbiotic mechanism promising for crop applications

... bacteria, but the mechanisms are known for only a small number of these interactions. The demonstration of alternative pathways capable of triggering the nodulation signal in certain rhizobia is promising for future techniques for bringing these bacteria into association with different leguminous plants. ...

Dirty snow may warm Arctic as much as greenhouse gases

...e effect is distributed globally,” Zender said. “A small amount of snow impurities in the Arctic have caused a significant temperature response there.” Previous studies have analyzed dirty snow’s effect on climate, but this is the first to take into account realistic emissions from forest fires in the N...

Largest synthetic gene ever built offers insights into anti-malarial drug resistance

...that contributes to such resistance. And it was no small feat. The gene they laboriously constructed over a two-year period is believed to be the largest synthetic one ever built, and it successfully produces large quantities of the encoded protein, whose function can now be easily studied. In research pu...

Studies to find better ways to preserve human eggs, ovarian tissue under way

...rcept water so it won’t form ice. Interestingly if small ice crystals form during cooling, they can get larger during de-vitrification, which takes place in seconds. “We developed a solution where we can warm up tissue in under five minutes and still get no ice formation,” says Dr. Song, adding that ice...

Ancient DNA traces the woolly mammoth's disappearance

...ta indicate that Siberian mammoths expanded from a small base some time before sixty thousand years ago. Moreover, they found two distinct genetic groups, implying that mammoths had diverged in isolation for some time before merging back into a single population. The DNA further suggests that no later than...

Brightening prospects of using fluorescent nanotubes in medical applications

... are constructed from carbon atoms and they are so small that it takes about 100,000 laid side-by-side to span the width of a single human hair. In the last five years, scientists have discovered that some individual nanotubes are fluorescent. That is, they glow when they are bathed in light. Some glow bri...

Now, self-healing materials can mimic human skin, healing again and again

...an heal cracks in the epoxy coating – analogous to small cuts in skin,” Sottos said. “The next step is to extend the design to where the network can heal ‘lacerations’ that extend into the material’s substrate.”...

Migration alert -- How tumor cells home in on the lymphatic system

...ercellular drainage job, lymphatic tissues secrete small quantities of a signaling molecule. Cells migrate towards high concentrations of this molecule, so if they are close enough to the lymphatic to sense the molecule, they will migrate towards the vessel. Swartz’s group showed that tumor cells secrete t...

Newly discovered antibody may be body's natural defense against Alzheimer's

...lthy donors and was previously reported to contain small quantities of antibodies against beta amyloid. "The effects of IVIG in lowering beta amyloid levels in Alzheimer's patients in our Phase I clinical trial were much more profound than we expected," Dr. Relkin explains. "We couldn't readily explain...

Physicist cracks women's random but always lucky choice of X chromosome

...icial. This will help understand the problems of a small number of women who unusually don’t have a completely random distribution of X chromosomes but the explanation may have much wider implications as at least 10% of our genes may behave in similar ways as mechanism that "chooses" between X chromosomes....

CT scan reveals ancient long-necked gliding reptile

... Imaging, the bone structure and behavior of these small creatures are now known. The new gliding reptil...amazingly clear, if somewhat flattened, image of a small reptile with a long neck and swept back wings. Gliding behavior evolved several times in reptile...

Microbes at work cleaning up the environment

...ticles are able to move freely because they are so small (typically 2-6 nanometers in diameter) and can redissolve if conditions change. In the case of the mine bacteria, the researchers showed that the bacteria are causing the nanoparticle aggregation, thereby protecting themselves. When the metal nan...

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10