Earth
Many important natural products such as antibiotics, immunosuppressants, or anti-cancer drugs are produced by microorganisms. These natural products are often small peptides, which in several cases are too complex for a chemical synthesis in the laboratory. In the microbial producers of these drugs, the drugs are generated with the help of the NRPS enzymes in a manner similar to a modern automobile factory: at each station, additional parts are added to the basic structure until finally a complete automobile leaves the factory.
CAMBRIDGE, MD (JUNE 12, 2019)--Ecologists from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and the University of Michigan are forecasting a large Chesapeake Bay "dead zone" in 2019 due to well-above-average river flows associated with increased rainfall in the watershed since last fall.
Osaka, Japan - In eukaryotic cells, the nucleus is walled off from the rest of the cell by the nuclear envelope. All transport into and out of the nucleus occurs via cylindrical channels called nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) that penetrate the nuclear envelope. Each NPC is made up of eight repeating protein complexes containing at least 30 different types of proteins, called nucleoporins (Nups). These complexes fit together like the wedges of an orange, leaving a channel in the middle through which proteins, RNA, and signaling molecules can be transported.
Canadian researchers followed their intuition that a drug initially intended for heart failure could be effective in treating cancer. Those efforts have borne fruit, as demonstrated by their work published in the Journal of Experimental and Clinical Cancer Research.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- One gift some dads may want for Father's Day: not being judged for their parenting style.
About half of fathers in a new national poll say they have faced criticism and second-guessing about their parenting choices on everything from what they feed their kids to how they play with them.
Killing tumor cells while sparing their normal counterparts is a central challenge of cancer chemotherapy. If scientists could put a "homing beacon" in tumors, they could attract these medicines and reduce side effects caused by the drugs acting on healthy cells. Now, researchers have made a hydrogel that, when injected near tumors in mice, recruits drugs to shrink the tumor with fewer side effects. They report their results in ACS Central Science.
New findings of a multi-university research team show the pesticide DDT persists in remote lakes at concerning levels half a century after it was banned, affecting key aquatic species and potentially entire lake food webs.
Giant petrels will be "temporary" winners from the effects of climate change in the Antarctic region - but males and females will benefit in very different ways, a new study shows.
The study, by experts from the University of Exeter and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), is one the first to analyse how different sexes of the same species could be affected by changing conditions through global warming.
Persistent poverty affects one in five children in the UK, and is associated with poor physical and mental health in early adolescence, suggests research published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.
Ending child poverty should become a policy priority to ensure that UK children achieve their full potential, argue the researchers.
New estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) highlight need for increased, sustained investment in the development of mental health services in areas affected by conflict.
Men who experience domestic violence and abuse face significant barriers to getting help and access to specialist support services, according to a study by researchers at the University of Bristol's Centre for Academic Primary Care and Centre for Gender and Violence Research published in BMJ Open today [Wednesday 12 June].
The study, funded by the National Institute for Health Research, looked at what stops men in abusive relationships from seeking help and how services could be improved to make help-seeking easier.
When it comes to making friends, it appears dolphins are just like us and form close friendships with other dolphins that have a common interest. The findings, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B by an international team of researchers from the Universities of Bristol, Zurich and Western Australia, provides further insight into the social habits of these remarkable animals.
From medicine to fragrances, nature provides many of the key chemical compounds needed in an endless number of pharmaceuticals and consumer products. Now, a cutting-edge technique engineered by researchers at University of South Florida is changing the way scientists isolate these precious molecules.
Predicting what someone's face looks like based on a DNA sample remains a hard nut to crack for science. It is, however, getting easier to use such a sample to filter the right face from a face database, as an international team led by KU Leuven has shown. Their findings were published in Nature Communications.
Our physical appearance, including our face, is hardwired into our genetic material. Scientists have already identified multiple genes that determine the shape of our face - from the distance between our nostrils to the shape of our chin.
From DNA to face
As men everywhere brace for an onslaught of ties, tools, wallets and novelty socks gifted for Father's Day, here are two questions fathers of young children should ask themselves: What activities are best for bonding with my child, and when should those activities take place?
New research from the University of Georgia reveals that both the type of involvement--caregiving versus play--and the timing--workday versus non-workday--have an impact on the quality of the early father-child relationship.