Living implies change. This is what happens to the cells of our bodies as we grow older: they accumulate genetic alterations, most of which are harmless. However, in some specific cases, these mutations can affect certain genes and can lead to the development of cancer. The source of these alterations can be exogenous (e.g., solar radiation, tobacco smoke or some toxic substance) or endogenous (e.g., errors in DNA processing).
In a boon to wind farms, average daily wind speeds are picking up across much of the globe after about 30 years of gradual slowing. Research led by a team at Princeton University shows that wind speeds in northern mid-latitude regions have increased by roughly 7% since 2010.
To study the swiftness of biology - the protein chemistry behind every life function - scientists need to see molecules changing and interacting in unimaginably rapid time increments - trillionths of a second or shorter.
Imaging equipment with that kind of speed was finally tested last year at the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser, or EuXFEL. Now, a team of physicists from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has completed the facility's first molecular movie, or "mapping," of the ultrafast movement of proteins.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- A new web tool speeds the discovery of drugs to kill Gram-negative bacteria, which are responsible for the overwhelming majority of antibiotic-resistant infections and deaths. The tool also offers insights into discrete chemical changes that can convert drugs that kill other bacteria into drugs to fight Gram-negative infections. The team proved the system works by modifying a Gram-positive drug and testing it against three different Gram-negative bacterial culprits in mouse sepsis. The drug was successful against each.
Shrouded in mystery since their discovery, the phenomenon of black holes continues to be one of the most mind-boggling enigmas in our universe.
In recent years, many researchers have made strides in understanding black holes using observational astronomy and an emerging field known as gravitational wave astronomy, first hypothesized by Albert Einstein, which directly measures the gravitational waves emitted by black holes.
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Nov. 18, 2019--A scientific team from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Vanderbilt University has made the first experimental observation of a material phase that had been predicted but never seen. The newly discovered phase couples with a known phase to enable unique control over material properties--an advance that paves the way to eventual manipulation of electrical conduction in two-dimensional (2D) materials such as graphene.
Every day, more than 141 billion liters of water are used solely to flush toilets. With millions of global citizens experiencing water scarcity, what if that amount could be reduced by 50%?
The possibility may exist through research conducted at Penn State, released today (Nov. 18) in Nature Sustainability.
A discovery from a team of physicists and other researchers is breaking new ground in the study of ferroelectricity, a characteristic of certain dielectric materials that are used in high-technology applications. The findings appear today in the journal Nature Materials.
LA JOLLA, CALIF. - Nov. 18, 2019 - Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute have identified a combination of two anti-cancer compounds that shrank pancreatic tumors in mice--supporting the immediate evaluation of the drugs in a clinical trial. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved versions of the compounds are used today to treat certain leukemias and solid tumors, including melanoma. The study was published in Nature Cell Biology.
Synthetic protocells can be made to move toward and away from chemical signals, an important step for the development of new drug-delivery systems that could target specific locations in the body. By coating the surface of the protocells with enzymes--proteins that catalyze chemical reactions--a team of researchers at Penn State was able to control the direction of the protocell's movement in a chemical gradient in a microfluidic device. A paper describing the research appears November 18, 2019 in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.