Cell cycle checkpoints act like molecular tripwires for damaged cells, forcing them to pause and take stock. Leave the tripwire in place for too long, though, and cancer cells will press on regardless, making them resistant to the lethal effects of certain types of chemotherapy, according to researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Their findings, published in the Aug.
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Carbon nanotubes hold many exciting possibilities, some of them in the realm of the human nervous system. Recent research has shown that carbon nanotubes may help regrow nerve tissue or ferry drugs used to repair damaged neurons associated with disorders such as epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and perhaps even paralysis.
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The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University a five-year, $11.2 million grant to study the impact of damage to DNA on aging and disease. Research funded by this grant, and conducted by a consortium of scientists, could reveal the role of genome maintenance systems in delaying aging and will begin to explore novel interventions to maintain health in old age. Led by Jan Vijg, Ph.D.
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The green mussel is known for being a notoriously invasive fouling species, but scientists have just discovered that it also has a very powerful form of adhesion in its foot, according to a recent article in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. The stickiness of the mussel’s foot could possibly be copied to form new man-made adhesives. Other mussels have inspired synthetic polymers that have been made into versatile adhesives and coatings, explained J.
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Researchers at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham), University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and University of Maryland have demonstrated that an enzyme that is essential to many bacteria can be targeted to kill dangerous pathogens. In addition, investigators discovered chemical compounds that can inhibit this enzyme and suppress the growth of pathogenic bacteria.
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The mainstay immune system protein TRAF6 plays an unexpected, key role activating a cell signaling molecule that in mutant form is associated with cancer growth, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the Aug. 28 edition of Science. “The mechanism that we discovered activates Akt and also contributes to hyperactivation of a mutant form of Akt found in breast, colon and other cancers,” said senior author Hui-Kuan Lin, Ph.D.
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Scientific dogma has long asserted that females are born with their entire lifetime’s supply of eggs, and once they’re gone, they’re gone. New findings by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, published online Aug. 27 in Science, suggest that in nematode worms, at least, this does not hold true. Molecular physiologist Marc Van Gilst, Ph.D.
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Researchers at MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory have found that rats use a mental instant replay of their actions to help them decide what to do next, shedding new light on how animals and humans learn and remember. The work will appear in the Aug. 27 issue of the journal Neuron.
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Since the advent of the Human Genome Project an explosion of data has sent the science world scrambling. There is a growing demand to fine-tune genomic codes, which list the “ingredients for life,” but do not adequately explain how those ingredients function. A Rutgers University-Camden biochemist is addressing this knowledge gap through the creation of a database for quick “background checks” on all known enzyme functions.
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Responding to today’s announcement that GBL, ‘Spice; and BZP will be made illegal under the Misuse of Drugs Act, Martin Barnes, chief executive of the drug information charity DrugScope said: “DrugScope supports the Government’s decision to follow the advice of the ACMD and make GBL and BZP Class C substances.
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