Biochemistry News and Research

RSS

Worm study sheds light on how the human body ages

Microscopic worms used for scientific research are living longer despite cellular defects, a discovery that is shedding light on how the human body ages and how doctors could one day limit or reverse genetic mutations that cause inherited diseases, according to a new University of Colorado at Boulder study.

2 Oct 2007

Potential new therapy for uveitis

An inflammatory eye condition that is one of the world's leading causes of blindness could be treated much more effectively and easily thanks to a new discovery here.

29 Sep 2007

New view of what causes greatest genetic variability among individuals

A study by Yale researchers offers a new view of what causes the greatest genetic variability among individuals - suggesting that it is due less to single point mutations than to the presence of structural changes that cause extended segments of the human genome to be missing, rearranged, or present in extra copies.

27 Sep 2007

Variation in drug responses can be analyzed by studying simpler organisms like plants

While prescription medications work successfully to cure an ailment in some people, in others the same dose of the same drug can cause an adverse reaction or no response at all.

27 Sep 2007

Scientists capture first optical images of carbon nanotubes inside a living organism

Using fruit flies, the researchers confirmed that a technique developed at Rice -- near-infrared fluorescent imaging -- was capable of detecting DNA-sized nanotubes inside living fruit flies.

25 Sep 2007

Breakthrough in cardiovascular research

Cholesterol contributes to atherosclerosis - a condition that greatly increases the risk of heart attack and stroke - by suppressing the activity of a key protein that protects the heart and blood vessels, researchers at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine have found.

18 Sep 2007

Secrets of protein folding revealed

A team led by biophysicist Jeremy Smith of the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has taken a significant step toward unraveling the mystery of how proteins fold into unique, three-dimensional shapes.

18 Sep 2007

Cellular spelunking

The surface of fat cells contains many small pockets called caveolae (because they look like caves in an electron microscope).

18 Sep 2007

High fat diet and exercise stimulate the breakdown of fats

Scientists report in the October issue of the Journal of Lipid Research that when either lean or obese individuals exercise after eating a high fat meal, their fats are broken down and oxidized in skeletal muscle, making them healthier.

18 Sep 2007

Study looks at Atorvastatin and cholesterol

Scientists report in the October issue of the Journal of Lipid Research new details about how a drug used against heart disease helps to unclog blood vessels from an excess of cholesterol and fats.

18 Sep 2007

Effects of modified alternate-day fasting

Researchers report in the October issue of the Journal of Lipid Research that fasting or eating half as much as usual every other day may shrink your fat cells and boost mechanisms that break down fats.

18 Sep 2007

New technique detects how proteins undergo changes inside a cell

In the September issue of Molecular & Cellular Proteomics , scientists describe a new technique that can detect how proteins undergo changes inside a cell.

13 Sep 2007

RecA family recombinases repair DNA damages

A biochemistry research team led by Dr. Andrew H.-J. Wang and Dr. Ting-Fang Wang at the Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica(IBCAS), has discovered that the RecA family recombinases function as a new type of rotary motor proteins to repair DNA damages.

13 Sep 2007

New understanding of tropical disease schistosomiasis

Researchers have provided new details about the inner workings of a parasitic worm that causes a tropical disease called schistosomiasis, which leads to itchy skin, fever, chills, muscle aches, and liver disease that, in some cases, can be fatal.

13 Sep 2007

New insight into breast cancer development in high-risk women

Physicians who treat women with the breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA1 often remove their patients' ovaries to eliminate the source of estrogen they believe fuels cancer growth.

12 Sep 2007

Mutations in the insulin gene can cause permanent neonatal diabetes

Mutations in the insulin gene can cause permanent neonatal diabetes, an unusual form of diabetes that affects very young children and results in lifelong dependence on insulin injections, report researchers from the University of Chicago and Peninsula University (Exeter, UK) in Sept. 18, 2007, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, published early online.

11 Sep 2007