Surprising origin of cell's internal highways
...tists have long thought that microtubules, part of the microscopic scaffolding that the cell uses to move things around in order to hold its shape and divide, originated from a tiny struct...The mouflons of the Kerguelen archipelago
The team of Denis Réale, holder of the Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Ecology and Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at UQAM, recently published some remarkable research findings. Rec...Researchers develop buckyballs to fight allergy
...ccer ball-shaped nanoparticle called a buckyball – the ability to block allergic response, setting the stage for the development of new therapies for allergy. Allergic disease is the sixth leading cause...Turn-ons and turn-offs for neurons
...s respond to challenging environments by adjusting the expression of genes for appropriate brain function...s, a process called epigenetics ("above and beyond the gene”). Switching gene expression “on” and “off” is of utmost importance when studying gene funct...Helping chlorine-eating bacteria clean up toxic waste
...rocedures haven't provided enough answers, because the bacteria are hard to grow in a petri dish, said Ru...iochemical processes, to create computer models of the inner workings of the bacterium. The project is funded by a three-year, $381,000 grant from the Depa...Study identifies 5 genetic themes key to keeping stem cells in a primitive, flexible state
... more molecular definition of stem cells, based on the genes they express. Now, a team of Canadian scientists has identified 1,155 genes under the control of a gene called Oct4 considered to be the master regulator of the stem cell state. A compre...Male circumcision overstated as prevention tool against AIDS
In new academic research published today in the online, open-access, peer-reviewed scientific jour... found to be much less important as a deterrent to the global AIDS pandemic than previously thought. The author, John R. Talbott, has conducted statistical...Gene therapy study shows safety and statistically significant improvement in Parkinson's disease
...x, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: NRGX) today announced the publication in the June 23 issue of the journal The Lancet of positive results from the first ever gene therapy trial f...Revealed -- Mosquito genes that could be controlling the spread of killer viruses
The genes that make up the immune system of the Aedes aegypti mosquito which transmits deadly viral diseases to humans have been identified in new r...Ancient retrovirus sheds light on modern pandemic
...onically may be at least partially responsible for the susceptibility of humans to HIV infection today. ...chers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in the June 22 issue of Science, provide a better understanding of this modern pandemic infection through t...Scientists close in on missing carbon sink
Forests in the United States and other northern mid- and upper-la...Science this week. The study, which sheds light on the so-called missing carbon sink, concludes that intact tropical forests are removing an unexpectedly h...Ice Age extinction claimed highly carnivorous Alaskan wolves
The extinction of many large mammals at the end of the Ice Age may have packed an even bigger punch than scientists have realized. To the list of victims s...AAAS decries latest stem cell veto
The President has again vetoed the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, which would ex...al support for embryonic stem cell research. AAAS, the world’s largest general scientific society, stands with a broad coalition of Americans spanning all ...Smoking rate has plummeted in New York City
...hed in 2002, according to findings issued today in the national Centers for Disease Control and Preventio...rt (MMWR). The 2006 rate was nearly 20% lower than the 2002 rate -- a decline that represents 240,000 fewer smokers. The City’s rate for 2006 is the lowest...Experts predict Tamiflu could halve the pandemic influenza death toll versus no intervention
Treatment with the oral antiviral Tamiflu (oseltamivir) and prophylax...eople exposed to infected patients could be one of the most cost-effective strategies for reducing illness and death during an influenza pandemic. Accordin...Antarctic icebergs -- Hotspots of ocean life
...t, yielding thousands of free-drifting icebergs in the nearby Weddell Sea. According to a new study in th... dozen miles across – are having a major impact on the ecology of the ocean around them, serving as “hotspots” for ocean life, with thriving communities of...Putting feelings into words produces therapeutic effects in the brain
...anger and pain less intense. Another study, with the same participants and three of the same members of the research team, combines modern neuroscience with ancient Buddhist teachings to p...Modified mushrooms may yield human drugs
Mushrooms might serve as biofactories for the production of various beneficial human drugs, acco... "There has always been a recognized potential of the mushroom as being a choice platform for the mass production of commercially valuable proteins," said...New vaccine prevents CMV infection and disease in mice
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Skaggs ...on and disease. CMV, a type of herpes virus, is the leading viral cause of birth defects and a serious problem in patients with compromised immune syste...St. Jude study shows genes play an unexpected role in their own activation
...g and memory capabilities to glucose production in the liver. The “on switch,” a protein called CREB, i... of DNA near a gene and triggers that gene to make the specific protein for which it codes. CREB activates genes in response to a molecule called cAMP, whi...