Secrets in Biological News

Drug-proof zebrafish reveal secrets of addiction

The effects of amphetamines on gene expression in zebrafish have been uncovered. This new study, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Biology , provides clues to the genetics that underlie susceptibility to addiction by describing the nad zebrafish mutant, which does not feel ...

Genetic secrets of date palm unlocked by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar

DOHA, QATAR (May 1, 2009) -- Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) have mapped a draft version of the date palm genome, unlocking many of its genetic secrets. "We have generated a draft DNA sequence and initial assembly of the date palm using the most advanced technolog...

Yale researchers uncover secrets of salmonella's stealth attack

A single crafty protein allows the deadly bacterium Salmonella enterica to both invade cells lining the intestine and hijack cellular functions to avoid destruction, Yale researchers report in the April 17 issue of the journal Cell . This evolutionary slight-of-hand sheds new insights into t...

Diet secrets of 'the Royals'

SALT LAKE CITY, April 13, 2009 Two weeks after the rains begin, an elephant family named "the Royals" usually switches to a grass diet to bulk up for pregnancy and birth. But when they wandered off their African reserve one rainy season, cattle grazed the grass so short that elephants cou...

Scientists unlock the secrets of C. difficile's protective shell

The detailed structure of a protective 'jacket' that surrounds cells of the Clostridium difficile superbug, and which helps the dangerous pathogen stick to human host cells and tissues, is revealed in part in the 1 March issue of Molecular Microbiology . Scientists hope that unravelling the...

Caltech researchers help unlock the secrets of gene regulatory networks

PASADENA, Calif.-- A quartet of studies by researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) highlight a special feature on gene regulatory networks recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ( PNAS ). The collection of papers, "Gene Networks in De...

DNA testing may unlock secrets of medieval manuscripts

Thousands of painstakingly handwritten books produced in medieval Europe still exist today, but scholars have long struggled with questions about when and where the majority of these works originated. Now a researcher from North Carolina State University is using modern advances in genetics to dev...

Uncovering secrets of life in the ocean

Larvae of marine invertebrates worms, sponges, jellyfish - have the simplest eyes that exist. They consist of no more than two cells: a photoreceptor cell and a pigment cell. These minimal eyes, called eyespots, resemble the 'proto-eyes' suggested by Charles Darwin as the first eyes to appear in ...

Landmark study unlocks stem cell, DNA secrets to speed therapies

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- In a groundbreaking study led by an eminent molecular biologist at Florida State University, researchers have discovered that as embryonic stem cells turn into different cell types, there are dramatic corresponding changes to the order in which DNA is replicated and reorganize...

The making of Dig It! the Secrets of Soil exhibit

SEPTEMBER 24, 2008 At the 2008 Joint Annual Meeting in Houston, the Smithsonian's Design Team will explain details about the making of the new Dig It the Secrets of Soil exhibit that recently opened at the Natural History Museum in Washington, DC. Jennifer Bine, Pat Megonigal, and Barbara Stauffe...

Power of molecular imaging reveals secrets of the heart

Reston, Va.The extraordinary action of a new cellular therapy came to light as a result of powerful PET and SPECT imaging in a recent study reported in the April issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Researchers in Germany were able to observe the repair action of circulating progenitor cells ...

Genetic tags reveal secrets of memories' staying power in mice

A better understanding of how memory works is emerging from a newfound ability to link a learning experience in a mouse to consequent changes in the inner workings of its neurons. Researchers, supported in part by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), have...

Birds, bats and insects hold secrets for aerospace engineers

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Natural flyers like birds, bats and insects outperform man-made aircraft in aerobatics and efficiency. University of Michigan engineers are studying these animals as a step toward designing flapping-wing planes with wingspans smaller than a deck of playing cards. A Blackbird ...

Research reveals secrets of alcohol's effect on brain cells

NEW YORK (Dec. 7, 2007) -- Alcohol triggers the activation of a variety of genes that can influence the health and activity of brain cells, and new research from Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City sheds light on how that process occurs. The findings, published in the Nov. 21 issue o...

New research to decode the genetic secrets of prolific potato pest

The full weight of a consortium of world-leading scientists including those who helped decode the entire human genome is being thrown at a parasitic worm less than 1mm long. The potato cyst nematode (PCN), Globodera pallida, attacks potato crops all over the world and is particularly devasta...

Ripening secrets of the vine revealed

Whether you prefer a Cabernet Sauvignon or a Pinot Noir grape variety, two new research articles published in the online open access journal, BMC Genomics, offer a host of new genetic information on fruit ripening for this economically important fruit crop. The grapevine's gene expression anal...

Eat chocolate, drink wine, add fun to life: SLU geriatrician shares secrets of staying young

ST. LOUIS Little lifestyle changes can pay big dividends to aging baby boomers who want to stay vibrant, says John Morley, M.D., director of the division of geriatric medicine at Saint Louis University, in a new book that outlines a 10-step program to improve quality of life as we age. Living ...

New study uncovers secrets behind butterfly wing patterns

Irvine, Calif., Oct. 25, 2007 -- The genes that make a fruit fly's eyes red also produce red wing patterns in the Heliconius butterfly found in South and Central America, finds a new study by a UC Irvine entomologist. Bob Reed, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, discovered...

NMR researchers unlock hydrogen's secrets to spot polymorphism in pharmaceuticals

Researchers at the University of Warwick and Astra Zeneca have found a new way to use solid-state NMR equipment to crack the secrets of hydrogen atoms and thus spot unwanted polymorphs in pharmaceuticals. Pharmaceuticals companies are constantly battling the problem of polymorphism in which an ...

Scientists eye secrets of retinal regeneration

NEW YORK (Sept. 10, 2007) -- Peering at microscopic changes within the retina, scientists in the Department of Ophthalmology at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, have discovered a key mechanism driving eye health and eye disease. Reporting in the cover article of a recent edition...

MIT unraveling secrets of red tide

CAMBRIDGE, MA (08/30/2007) - In work that could one day help prevent millions of dollars in economic losses for seaside communities, MIT chemists have demonstrated how tiny marine organisms likely produce the red tide toxin that periodically shuts down U.S. beaches and shellfish beds. In the Au...

Monash researchers uncover cancer survival secrets

A team of Monash University researchers has uncovered the role of a family of enzymes in the mutation of benign or less aggressive tumours into more aggressive, potentially fatal, cancers in the human body. The discovery, published today in the international journal Cancer Cell, provides val...

Scientists gather in New Zealand to share oceans' secrets

Two hundred of the worlds leading marine biologists will gather in Auckland from 14-16 November to share the latest insights on marine life from the poles to the tropics. This major meeting of a global marine biology research programme, the Census of Marine Life, is being jointly hosted by the Nat...

Puzzling plankton yield secrets to role in evolution/global photosynthesis

The analysis of DNA sequences from tiny green algae have provided new insights into the mystery of how new species of plankton evolve—and further highlights their critical role in managing the global cycling of carbon. These findings, by a group led by the DOE Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI); the...

Natural antibiotics yield secrets to atom-level imaging technique

Frog skin and human lungs hold secrets to developing new antibiotics, and a technique called solid-state NMR spectroscopy is a key to unlocking those secrets. That's the view of University of Michigan researcher Ayyalusamy Ramamoorthy, who will discuss his group's progress toward that goal March...

Major gene study uncovers secrets of leukemia

Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered previously unsuspected mutations that contribute to the formation of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common cancer in children. The discovery not only suggests novel methods for treating pediatric ALL, but...

Primitive yeast yields secrets of human cholesterol and drug metabolism

By first probing the way primitive yeast make cholesterol, a team of scientists has discovered a long-sought protein whose human counterpart controls cholesterol production and potentially drug metabolism. The collaborative study by investigators at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Va...

Tears reveal some of their deepest secrets to researchers

It's no secret why we shed tears. But exactly what our tears are made of has remained a mystery to scientists. A new study sheds some light on the complex design of tears. What we think of as tears, scientists call tear film, which is made up of three distinct, microscopic layers. The middle, wat...

One-of-a-kind imaging probe reveals secrets useful for drug discovery

Good things may indeed come in small packages for scientists eager to find natural substances to help cure diseases. The challenge is to analyze material that is smaller than the proverbial gnat's eyelash. But using a refined version of nuclear magnetic resonance technology, or NMR, scientists ha...

Scientists crack genetic secrets of human egg

The human egg's ability to transform into a new life, or into new cells that may someday save lives, is well documented.The mystery lies in the mechanics - in how a single cell can transform so nimbly. Scientists at Michigan State University report this week in the Proceedings of the National Ac...

3-D model reveals secrets of metastasis

A cancer cell breaks away from a primary tumor and settles in a new location, where it once again divides. Pharmaceutical companies typically use simplistic two-dimensional assays for this process, which is known as metastasis, to evaluate anti-cancer therapeutics. In these assays, cells crawl acro...

Bacteria give up secrets in war waged on plants

The secret weapon of bacteria -- the way they get a foothold in plants to launch an invasion -- is less of a secret, according to research published this week by Michigan State University scientists. Under study is the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae, better known as the disease agent of...

Uncovering sex-change secrets of black sea bass

In a former cowshed on the edge of the University of New Hampshire campus, David Berlinsky, assistant professor of zoology, peers into a big blue plastic tub. Inside, black sea bass circle slowly in the dim light. The converted barn is now an aquaculture research facility for the College of Life Sc...

UW-Madison engineers squeeze secrets from proteins

Proteins, one of the basic components of living things, are among the most studied molecules in biochemistry. Understanding how proteins form or "fold" from sequenced strings of amino acids has long been one of the grand challenges of biology. A common belief holds that the more proteins are con...

New tool reveals secrets of migrating cells

Editor : The open access Public Library of Science - Biology papers have tons of images and cool videos where you can see cells moving, be sure to check them out. Links at the bottom of the press release, added by me. Biologists have a new tool to track and videotape cells moving about inside ...

Researchers reveal secrets of flying snakes

It seems size does matters after all. But for flying snakes, smaller is better, according to University of Chicago researchers. In the May 15, 2005, issue of the Journal of Experimental Biology, scientists described the effects of size and behavior of flying snakes, and found that the smaller an...

Scientists reveal molecular secrets of the malaria parasite

In an innovative project with implications for malaria vaccine development, scientists have used genomics, proteomics and gene expression studies to trace how malaria parasites evolve on a molecular level as they move between their hosts and insect vectors. That focus on the parasites' complex life...

Weill Cornell Research Reveals Secrets Of Trafficking Within Cells

As you read this, cells in your eye are transmitting information to your brain, while cells in your heart and arteries work just as hard to keep that brain alive. Every one of these cells -- and others throughout the body -- depends on an internal process called endocytosis to keep the flow of cell...

UW's Rosetta software to unlock secrets of many human proteins

University of Washington TechTransfer recently licensed software that will give scientists a huge advantage in the fight against disease. The software, known as Rosetta, predicts how proteins fold, information that is highly valuable to biological and biomedical researchers. UW Tech Transfer's Digi...

Striata and CIC Launch Integrated eSignature, eDelivery, and eBilling for the Financial Services Industry

...ons in the software industry and technological innovations which could affect the Company's business; (3) the Company's inability to protect its trade secrets or other proprietary rights, operate without infringing upon the proprietary rights of others or prevent others from infringing on the proprietary rig...