Amino Acid News and Research

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Amino Acid is one of several molecules that join together to form proteins. There are 20 common amino acids found in proteins.

Chocoholics ....blame it on bacteria!

The craving chocoholics have for chocolate is according to new research the result of metabolic programming.

16 Oct 2007

Homocysteine appears to be play a part in retinal damage and vision loss

Homocysteine, an amino acid believed to contribute to heart attack, stroke and dementia, likely also is a player in retinal damage and vision loss, researchers say.

16 Oct 2007

Worrying bird flu mutations

According to researchers in the United States even thought the H5N1 bird flu virus has not transformed into a pandemic strain, it has nevertheless slowly evolved into a pathogen better equipped to infect humans.

7 Oct 2007

Simplest circadian clocks operate via orderly phosphate transfers

Researchers at Harvard University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have found that a simple circadian clock found in some bacteria operates by the rhythmic addition and subtraction of phosphate groups at two key locations on a single protein.

4 Oct 2007

Protein architectures provide window on the history of life

The present can tell you a lot about the past, but you need to know where to look.

2 Oct 2007

Schizophrenia candidate genes affect even healthy individuals

Do gene variants that convey risk for schizophrenia affect apparently healthy individuals? Although these genes are present in every human, individuals may have different versions of these genes, called alleles.

1 Oct 2007

Schizophrenia candidate genes affect even healthy individuals

27 Sep 2007

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer technology shows how cancer may take hold

A team, led by researchers at the Carnegie Institution,* has found a key biochemical cycle that suppresses the immune response, thereby allowing cancer cells to multiply unabated.

26 Sep 2007

MIT model could improve some drugs' effectiveness

MIT researchers have developed a computer modeling approach that could improve a class of drugs based on antibodies, molecules key to the immune system.

24 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

Androstenone determines whether male body odor smells pleasant

New research from Rockefeller University, performed in collaboration with scientists at Duke University in North Carolina, reveals for the first time that this extreme variability in peopl's perception of androstenone is due in large part to genetic variations in a single odorant receptor called OR7D4.

17 Sep 2007

Amino acid, N-acetyl cysteine may curb addiction of pathological gamblers

University of Minnesota researchers have discovered that a common amino acid, available as a health food supplement, may help curb pathological gamblers' addiction.

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

Key differences discovered between avian and human flu

St. Jude scientists have found key features that distinguish influenza viruses found in birds from those that infect humans.

5 Sep 2007

New way to burn off calories

A new study in the September issue of Cell Metabolism, a publication of Cell Press, points to a new method for burning off all those irresistible extra calories—by turning on an energy-draining, but otherwise futile, cycle of protein synthesis and breakdown.

5 Sep 2007