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Dog gene map may help explain human diseases

U.S. scientists say a detailed analysis of the dog genome answers such questions as how dogs of a different breed still belong to the same species, and may also explain some aspects of human health and biology.

11 Dec 2005

Altering the composition of fats of every-day foods

Top scientists will meet in Munich on Friday 9th December 2005, to explore whether the food industry can help in the battle against the metabolic syndrome by altering the composition of fats in every-day foods.

7 Dec 2005

Garvan scientists explain stress and sickness

Garvan Institute scientists have discovered how a hormone, known as neuropeptide Y (NPY), can prevent our immune system functioning properly, paving the way for two new major opportunities for therapeutic intervention.

7 Dec 2005

Functional amyloid formation within mammalian tissue

What do neurodegenerative diseases and suntans have in common? Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute have found an intriguing molecular connection.

7 Dec 2005

Humans have ancient genes

Species evolve at very different rates, and the evolutionary line that produced humans seems to be among the slowest.

7 Dec 2005

Comprehensive analysis of DNA barcodes

With species around the world disappearing faster than biologists can identify them, many scientists pinned their hopes on DNA barcoding, a recently proposed strategy that treats a short fragment of DNA as a sort of universal product code to identify species.

30 Nov 2005

Exploiting biology's own chemical toolbox...

Exploiting biology's own chemical toolbox, researchers have developed a new technique that will allow them to modify specific sequences within a DNA molecule. The approach will not only help reveal the impact of biochemical alterations to DNA, but could have far-reaching implications for DNA-based medical diagnosis and nanobiotechnology.

28 Nov 2005

New method to discover links between cellular machines

Most of what happens in cells is the work of machines that contain dozens of molecules, chiefly proteins. With the completion of human and other genomes, researchers now have a nearly complete "parts list" of such machines; what's lacking now is the manual telling where all the pieces go.

28 Nov 2005

Compound from Salinispora (marine bacteria) kills blood cancer cells

An anti-cancer compound derived from bacteria dwelling in ocean-bottom sediments appears in laboratory tests to be a potent killer of drug-resistant multiple myeloma cells, and potentially with less toxicity than current treatments, report Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers in the November issue of Cancer Cell.

21 Nov 2005

Seasonal depression affects hamsters

A new study suggests that hamsters may suffer from symptoms of anxiety and depression during the dark days of winter, just as some humans do.

21 Nov 2005

Nanotechnology and biochemistry provide new way to study T cell signaling

Researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California at Berkeley, combining nanotechnology with biochemistry, have created unique synthetic membranes that, for the first time ever, enable them to directly control signaling activity in living T cells from the immune system. Already their experiments have yielded surprising results.

21 Nov 2005

Scientist finds first evidence of a living memory trace

An international team of scientists for the first time has detected a memory trace in a living animal after it has encountered a single, new stimulus.

21 Nov 2005

Scientists direct embryonic stem cells to become cartilage cells

Scientists from Imperial College London have successfully converted human embryonic stem cells into cartilage cells, offering encouragement that replacement cartilage could one day be grown for transplantation.

20 Nov 2005

New gene linked to schizophrenia and depression

A Scots-led medical research team has identified a new gene linked to major mental illness that links back to a previously discovered gene known to increase the risk of schizophrenia and depression.

20 Nov 2005

Genetically modified allow scientists to examine the potential usefulness of new therapies for Alzheimer's disease

Researchers with the University of Florida and the California Institute of Technology have developed a new strain of genetically modified mice that allow scientists to examine the potential usefulness of new therapies for Alzheimer's disease.

20 Nov 2005

Scientists discover gene which controls fear

Scientists have discovered the existence of a gene that appears to control whether fear reactions to impending danger are appropriate or not.

20 Nov 2005

Haphazard activation of secondary signaling pathways may fuel cancer's genesis

When found at abnormally high concentrations, two proteins implicated in many human cancers have the potential to spur indiscriminate biochemical signaling inside cells, chemists at Harvard University have found.

16 Nov 2005

Scientists use stem cells to grow cartilage

16 Nov 2005

World first trial grows blood vessels from patient's own skin

A team of American scientists have successfully implanted blood vessels grown entirely from a patient's own cells.

16 Nov 2005

Circadian rhythm - two key groups of neurons control morning and evening activity

A Brandeis University study published in Nature shows for the first time that a molecular signal maintains coherence among brain clock cells that regulate daily activity of Drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies).

14 Nov 2005