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Antarctic ice shelf retreats happened before

The retreat of Antarctic ice shelves is not new according to research published this week (24 Feb) in the journal Geology by scientists from Universities of Durham, Edinburgh and British Antarctic Survey (BAS). A study of George VI Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula is the first to show that this currently 'healthy' ice shelf experienced an extensive retreat about 9500 years ago, more t...

Enzyme shown to help protect genomic stability

Genomes throughout the animal kingdom and beyond are characterized by extensive segments that are inactive, lengthy stretches of DNA containing multiple genes that are closed to gene transcription. Scientists believe one reason for this broad gene silencing is the vital need for genomic stability, for protection against unwanted recombinations of genetic material or other disruptions of the genom...

Study shows nanoshells ideal as chemical nanosensors

'Nanoshells' enhance sensitivity to chemicaldetection by factor of 10 billionNew research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy ofScience finds that tailored nanoparticles known as nanoshells canenhance chemical sensing by as much as 10 billion times. That makesthem about 10,000 times more effective at Raman scattering thantraditional methods. Whenmolecules and materi...

Jumping gene helps explain immune system's abilities

A team led by Johns Hopkins scientists hasfound the first clear evidence that the process behind the human immunesystem's remarkable ability to recognize and respond to a milliondifferent proteins might have originated from a family of genes whoseonly apparent function is to jump around in genetic material. essentially cut...

Circles Of DNA Might Help Predict Success Of Stem Cell Transplantation

Measuring the quantity of a certain type of immune cell DNA in the blood could help physicians predict whether a bone marrow stem cell transplant will successfully restore a population of infection-fighting cells called T lymphocytes in a child. This research, by investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, is published in the journal Blood. This finding could help physicians p...

UCSD discovery may help extend life of natural pesticide

A team led by biologists at the University of California, San Diego has discovered a molecule in roundworms that makes them susceptible to Bacillus thuringiensis toxin, or Bt toxin--a pesticide produced by bacteria and widely used by organic farmers and in genetically engineered crops to ward off insect pests. Their findings should facilitate the design and use of Bt toxins to prevent ins...

Sequencing of marine bacterium will help study of cell communication

The opportunity to annotate the genome of the glow-in-the-dark bacterium, Vibrio fischeri, which lives in symbiotic harmony within the light organ of the bobtail squid, has helped a Virginia Tech microbiologist advance her research on quorum sensing, or how cells communicate and function as a community. Researchers studying the newly sequenced genome of the marine bacterium V. fischeri, d...

PET/MRI scans may help unravel mechanisms of prenatal drug damage

Scientists have demonstrated a new way to assess the potentially damaging effects of prenatal drug exposure--a technique that could also be used to monitor a fetus's response to therapeutic drugs--using sophisticated, noninvasive medical imaging tools. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, whose findings are reported in the February issue of the Society of...

Newly discovered pathway might help in design of cancer drugs

Johns Hopkins chemists have discovered a new way to sabotage DNA's ability to reproduce, a finding that could eventually lead to the development of new anti-cancer drugs and therapies. The method could enable future doctors to target treatment more precisely, rather than directing chemotherapeutic medication or radiation to tumors through a scattershot approach, said Marc Greenberg, a chem...

Nano-bumps could help repair clogged blood vessels

Biomedical engineers at Purdue University have shown that "vascular stents" used to repair arteries might perform better if their surfaces contained "nano-bumps" that mimic tiny features found in living tissues. The researchers already have shown in a series of experiments that bone and cartilage cells in petri dishes attach better to materials that possess smaller surface bumps than are f...

Protein helps regulate the genes of embryonic stem cells

New research from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows how a protein may be crucial to the regulation of genes in embryonic stem cells. The protein, called "eed," is needed for an essential chemical modification of many genes. Embryos cannot survive without the modification. The findings appear in the May 24 issue of the journal Current Biology. The research offers an importan...

Integration of Agilent's MS technology, Proteome Systems' software to help scientists in proteomics research

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) and Proteome Systems, a leading international proteomics company, today announced they have signed a marketing agreement to collaborate on an integrated solution for the analysis of glycoproteins, molecules that are important in the study of many diseases, including cancer, influenza and arthritis. Under the agreement, Proteome Systems will make its GlycomIQ so...

Scientists discover that three overlapping signals in embryo help get the backbone right

A major step in the development of the vertebrate embryo - the establishment of a back that morphs into a brain, spinal cord and muscles - turns out to be so important that the body uses at least three signals to make sure it happens properly. The discovery, reported this month in the journal Developmental Cell by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, finally explains an...

Doctors closer to using gene analysis to help trauma patients

A genetic tool with the potential to identify which trauma and burn patients are most likely to become seriously ill has worked consistently in a wide range of experimental clinical settings ?an important hurdle to overcome before the method is routinely used in emergency rooms and intensive care units. In a report published today (March 7) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sc...

Agilent Technologies new genome analysis technology set to accelerate Australia fight against mesothelioma

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) today announced that its breakthrough Human Genome CGH Microarray technology will be used by researchers at Melbourne's Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in a three-year study designed to better understand mesothelioma, a cancer found in the lining of the chest, the abdominal cavity and around the heart, usually caused by exposure to asbestos. Due to its act...

New polysaccharide may help combat multidrug resistance in cancer

In a recent study published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, scientists report that a molecule previously thought to play a purely structural and inert role in cells is actually involved in multidrug resistance in cancer. Using antagonists for this molecule, the researchers were able to sensitize drug resistant breast cancer cells to chemotherapeutic drug treatment. The research ap...

Scientists reveal the shape of a protein that helps retroviruses break into cells

The biggest mass extinction in Earth history some 251 million years ago was preceded by elevated extinction rates before the main event and was followed by a delayed recovery that lasted for millions of years. New research by two University of Washington scientists suggests that a sharp decline in atmospheric oxygen levels was likely a major reason for both the elevated extinction rates and the v...

Thai spice helps cut blood sugar swings

In this obesity-obsessed world, the dream ingredient must be something that tastes good enough to be a condiment or flavoring and yet somehow helps us keep our weight down. Consider hydroxycitric acid (HCA), known variously as Brindle berry or Malabar tamarind, which is used in Indian and Thai food as a condiment and flavoring agent. In Indian folk medicine as a dried powder or tea it's in...

Newly Discovered 'Branding' Process Helps Immune System Cells Pick Their Fights

Scientists have uncovered a new method the immune system uses to label foreign invaders as targets to be attacked. Researchers showed that the immune system can brand foreign proteins by chemically modifying their structure, and that these modifications increased the chances that cells known as lymphocytes would recognize the trespassers and attack them. "Now that we know that some T cells...

Internet viruses help ecologists control invasive species

Studying how computer viruses spread through the internet is helping ecologists to prevent invasions of non-native species. New research published today in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology, describes the use of network theory to predict how the spiny water flea - a native of Russia - will spread through the Canadian lake system. Ecologists Jim Muirhead and Profe...

Mutation in clams protects against paralytic shellfish poisoning but raises human health risk

Just like people, clams can be affected by the toxins that cause paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), but scientists have now identified a mutation in clams that gives some protection. PSP toxins interfere with nerve function, and the mutation, which changes a single amino acid in a sodium channel, makes nerves less sensitive to those toxins. The discovery is reported in the April 7 issue...

Columbia study shows widely used artery clearing device does not help patients during heart attack

Interventional cardiologists from Columbia University Medical Center have shown that a commonly used procedure to remove fatty debris from blocked arteries during a heart attack does not improve patient outcomes. The procedure, called distal microcirculatory protection, is commonly and successfully used during angioplasty in vein grafts and stenting in carotid arteries. The study, publish...

Chemists synthesize molecule that helps body battle cancers, malaria

The first synthesis of QS-21A, a medicinally important molecule that helps the body battle disease, has been achieved by chemists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In clinical trials, QS-21A has been shown to significantly improve the body's immune response in vaccine therapies against aggressive diseases such as melanoma, breast cancer, small-cell lung cancer, prostate c...

B cells are required for development of epithelial cancer associated with chronic inflammation

Chronic inflammation is linked to the development of certain types of cancer, but mechanisms mediating inflammation during premalignancy are not well understood. A new research study published in the May issue of Cancer Cell identifies B lymphocytes as important regulators of premalignancy associated with chronic inflammation. The results suggest that drugs targeted against B lymphocytes or recru...

Researchers Closer To Helping Hearing-Impaired Using Stem Cells

Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine are several steps closer to the day when a profoundly deaf patient’s own bone marrow cells could be used to let him or her hear the world. The IU group, led by Eri Hashino, Ph.D., was able to transform, in the laboratory, stem cells taken from adult bone marrow into cells with many of the characteristics of sensory nerve cells -- neurons...

Research Reveals Functions Of Harmful Shellfish Pathogens

Providing safer shellfish is the goal of Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists who are studying the means by which pathogenic bacteria enter shellfish. In the United States, two pathogenic bacteria from the genus Vibrio are of concern: V. vulnificus and V. parahaemolyticus. These bacteria are naturally found in shellfish and seawater, particularly when water temperatures are warm,...

Understanding how bacteria communicate may help scientists prevent disease

Rahul Kulkarni, assistant professor of physics at Virginia Tech, has been awarded a Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from Oak Ridge Associated Universities to continue his research on quorum sensing in bacteria. He is modeling the sequence of events that initiate activity, such as virulence, by a bacteria colony once it has reached a critical size. The Powe award provides see...

Ancient DNA helps clarify the origins of two extinct New World horse species

The Patagonian Hippidion horse genus and North American stilt-legged horses have found a new place on the evolutionary tree, according to a new article in the open access journal PLoS Biology. In the paper, Jaco Weinstock, Alan Cooper, and colleagues use ancient DNA to argue that the Hippidion genus is younger than previously thought and that American stilt-legged horses were American endemics, n...

Does vitamin C help prevent or treat the common cold? Maybe not, after all.

Linus Pauling's book Vitamin C and The Common Cold, published in 1970, was a bestseller and led many people to believe in the value of the vitamin for cold prevention and treatment. But an article in this month's PLoS Medicine reviewing all of the best clinical research on this topic, suggests that the public's enthusiasm for the vitamin may be unjustified. Robert M Douglas of the Australi...

Massey Cancer Center researcher helps to identify a piece of the cancer puzzle

A structural biologist from the Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center, in collaboration with researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, has identified the crystal structure of a protein that plays a role in supplying nutrients to solid tumors. This identification may help researchers gain a greater understanding of the cell signaling that occurs when cancer cell...

Genome study of beneficial microbe may help boost plant health

In a study expected to greatly benefit crop plants, scientists have deciphered the genome of a root- and seed-dwelling bacterium that protects plants from diseases. The research provides clues to better explain how the helpful microbe, Pseudomonas fluorescens Pf-5, naturally safeguards roots and seeds from infection by harmful microbes that cause plant diseases. The genome paper will be p...

Study: Well-known protein helps stem cells become secretory cells

Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that a single protein regulates secretion levels in the fruit fly's salivary gland and its skin-like outer layer. Th...

Chickadees can help humans get their bearings

How did University of Alberta researchers discover that animals zig when they were only supposed to zag? A little birdie told them. In studying the spatial memory of wild-caught mountain chickadees, University of Alberta researchers were surprised to discover the birds contradicting prior research that showed how animals navigate. This study is the first to reveal a different pattern. Pre...

Discoveries by UAB and Florida scientists may help transplanted organs survive longer

Scientists may have found a way to dramatically slow organ transplant rejection by as much as several years. The research team reporte...

Spiders help scientists discover how muscles relax

Using muscle tissue from tarantulas, an HHMI international research scholar and his colleagues have figured out the detailed structure and arrangement of the miniature molecular motors that control movement. Their work, which takes advantage of a new technique for visualizing tissues in their natural state, provides new insights into the molecular basis of muscle relaxation, and perhaps its activ...

Nanoparticles, nanoshells, nanotubes: How tiny specks may provide powerful tools against cancer

They're but a tiny speck, existing in a variety of forms: particles, tubes, shells, even a soccerball-like shape. They also share a common prefix: "nano," connoting their size, a billionth of a meter or roughly 25-millionth of an inch. Today, cancer researchers are exploring the potential of such nanostructures to exquisitely target cancer cells without harming surrounding tissue, and to...

Cattle grazing may help rather than hurt endangered species

An article published in the latest issue of Conservation Biology finds that cattle grazing plays an important role in maintaining wetland habitat necessary for some endangered species. Removing cattle from grazing lands in the Central Valley of California could, inadvertently, degrade the vernal pool habitat of fairy shrimp and tiger salamanders. Cattle grazing influences the rates of evaporati...

New Discovery May Help Doctors Treat Infertility

New research suggests that medications commonly referred to as fertility drugs may be ineffective for women who lack a gene called the estrogen receptor beta. The study showed that fertility drugs did not improve ovulation rates in mice that were genetically engineered to lack estrogen receptor beta. The estrogen receptor beta is one of two estrogen receptor proteins which mediate the effects of...

New research could help us deliver genes for new bone formation

UK scientists are working on new methods to regenerate cartilage and bone by delivering genes to stem cells within the body to instruct them to turn into bone cells. The research, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), could lead to a new approach to tissue engineering. With the ageing populations of Western countries it holds the potential of significant be...

Discovering an ecosystem beneath a collapsed Antarctic ice shelf

The chance discovery of a vast ecosystem beneath the collapsed Larsen Ice Shelf will allow scientists to explore the uncharted life below Antarctica's floating ice shelves and further probe the origins of life in extreme environments. Researchers discovered the sunless habitat after a recent underwater video study examining a deep glacial trough in the northwestern Weddell Sea following the sudde...