La Jolla, CA, October 21, 2009 – A team of biologists in California led by researchers at The Scripps Research Institute and the University of California (UC), San Diego has solved the structure of a critical molecule that helps plants survive during droughts. Understanding the inner workings of this molecule may help scientists design new ways to protect crops against prolonged dry periods, potentially improving crop yields worldwide, aiding biofuels production on marginal lands and mitigating drought's human and economic costs.
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The great diversity of male sexual traits, ranging from peacock's elaborate train to formidable genitalia of male seed beetles, is the result of female choice. But why do females choose among males? In a new study published today in Current Biology, researchers from Uppsala University found no support for the theory that the female choice is connected to "good genes".
Drugs based on engineered proteins represent a new frontier for pharmaceutical makers. Even after they discover a protein that may form the basis of the next wonder drug, however, they have to confront a long-standing problem: how to produce large quantities of the protein in a highly pure state. Now, a multi-institutional research team including a biochemist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) may have found* a new solution in an enzymatic "food processor" they can activate at will.
BOSTON -- Scientists who study RNA have faced a formidable roadblock: trying to examine RNA's movements in a living cell when they can't see the RNA. Now, a new technology has given scientists the first look ever at RNA in a live bacteria cell—a sight that could offer new information about how the molecule moves and works.
A new study uses a creative structure-based remodeling strategy to design a therapeutic protein that exhibits significant advantages over currently available treatments for a rare disease that often leads to cardiac and renal failure. The research, published by Cell Press on October 22nd in the American Journal of Human Genetics, describes a new and highly promising candidate for enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) for Fabry disease.
PITTSBURGH, Oct.22 – Immunologists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC have found a unique quirk in the way the immune system fends off bacteria called Francisella tularensis, which could lead to vaccines that are better able to prevent tularemia infection of the lungs. Their findings were published today in the early, online version of Immunity.
A study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has identified a key player in a molecular process essential for DNA replication within cells.
With technology similar to that used by physicians to perform magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, researchers from six institutions—including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)—working at the Hollings Marine Laboratory (HML) in Charleston, S.C., are studying the metabolic activity of a pathogen shown to cause coral bleaching, a serious threat to undersea reef ecosystems worldwide.
ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Someone healthy enough to work could still cost an employer more than $4,000 annually in unnecessary health care costs.
A new University of Michigan study shows workers with metabolic syndrome (MetS) and associated chronic disease can cost employers up to $5,867 annually in health care, pharmacy and short term disability---compared to $1,600 for a healthy worker. But the good news: Companies can stop those chronic health problems before they start.
This release is available Spanish.
The Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata, is a world plague which represents one of the most serious problems for agriculture. However, the control methods currently present in the market for this plague are ineffective.
Perilous and polluting industrial processes can be made safer with enzymes. But only a short range of enzymes have been available for the chemical industry.
Recently a group of researchers at The Department of Chemistry at University of Copenhagen succeeded in producing an artificial enzyme that points the way to enzymes tailor-made for any application.
Blacksburg, Va. -- In the course of doing research on the mosquito-borne pathogens chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and o' nyong-nyong virus (ONNV), Virginia Tech researchers have discovered an inconvenient truth about an assay, strand-specific quantitative real-time PCR (ssqPCR), increasingly being used to detect and measure replicating viral RNA in infected cells and tissues. The method most labs are using for ssqPCR is unreliable.
A new study indicates a link between autism and alterations to the oxytocin receptor, OXTR, caused by inherited alterations that do not involve DNA sequence mutation. The study, published in the open access journal BMC Medicine, identified the non-DNA change in 'OXTR' via an autistic child and his mother, who potentially has obsessive-compulsive disorder.
An international team led by a National Institutes of Health researcher has found that carriers of a rare, genetic condition called Gaucher disease face a risk of developing Parkinson's disease more than five times greater than the general public. The findings were published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.
LOS ALAMOS, New Mexico, OCTOBER 21, 2009—A team of geneticists at Los Alamos National Laboratory, together with a consortium of international researchers, has recently proposed a set of standards designed to elucidate the quality of publicly available genetic sequencing information. The new standards could eventually allow genetic researchers to develop vaccines more efficiently or help public health or security personnel more quickly respond to potential public-health emergencies.