discovers in Biological News

La Jolla Institute discovers novel tumor suppressor

SAN DIEGO (August 3, 2009) La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology researchers studying an enzyme believed to play a role in allergy onset, instead have discovered its previously unknown role as a tumor suppressor that may be important in myeloproliferative diseases and some types of lymphoma...

NTU professor discovers method to efficiently produce less toxic drugs using organic molecules

Nanyang Technological University (NTU)'s Associate Professor Zhong Guofu has made a significant contribution to the field of organic chemistry, in particular the study of using small organic molecules as catalysts, in the synthesis process called organocatalysis. Such synthesis process takes place...

Biologist discovers pink-winged moth in Chiracahua Mountains

University of Arizona biologist Bruce Walsh has identified a new species of moth in southern Arizona. Normally, this is not a big deal. The region is one of the most biologically rich areas in the country and collectors have been finding hundreds of new species for decades. This one, however, is d...

UCSF discovers new glucose-regulating protein linked with diabetes

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, and collaborators at Harvard Medical School have linked a specialized protein in human muscles to the process that clears glucose out of the bloodstream, shedding light on what goes wrong in type 2 diabetes on a cellular level. Estab...

Stowers Institute's Workman Lab discovers novel histone demethylase protein complex

The Stowers Institute's Workman Lab has discovered a novel histone demethylase protein complex characterized in work published today in Molecular Cell . The Histone H3 protein is an important component of chromatin, the packing material wrapping up chromosomal DNA and preventing unwanted tra...

Texas A&M anthropologist discovers long-lost primate in Indonesia

COLLEGE STATION, Nov. 18, 2008 A team led by a Texas A&M University anthropologist has discovered a group of primates not seen alive in 85 years. The pygmy tarsiers, furry Furby/gremlin-looking* creatures about the size of a small mouse and weighing less than 2 ounces, have not been observed sinc...

International team discovers gene associated with epilepsy

A University of Iowa-led international research team has found a new gene associated with the brain disorder epilepsy. While the PRICKLE1 gene mutation was specific to a rare form of epilepsy, the study results could help lead to new ideas for overall epilepsy treatment. The findings, which inv...

Wildlife Conservation Society discovers 'Planet of the Apes'

The world's population of critically endangered western lowland gorillas received a huge boost today when the Wildlife Conservation Society released a census showing massive numbers of these secretive great apes alive and well in the Republic of Congo. The new census tallied more than 125,000...

N.Y. research team discovers how antidepressants and cocaine interact with brain cell targets

NEW YORK (July 28, 2008) -- In a first, scientists from Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University Medical Center have described the specifics of how brain cells process antidepressant drugs, cocaine and amphetamines. These novel findings could prove useful in the development of more ta...

U of T discovers environmental factors linked to sex ratio of plants

TORONTO, ON. Environmental factors can transform the ratio of females to males in plant populations according to new research out of the University of Toronto. The study conducted by Ivana Stehlik, a lecturer, Jannice Friedman, a PhD candidate, and Spencer Barrett, a professor, involved a ...

NYU dental professor discovers biological clock linking tooth growth to other metabolic processes

This clock, or biological rhythm, controls many metabolic functions and is based on the circadian rhythm, which is a roughly 24-hour cycle that is important in determining sleeping and feeding patterns, cell regeneration, and other biological processes in mammals. The newly discovered rhythm, l...

Researcher discovers pathway plants use to fight back against pathogens

COLUMBIA, Mo. Plants are not only smart, but they also wage a good fight, according to a University of Missouri biochemist. Previous studies have shown that plants can sense attacks by pathogens and activate their defenses. However, it has not been known what happens between the pathogen attacks ...

CSHL scientists part of team that discovers role of rare gene mutations in schizophrenia

Using an important new method that can be applied in the study of other psychiatric illnesses, scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Washington (UW) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), have identified multiple, indi...

QUT researcher discovers Maya mask splendor

Ancient Mayan temple builders discovered and used lustrous pigments to make their buildings dazzle in the daylight, a Queensland University of Technology researcher has discovered. Studying tiny shards of paint from the Mayan city of Copan, QUT physical and chemical sciences PhD researcher Rose...

Weill Cornell team discovers how brain's own tPA helps regulate blood flow to neurons

NEW YORK (Jan. 17, 2008) -- The human brain contains its own store of a powerful enzyme (and stroke drug) called tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), which appears to be a key regulator of blood flow to brain cells, a team at the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City reports. "We found ...

CU-Boulder team discovers first ancient manioc fields in Americas

A University of Colorado at Boulder team excavating an ancient Maya village in El Salvador buried by a volcanic eruption 1,400 years ago has discovered an ancient field of manioc, the first evidence for cultivation of the calorie-rich tuber in the New World. The manioc field was discovered un...

deCODE discovers cause of major subtype of glaucoma

Reykjavik, Iceland, August 9, 2007 In a paper published today in the journal Science, scientists from deCODE genetics (Nasdaq:DCGN) and academic colleagues from the National University Hospital in Reykjavik and Uppsala University in Sweden report the discovery of two common single letter variatio...

Scripps research team discovers a chemical pathway that causes mice to overeat and gain weight

The Scripps Research team, led by neuroscientists Manuel Sanchez-Alavez and Tamas Bartfai, discovered that mice genetically altered to lack a molecule known as the EP3 receptor tend to be more active during their normal sleep cycle and to eat more. In the study, this led to weight increases of up t...

Mayo discovers protein as potential tactic to prevent tumors

Mayo Clinic researchers have found that a protein that initiates a "quality control check" during cell division also directs cell death for those cells damaged during duplication. This knowledge represents a potential "bulls eye" for targeting anti-tumor drugs. The findings appear in the current is...

LSU professor discovers new species

Chris Austin, assistant curator of herpetology at LSU's Museum of Natural Science, or LSUMNS, and adjunct professor in biological sciences, recently discovered a new species of lizard while conducting field research in Borneo. Austin, along with colleague Indraneil Das from the Institute of Bio...

U of S Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization team discovers key step in flu virus replication

As public health officials around the world keep a nervous eye on the spread of avian influenza, the University of Saskatchewan's Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) has uncovered a key step in how the influenza virus causes infection. Yan Zhou and her team have discovered how a cr...

Contrary to common wisdom, scientist discovers some mammals can smell objects under water

A Vanderbilt researcher has discovered that some stealthy mammals have been doing something heretofore thought impossible -- using the sense of smell under water. The results of the research by Vanderbilt's Kenneth Catania, assistant professor of biology, were reported Dec. 21 in the science jour...

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 ant...

Nobelist discovers antidepressant protein in mouse brain

A protein that seems to be pivotal in lifting depression has been discovered by a Nobel Laureate researcher funded by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). "Mice deficient in this protein, called p11, display depression-like behaviors, while those with s...

Team discovers possible 'universal strategy' to combat addiction

An international research team led by the University of Saskatchewan has discovered a signaling pathway in the brain involved in drug addiction, together with a method for blocking its action, that may point to a single treatment strategy for most addictions. Their findings appear in the March is...

Expedition discovers marine treasures

An underwater mountain that forms the world's third-largest atoll has some of the richest diversity of marine life ever found in the Caribbean, according to scientists who recently explored the area. The two-week expedition in January encountered new species of fish, seaweed and other ocean life ...

Mayo Clinic collaboration discovers protein amplifies DNA injury signals

A Mayo Clinic-led research collaboration has discovered that the protein MDC1 amplifies weak DNA injury signals so genetic repair can begin. Once amplified, even low-level damage signals become strong enough to activate the cell's natural repair processes while the injury is most tractable to repai...

MIT chemist discovers secret behind nature's medicines

MIT scientists have just learned another lesson from nature. After years of wondering how organisms managed to create self-medications, such as anti-fungal agents, chemists have discovered the simple secret. Scientists already knew that a particular enzyme was able to coax a reaction out of stubb...

Biologist Discovers What May Be World’s ‘Pickiest?Mates

A study conducted by a biologist at the University of California, San Diego that appears in the August issue of the journal Animal Behaviour found that females of the species Uca crenulata may check out 100 or more male fiddler crabs and their burrows before finally deciding on a mate. “As far as...

University of Nevada, Reno research team discovers hormone that causes malaria mosquito to urinate

Discovery has implications for control of mosquitoes, malaria and West Nile Virus Prior to coming to Nevada 16 years ago, David Schooley was a key figure at a small company in Palo Alto, Calif. that developed methoprene, an insecticide that halts the maturation of insect larvae to adults. Me...

UCSD team discovers specialized, rare heart stem cells in newborns

The first evidence of cardiac progenitor cells ?rare, specialized stem cells located in the newborn heart of rats, mice and humans ?has been shown by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine. The cells are capable of differentiation into fully mature heart ti...

McGill University receives almost $63 million under CFI program to support five research projects

...ransform the field of organic chemistry. Dr. C.J. Li, Canada Research Chair in Green Chemistry, virtually co-invented green chemistry, a movement that discovers new chemical reactions which allow chemists to switch from harmful petrochemicals and solvents to environmentally sound alternatives like water. Recei...

Antibiotics take toll on beneficial microbes in gut

...., senior author of the study, which appears in the June issue of Infection and Immunity . The study results suggest that unless medical research discovers how to protect or revitalize the gut microbial community, "we may be doing long-term damage to our close friends," says Young, assistant professor in ...

ExcellGene SA first company to offer contract manufacturing in 250 Liter OrbShake bioreactor

...arely 7 years ago, ExcellGene SA, privately owned, is already a leading process science company in the pharmaceutical biotechnology sector. ExcellGene discovers and develops innovative technologies for the production of recombinant proteins from mammalian cells in bioreactors. As a service company, ExcellGene ...

ExcellGene and Khner achieved milestone in development of novel 250 Liter mammalian cell culture bioreactors

...arely 5 years ago, ExcellGene SA, privately owned, is already a leading process science company in the pharmaceutical biotechnology sector. ExcellGene discovers and develops innovative technologies for the production of recombinant proteins from mammalian cells in bioreactors. As a service company, ExcellGene ...

Mayo Clinic researchers challenge sepsis theory

...says. "Problems such as this caused us to ask, 'Could there be something else driving sepsis, other than the classic poisoning explanation?'" Mayo discovers Key Piece of the Puzzle Dr. Platt and colleagues discovered several years ago that certain naturally-occurring molecules can stimulate receptors o...

Powerful new tool for studying brain development

...nervous system. St. Jude undertook the BGEM project under subcontract from Rockefeller University (New York) on behalf of NINDS. "A researcher who discovers a previously unrecognized gene that is expressed during brain development can rapidly determine how it fits into the overall scheme of brain developme...