As of September 2007, the CrossFire Beilstein database will contain more than ten million compounds, each with associated experimental property data. This important achievement, in conjunction with the significant milestone of ten million reactions reached in June 2006, emphasizes the enduring value of CrossFire Beilstein as the essential first step in life sciences discovery.
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Scientists are reporting an advance toward turning corn plants into natural factories for producing gelatin to replace animal-sourced gelatin widely used by the pharmaceutical industry for manufacturing capsules and tablets. The advance, described today at the 234th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, may lead to a safe, inexpensive source of this protein for manufacturers who now rely on material obtained as a by-product of meat production.
Carnegie Mellon University scientists have developed tiny, spherical nanogels that uniformly release encapsulated carbohydrate-based drugs. The scientists created the nanogels using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), which will ultimately enable the nanogels to deliver more drug directly to the target and to dispense the drug in a time-release manner.
A study in the August 21st issue of Current Biology, a publication of Cell Press, reports some of the first conclusive evidence in support of the long-held notion that men and women differ when it comes to their favorite colors. Indeed, the researchers found that women really do prefer pink—or at least a redder shade of blue—than men do.
Scientists today reported new evidence that infection with a common virus may be a contributing factor to the obesity epidemic sweeping through the United States and other countries. In laboratory experiments they showed that infection with human adenovirus-36 (Ad-36), long recognized as a cause of respiratory and eye infections in humans, transforms adult stem cells obtained from fat tissue into fat cells. Stem cells not exposed to the virus, in contrast, were unchanged.
Understanding the molecular structures of compounds that give certain fruits and vegetables their rich colors may help researchers find even more powerful cancer fighters, a new study suggests.
Evidence from laboratory experiments on rats and on human colon cancer cells also suggests that anthocyanins, the compounds that give color to most red, purple and blue fruits and vegetables appreciably slow the growth of colon cancer cells.
The findings also bring scientists a step closer to figuring out what exactly gives fruits and vegetables their cancer-fighting properties.
Foster Agblevor, associate professor of biological systems engineering, is leading the team of researchers in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (www.cals.vt.edu) at Virginia Tech (www.vt.edu) developing transportable pyrolysis units that will convert poultry litter into bio-oil, providing an economical disposal system while reducing environmental effects and biosecurity issues.
Jeffrey Dean, professor of forest biotechnology in the University of Georgia Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, is spearheading a project at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute (JGI) that will greatly expand the gene catalog for pines and initiate the first gene discovery efforts in five other conifer families.
A large community-based study refutes previous findings that statins – a top-selling drug class, worldwide -- might cut one’s risk of developing prostate cancer by reducing production of the male hormones that fuel cancer growth.
When 14-year-old Jared Sanchez became dangerously overweight, his primary care physician knew he would be a perfect candidate for an investigational weight loss study using the internet.
The PACE (Patient-centered Assessment and Counseling for Exercise and Nutrition) Teen Study is aimed at overweight adolescents who are at risk for Type 2 Diabetes, and their families. The program, which is still enrolling volunteers, uses web and cell phone-based prompts to urge the teens to make permanent changes in diet and behavior, without drugs, supplements or costs.
More than half of U.S. women ages 35 and over are having less sex during menopause than before menopause. According to the recent Sex & Menopause Survey, commissioned by The Red Hot Mamas®, a leading menopause patient organization, sponsored by Duramed Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and conducted by Harris Interactive®, 54 percent of those polled reported a decrease in the frequency of sex after entering menopause.
Researchers at Cornell and elsewhere have determined that 97.9 percent of all white rice is derived from a mutation (a deletion of DNA) in a single gene originating in the Japonica subspecies of rice.
Their report, published in the journal PloS Genetics, suggests that early farmers favored, bred and spread white rice around the world.
Behavioral research over the past 15 years has confirmed what anyone who has purchased a house or dumped a significant other could tell you: When people make decisions, they anticipate that they may regret their choices. It is important that we maintain this ability, because as the aforementioned house-buyers and spouse-dumpers know, regret can be a terrible feeling.
The ability of bacteria to evolve resistance to antibiotics has been much reported in recent years. It is less well-known that within populations of bacteria there are cells which are resistant due to a non-inherited phenotypic switch to a slow-growing state.
Vampire bats live only in Central and South America and weigh 30 - 40 g. Vampires share food among unrelated group members, a behaviour known as reciprocal altruism, which vampire bats have in common with humans. However, sharing may be a lot tougher these days because of ecological changes.