then in Biological News

8 National Medals of Science awardees to be honored at gala, then the White House

View a video clip of Leonard Kleinrock showing his contributions to the development of the Internet and cybercommunication. President George W. Bush will award the National Medals of Science and National Medals of Technology, honoring the nation's leading researchers, inventors and innovators, ...

Dirty air brings rain -- then again, maybe not

An international team of scientists, headed by Prof. Daniel Rosenfeld of the Institute of Earth Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has come up with a surprising finding to the disputed issue of whether air pollution increases or decreases rainfall. The conclusion: both can be true, de...

If you don't want to fall ill this Christmas, then share a festive kiss but don't shake hands

We've all heard people say 'I won't kiss you, I've got a cold'. But a report just published warns that we may be far more at risk of passing on an infection by shaking someone's hand than in sharing a kiss. A group of hygiene experts from the United States and the UK have published the first de...

Ant invaders eat the natives, then move down the food chain

The Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, is one of the most successful invasive species in the world, having colonized parts of five continents in addition to its native range in South America. A new study sheds light on the secrets of its success. The findings, from researchers at the University...

Researchers wake up viruses inside tumors to image and then destroy cancers

Researchers have found a way to activate Epstein-Barr viruses inside tumors as a way to identify patients whose infection can then be manipulated to destroy their tumors. They say this strategy could offer a novel way of treating many cancers associated with Epstein-Barr, including at least four d...

Marine microbes creating green waves in industry

...can promote the chemical reactions that we want to use in manufacturing. We then treat the microbes under conditions where they produce the key enzymes in higher yield, which we finally purify. The enzymes then undergo systematic testing to evaluate their activity, which enables us to ...

Navigating in the ocean of molecules

...hey reduce the molecules to their characteristic scaffolds. Scaffold Hunter then orders these structures in a kind of family tree based on their similaritie...tics as the starting point in the quest for new active agents: chemists can then vary the scaffolds with different appendages to synthesize the optimal acti...

Carbon nanoparticles toxic to adult fruit flies but benign to young

...re whether any of these afflictions led directly to the flies' death. A separate experiment showed adult flies transported carbon nanoparticles and then deposited them elsewhere when they groomed themselves. The findings, published online in Environmental Science & Technology , help to show the ris...

AGU journal highlights -- Aug. 6, 2009

...029/2008JD011662 4. Martian dust storms generate lightning Dust storms on Earth build up an electric field as dust particles collide, and then emit lightning as the electric field discharges. Some previous evidence suggested that Martian dust storms might also generate lightning in this manne...

New cancer drug delivery system is effective and reversible

...ostic agents. His team used an aptamer that binds to nucleolin receptors, which are found in abundance on certain breast cancer cells. The researchers then developed an effective method for attaching the aptamer to a liposome loaded with cisplatin, a drug that effectively kills cancer cells but has troubl...

Mary had a lot of lambs: Researchers identify way to accelerate sheep breeding

...orm of the gene, the so-called M allele that other researchers had suspected might be correlated with out-of-season fertility, in their test flock and then validated the gene's relationship with aseasonal breeding by observing that trait in the flock. The finding, published in the August issue of the ...

Understanding how weeds are resistant to herbicides

...ew them up, confirmed that they were resistant and then we started crossing a resistant plant with a sensi...e is, did resistance evolve or occur here once and then a farmer moved a combine and that's how resistance...ld whereas if it evolved once and is moving around then you've got to pay attention to what your neighbors...

Scary ancient spiders revealed in 3-D models, thanks to new imaging technique

...tors. The researchers created their images by using a CT scanning device, which enabled them to take 3,000 x-rays of each fossil. These x-rays were then compiled into precise 3D models, using custom-designed software. Both Cryptomartus hindi and Eophrynus prestivicii were around the size of a 50 p...

Lead-based consumer paint remains a global public health threat

...eam also analyzed the consumer cost of leaded and unleaded paint. Each paint sample was applied in a single layer to a wood block, left to dry and then removed and analyzed in UC laboratories for lead content. Researchers determined that 73 percent of the paint companies' products tested had lead conc...

New stem cell research could reduce number of animal experiments

...al use and at the same time continue to develop new treatments for diseases then we must engage the best minds and harness the best science and technology i...s disease. "If they can do this, and reduce their reliance on animal use then this has to be good news." ...

Animal and plant communication at the ESA Annual Meeting

...oduce a pitcher-shaped structure with a pool of water in it. When insects investigate, they slide into the pitcher and meet a watery demise. The plant then dissolves the insect and uses it for food. Biologists have long assumed that in addition to their nectar-producing glands that attract prey to a poten...

Antibody targeting of glioblastoma shows promise in preclinical tests, say Lombardi researchers

...ssues also recorded expression of PTN and ALK, as well as genes along this pathway. "We found that they are significantly up regulated," he says. They then assessed whether that activity mattered to the outcome of patients with brain tumors. "A lot of pathways that are activated in cancer are passengers, ...

Got zinc? New zinc research suggests novel therapeutic targets

...n T cell activation. After isolating the T cells from the blood, scientists then simulated infection in laboratory conditions. Results showed that T cells ...alled "ZIP8," which transports stored zinc into the cell cytoplasm where it then alters the expression of a T cell protein in a way needed to fight infectio...

Scientists uncork a potential secret of red wine's health benefits

... inflammatory response, simulating disease in humans, while the group pretreated with resveratrol was protected from the inflammation. The scientists then examined the tissues of the mice to determine exactly how resveratrol was able to protect the mice from inflammation. They found that resveratrol used...

UCSF researchers identify new drug target for Kaposi's sarcoma

...That discovery potentially opens myriad opportunities for drug discovery, Craik said, by making target receptors that were biologically validated, but then deemed undruggable, more attractive. Protein-protein interactions have been researched as drug targets against a range of diseases, from certain cance...

Jet-propelled imaging for an ultrafast light source

... the tube through which the gas flows; the liquid issues from the capillary some distance from the opening in the outer tube, so the gas surrounds it, then increases speed and pressure as it approaches the opening, squeezing and accelerating the thin stream of liquid until it is so small that the proteins...

E-Noses: Testing their mettle against fly noses

...on type of e-nose sensors metal oxide or 'MOx' receptors sample the air around them. This is a critical factor in the performance of all noses. We then compared it with the performance of odorant receptors from the common house fly, Drosophila. "We already know that fly receptors, unlike most other ...

Experimental treatment halts hypoxic-ischemic brain injury in newborns

...one-week-old rats in which brain hypoxia-ischemia was induced. The researchers found that hypoxia-ischemia leads to increased tPA activity. The enzyme then damages the brain blood vessels and the blood-brain barrier. The blood-brain barrier is a protective system designed to prevent invasions of blood-bor...

Fox Chase researchers uncover one force behind the MYC oncogene in many cancers

...here certain proteins known as transcription factors attach in order to recruit the cellular machinery used to transcribe genes into messenger RNA and then proteins. Studies in both cells and a mouse model for cancer showed that they could promote the expression of MYC by transfecting cells with DNA stran...

1 in 6 health workers won't report in flu pandemic -- study by Ben-Gurion U. researchers

... an influenza pandemic. First step is to better educate public health workers as to their designated roles during this emergency scenario, and then motivate them with an understanding of why this role makes a difference. If a specific designated role cannot be predetermined, a set of potential ro...

Study shows cancer vaccines led to long-term survival for patients with metastatic melanoma

... own immune cells (dendritic cells) and 500 micrograms of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), an immune stimulator, three times a week and then monthly for five months for a total of up to eight injections. The patient's dendritic cells were obtained from their peripheral blood and mixed with ...

Researchers develop 'brain-reading' methods

... before he or she could report that information by analyzing the pattern of brain activity at the back of the brain where information is processed and then conveyed towards the frontal regions associated with awareness. "It's the same principle experienced during a car accident. The car accident actual...

ISU researchers find possible treatment for spinal muscular atrophy

...nsates for the mutated or malfunctioning SMN1 gene. All proteins in human bodies are made by copying genes. This copy is called pre-mRNA. Pre-mRNA then becomes mRNA by splicing out certain parts of the sequence that are non-coding, meaning they don't help the function of the gene. These non-coding p...

Smaller than expected, but severe, dead zone in Gulf of Mexico

...owever the dead zone, which is usually limited to water just above the sea floor, was severe where it did occur, extending closer to the water surface then in most years. Earlier this summer, NOAA-sponsored forecast models developed by R. Eugene Turner, Ph. D. of Louisiana State University and Donald ...

Scientists track impact of DNA damage in the developing brain

... the body. The strategy used mice developed to make a particular enzyme, known as cre recombinase, in just the nervous system. St. Jude researchers then developed a mouse that carried an Xrcc1 gene outfitted with biochemical tags targeting the gene for inactivation by the enzyme. The result was a mouse...

Spallation Neutron Source sees first target replacement

...a after draining the mercury--approximately 20 tons of it--from the vessel. then the new module is put into place, returned to the target station and then refilled with the mercury. The entire process is performed with remote mani...

Common allergy drug reduces obesity and diabetes in mice

...tissue. This led to an obvious question: by regulating mast cells, could we then control the symptoms? To find out, Shi and colleagues took a group of ob...nt recovery in all areas. To bolster these findings, Shi and colleagues then took a group of mice whose ability to produce mast cells was genetically im...

URI researcher sheds light on 'man-eating' squid; finds them timid, nonthreatening

... call "red devil" to learn more about their physiology, feeding behavior and swimming abilities. Humboldt squid feed in surface waters at night, then retreat to great depths during daylight hours. "They spend the day 300 meters deep where oxygen levels are very low," Seibel said. "We wanted to know...

DOE-funded research projects win 46 R&D 100 Awards for 2009

...ses that contain incorrect bandwidth for amplification. The device inspects each individual laser pulse, which is traveling at the speed of light, and then determines if the pulse meets the bandwidth requirements to avoid self-destruction during amplification. Spectral Sentry can stop the speed-of-light ...

Ants more rational than humans

...mates, or nest sites, according to their fitness contribution." "Which means that it would be irrational to prefer choice 'A' to 'B' on Tuesday and then to prefer 'B' to 'A' on Wednesday, if the fitness returns of the two options have not changed." "Typically we think having many individual options,...

Airway cells use 'tasting' mechanism to detect and clear harmful substances

... the motion capabilities of these cellular structures are linked. "On the tongue, bitter substances trigger taste cells to stimulate neurons, which then evoke a response -- the perception of a bitter taste. In contrast, the airway cells appear to use a different mechanism that does not require nerves,"...

Knee injuries may start with strain on the brain, not the muscles

...economic strain on the medical system. University of Michigan researchers studying ACL injuries had subjects perform one-legged squats to fatigue, then tested the reactions to various jumping and movement commands. Researchers found that both legs---not just the fatigued leg---showed equally dangerous...

URI researcher sheds light on 'man-eating' squid; finds them timid, non-threatening

... call "red devil" to learn more about their physiology, feeding behavior and swimming abilities. Humboldt squid feed in surface waters at night, then retreat to great depths during daylight hours. "They spend the day 300 meters deep where oxygen levels are very low," Seibel said. "We wanted to know...

Short stressful events may improve working memory

... the rodents reached this level of accuracy for two consecutive days, half were put through a 20-minute forced swim, which served as acute stress, and then were put through the maze again. Results showed that the stressed rats made significantly fewer mistakes as they went through the maze both four ho...

Scientists discover gene mutation responsible for hereditary neuroendocrine tumor

...what we learned in yeast was also relevant to humans. Following this strategy, we first characterized a mitochondrial protein called Sdh5 in yeast and then moved on to study its potential role in human disease." Sdh5 is a mitochondrial protein that is highly conserved, meaning that it has remained larg...