SLI

Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld are now species of slime-mold beetles -- but strictly in homage

Drinking water during a long-distance race may do serious harm rather than keep you safe from injury if you're drinking too much, according to a cardiologist at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Runners or any long-distance athletes who drink too much water during a race could put themselves at jeopardy for developing hyponatremia, a condition marked by a loss in the body's sodium content th...

Slipping past the blood brain barrier: Research shows potential treatment for brain cancer

A compound that kills cancer can sneak past the blood brain barrier, which protects the brain from foreign substances, to do its work in fighting a particularly invasive brain cancer, according to a new Saint Louis University animal study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Online Early Edition the week of Aug. 22. "The bottom line is, if you can get drugs into...

A slight difference and significant similarities

There is little difference between the composition of the genetically produced potatoes known as fructan potatoes and that of conventionally bred varieties. They only differ in the new substances intentionally incorporated with gene technology. This conclusion has been reached by scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology and their colleagues from the University of Wales...

Anyway you slice it, tomatoes cut through drought with new gene

New tomato research has its roots in yielding more food to feed more people, according to Dr. Kendal Hirschi about results announced today. The team made tomato plants over-express the gene, AVP1, which resulted in stronger, larger root systems and that resulted in roots making better use of...

Molecule does more than slice and dice RNA

A team of Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) scientists has peeled back some of the mystery of how cells are able to turn off genes selectively to control critical events of development. The new insights arise from the first clear molecular images of the structure of Dicer, an enzyme that enables cells to dissect genetic material precisely. The finding, which is reported in the January...

Big hips, big belly? It's in your genes, Joslin-led study shows

Young adults with high levels of antibodies against the Epstein-Barr virus, the virus that most often causes mononucleosis, may be more likely to develop multiple sclerosis 15 to 20 years later, according to a study posted online today that will appear in the June 2006 print issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Researchers have long suspected that external fac...

Ammonia-loving archaea win landslide majority

A genetic analysis of soil samples indicates that a group of microorganisms called crenarchaeota are the Earth's most abundant land-based creatures that oxidize ammonia, according to an international team of researchers from Norway, Germany, United Kingdom and the United States. Soil microbes, in a process known as nitrification, combine ammonia with oxygen to form nitrates, which are...

When the going gets tough, slime molds start synthesizing

In times of plenty, the uni-cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum leads a solitary life munching on bacteria littering the forest floor. But these simple creatures can perform heroic developmental acts: when the bacterial food supply dries up, Dictyostelium amebas band together with their neighbors and form a multi-cellular tower designed to save the children. In a forthcoming stud...

Sticky surfaces turn slippery with the flip of a molecular light switch

Changing a surface from sticky to slippery could now be as easy as flipping a molecular light switch. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have created an "optically switchable" material that alters its surface characteristics when exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light. The new material, which is described in the June 19 issue of the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition, could h...

Joslin discovers signs of residual islet cell function in people with long-term type 1 diabetes

Scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center have discovered that a surprisingly high percentage of people with type 1 diabetes (insulin-dependent) who have had the disease for 50 years or longer (The Joslin Medalists) may still have residual functioning, insulin-producing islet cells and/or islet cell antibodies. The findings will be presented June 12 at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) 66th Annu...

Cutting calories slightly can reduce aging damage

A lifelong habit of trimming just a few calories from the daily diet can do more than slim the waistline - a new study shows it may help lessen the effects of aging....

Interfering RNA silences genes in 'slippery' immune cells

A technical advance in laboratory techniques may provide biology researchers broader access to RNA interference, a process of blocking the activity of targeted genes. RNA interference has recently emerged as an important tool in studying how genes function in normal biological processes and in disease. Writing in the Journal of Immunological Methods, published online on March 24, a researc...