Check

Stanford gut check shows diversity of intestinal ecosystem

The universe of microbes that lives in your stomach may be nearly as unique as your fingerprint, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine who have embarked on the early stages of exploring the intestinal ecosystem. Using molecular techniques that detect all known types of microbes and borrowing statistical techniques from field ecology and population genetics,...

Unchecked DNA replication drives earliest steps toward cancer

Although not widely appreciated as a disease of the genes, cancer is always rooted in genetic errors or problems in gene regulation. Scientists have identified some of the first genetic triggers for cancer as mutations in specific oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes. Full-blown tumors and metastatic cancers, however, often exhibit many genetic mutations, sometimes dozens in a given tumor. An impo...

Life-extending protein keeps blood sugar in check

A protein that extends lifespan in yeast, worms, and flies keeps blood sugar under control in mice, reports a new study in the August Cell Metabolism. The findings suggest therapeutic interventions for the prevention and treatment of metabolic disorders, such as type 2 diabetes, which frequently arise with age, the researchers said. The team found that mice with an excess of the protein Si...

Cheap, rapid hand-held check for HIV

Political pressure has finally seen the price of antiretroviral therapy for HIV slashed in poorer countries. But a lack of cheap, simple diagnostics to enable doctors to use these complex treatments remains a stumbling block. Now scientists from two New York universities believe they have the solution: a hand-held sensor that checks the health of a patient's immune system in seconds. At t...

What's shaped like a pear and has 2 genomes? Check the pond

If you could peer microscopically into the closest freshwater pond, you'd hesitate before dipping a toe. Amid the murky water, you'd probably notice an oddly furry, pear-shaped organism gliding along--and gobbling up everything in its path. --and a big fan club among scientists, as a star organism for research into how cell...

Weizmann Institute scientists discover a molecular security mechanism for keeping mutations in check

Everyone knows mutations ?genetic mistakes in DNA, the material of heredity ?are bad: The more mutations in the cell's DNA, the higher the risk of cancer developing. But in the last few years it has become clear that the very processes that generate mutations, if they take place at a relatively low frequency, can actually protect us from cancer. How does the body know how to keep these processes...

ATR checkpoint-activating DNA structure

As published in the April 15th issue of Genes & Development, Dr. Karlene Cimprich and colleagues at Stanford University have determined the minimal DNA structure sufficient to activate the ATR-mediated DNA damage checkpoint. "We are very excited about these results," says Dr. Cimprich. "The ability to precisely define and manipulate the nature of the checkpoint activating structure in...

Metacognition: Faced with a test, rats can check their knowledge first

Researchers have found evidence that rats are capable of metacognition—that is, they can possess knowledge of their own cognitive states. This ability, which can also be thought of as the capacity to assess or reflect on one's own mental processes, was previously only recognized in humans and other primates. The findings are reported by Allison Foote and Jonathon Crystal of the University of Geor...