Mayan stingless bee keeping: Going, going, gone?
Long before Europeans brought honey bees (Apis mellifera) to the Americas, Mayan bee keepers harvested honey from the log nests of stingless bees native to tropical forests. Now, colleagues from the Colegio de la Frontera Sur in Quintana Roo, Mexico and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) warn of the imminent demise of stingless bee keeping on the Yucatan ?a result of ongoing cultu...Gatekeeping: Penn researchers find new way to open ion channels in cell membranes
Using an enzyme found in the venom of the brown recluse spider, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered a new way to open molecular pores, called ion channels, in the membrane of cells. The research team ?Zhe Lu, MD, PhD; Yajamana Ramu, PhD; and Yanping Xu, MD, PhD of the Department of Physiology at Penn ?screened venoms from over 100 poisonous invertebrat...Weizmann Institute scientists discover a molecular security mechanism for keeping mutations in check
Everyone knows mutations ?genetic mistakes in DNA, the material of heredity ?are bad: The more mutations in the cell's DNA, the higher the risk of cancer developing. But in the last few years it has become clear that the very processes that generate mutations, if they take place at a relatively low frequency, can actually protect us from cancer. How does the body know how to keep these processes...Keeping the body in sync -- The stability of cellular clocks
A study in Switzerland uses the tools of physics to show how our circadian clocks manage to keep accurate time in the noisy cellular environment. In an article appearing March 13 in the journal Molecular Systems Biology, researchers from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne demonstrate that the stability of cellular oscillators depends on specific biochemical processes, reflecting...Keeping the immune system from starting a 'food fight'
After every meal, the body must prevent the immune system from launching an all-out fight against food. Now, researchers report the identity of a nutrient "floodgate" that serves to protect against such an inflammatory immune response. Their findings appear in the May 4, 2007 issue of the journal Cell, a publication of Cell Press. The researchers found that animals lacking a protein enrich...RNArticles: Keeping RNA Intact Prior to RNA Isolation - RNAlater
is a tissue storage solution that stabilizes and protects cellular RNA in fresh tissues. (Ambion's new RNA -ICE is designed specifically for use with frozen tissues - see "<A href="http://www.ambion.com/techlib/tn/103/1.html">Stop Grinding...Housekeeping Genes: Universal Positive Controls in siRNA Knockdown Experiments
RNA interference is a powerful technique for geneknockdown experiments in academic research and animportant tool for target identification and target validationin therapeutic research. A growing number of different cell lines are us...Keeping Wisconsin supplied with energy won't get any easier
If only it was as easy as flipp...A new tool for keeping computers cool
In fact, today's ultra-powerful computers generate so much heat that air cooling technology can't keep pace anymore, says UW-Madison professor <a href="http://www.e...Doyles proposal is about more than keeping pace with California
M...Stent shows promise in keeping arteries open
A new approach to keeping heart arteries flowing smoothly after angioplasty shows surprising success in early testing. Doctors released the longest follow-up with the new technique - the drug-coated stent. //In testing on 50 patients over 3 years, they found it to be 100 percent effective. More than 2 million Americans undergo angioplasty annually, and the new approach is likely to b...Stent Effective In Keeping Arteries Open
A new type of stent that releases medication appears safe and effective for preventing arteries from reclosing in coronary heart disease patients, // a process known as restenosis. The experimental stent, a mesh tube, releases the immunosuppressant drug everolimus. The drug acts by inhibiting cell reproduction and reducing cell growth in vessel walls. Unlike other similar drug-eluting stents, the...Stem Cells Keeping Patients Alive
Acute liver failure is the loss of liver function that can cause death within days or even hours. Standard treatment consists of intensive supportive care intended to keep patients alive long enough that the liver might recover spontaneously // or a donor organ becomes available for transplantation. About 80 percent of patients will die unless they receive a liver transplant. A bioarti...Besides keeping you awake for exams coffee boosts memory as well!
There is another feather in the coffee cap proposed by a study by Florian Koppelstatter, University Hospital Innsbruck & colleagues which says that drinking a cup of coffee with 100 mg caffeine can boost short-term memory.// The sample and procedure for the study involved 15 healthy men aged 26 to 47. Participants were tested when they consumed 100 mg caffeine and then when they consumed...An Apple A Day Can Do More Than Just Keeping The Doctor Away
Consumption of apple or apple juice can increase the level of mental sharpness in aging individuals, according to a study by researchers from University of Massachusetts at Lowell//. The researchers assessed whether drinking apple juice could protect against brain damage in aging mice, damage that can lead to memory loss. Researcher Thomas B. Shea evaluated adult and aged...