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New type of biodegradable nanoparticle for drug delivery

The spherical structures can encapsulate various fat-soluble medicines, which makes it easier to target tumour tissue. These nanoballs are highly promising carriers for the controlled release of anticancer drugs. Rijcken recently gained her doctorate for this research from Utrecht University.

24 Oct 2007

How Rhesus Macaques and Humans have conquered the world

When it comes to their social behavior, people sometimes act like monkeys, or more specifically, like rhesus macaques, a type of monkey that shares with humans strong tendencies for nepotism and political maneuvering, according to research by Dario Maestripieri, an expert on primate behavior and an Associate Professor in Comparative Human Development and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Chicago.

24 Oct 2007

Decoding effects of toxins on embryo development

Changes in gene expression patterns in zebrafish embryos resulting from exposure to environmental toxins can identify the individual toxins at work, according to research published in the online open access journal Genome Biology.

24 Oct 2007

St Bernard dog challenges the theory of creationism!

The St Bernard dog – named after the 11th century priest Bernard of Menthon – may have ironically challenged the theory of creationism, say scientists.

From The University of Manchester 24 Oct 2007

Transparent zebrafish help the study inflammatory breast cancer

What if doctors could peer through a patient's skin and see a cancer tumor growing? They'd be able to study how tumor cells migrate: how they look, how they interact with the blood system to find nourishment to grow and spread through the body.

22 Oct 2007

Scientists uncover how hormones achieve their effects

The first quantitative study of protein complexes that transmit pheromone signals in living yeast cells sheds light on a crucial signalling process also found in humans.

22 Oct 2007

New genetic and phenotypic data involved in autism released to researchers worldwide

The Autism Consortium, a group of researchers, clinicians and families dedicated to radically accelerating research and enhancing clinical care for autism, announced today that it has completed the first genome scan for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) through its Autism Gene Discovery Project and has released the reference data set to a database that autism researchers around the world can use.

22 Oct 2007

Bacteria use plant defence for genetic modification

Bacteria that cause tumours in plants modify plant genomes by skilfully exploiting the plants' first line of defence.

22 Oct 2007

New explanation for evolutionary changes in genetic sex-determination systems

In animals with separate sexes, embryos commit to becoming male or female at an early stage.

22 Oct 2007

800-year-old mummies from Mongolia help advance DNA extraction

Dr. Heather Coyle and three forensic science graduate students at the University of New Haven have developed a new method for preparing certain skeletal remains for DNA extraction thanks to some 800-year-old mummies from Mongolia and the research the group is doing for the Smithsonian Institution.

22 Oct 2007

Transgenics sped up

A new method of constructing artificial plant chromosomes from small rings of naturally occurring plant DNA can be used to transport multiple genes at once into embryonic plants where they are expressed, duplicated as plant cells divide, and passed on to the next generation -- a long-term goal for those interested in improving agricultural productivity.

19 Oct 2007

T-cell exhaustion

A new study of immune cells battling a chronic viral infection shows that the cells, called T cells, become exhausted by the fight in specific ways, undergoing profound changes that make them progressively less effective over time.

19 Oct 2007

Evidence of same-sex mating in nature

Cryptococcus neoformans is a major cause of fungal meningitis in predominantly immunocomprised individuals.

19 Oct 2007

X chromosomes and evolution

Researchers at the University of Rochester believe they have just confirmed a controversial theory of evolution.

18 Oct 2007

Sea cucumbers may one day help us learn to fix ourselves

Sea cucumbers are the champions of organ regrowth because they direct their wound healing abilities towards restoring their organs, according to research published in the online open access journal, BMC Developmental Biology.

18 Oct 2007

Discovery on human individuality and maternal and paternal DNA

Have you ever wondered why you inherited your mother's smile but not your father's height?

18 Oct 2007

New model helps explain rules governing the transmission of microbes

Many of the most successful microbes are those that inhabit but do not kill their host. Cheaters lose. Tuberculosis settles into the lungs. Helicobacter pylori, the microbe causing ulcers, burrows into the stomach where it thrives on acids. And Salmonella typhi takes up residence in the gallbladder. All of these organisms can persist in our bodies for decades. What explains their success?

18 Oct 2007

Phase II map of human genetic variation

The International HapMap Consortium today published analyses of its second-generation map of human genetic variation, which contains three times more markers than the initial version unveiled in 2005.

18 Oct 2007

Interactions between carbon nanotubes and individual chemical functional groups

Carbon nanotubes have been employed for a variety of uses including composite materials, biosensors, nano-electronic circuits and membranes.

17 Oct 2007

New technique to probe the dynamics of the Holliday junction

The Holliday junction is a four-stranded DNA structure that forms during a process known as homologous recombination, which occurs when damaged DNA is repaired. Understanding how DNA repairs itself is an essential step in ultimately developing therapies for genetic disorders.

17 Oct 2007