Press monitoring
Cancer Medication? Potential Tumor Suppressor Identified
26.3.2009 | Press monitoring
The gene Myc is an important factor for the growth of organisms by cell division. It causes the production of a protein which, as a transcription factor, controls the expression of up to 15 % of all human genes. When this gene mutates to an oncogene, the cell proliferates excessively and apoptosis is inhibited. Thereby the gene plays a decisive...
New Enzymes Created For Biofuel Production
25.3.2009 | Press monitoring
Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and world-leading gene-synthesis company DNA2.0 have taken an important step toward the development of a cost-efficient process to extract sugars from cellulose--the world's most abundant organic material and cheapest form of solar-energy storage. Plant sugars are easily converted...
Researchers build a new surface material that resists biofilm growth
23.3.2009 | Press monitoring
This is the tale of two biological substances—cells from mammals and bacteria. It's a story about the havoc these microscopic entities can wreak on all manner of surfaces, from mighty ships to teeth and medical devices, and how two Syracuse University researchers are discovering new ways prevent the damage.
Developing Fruit Fly Embryo Is Capable Of Genetic Corrections
21.3.2009 | Press monitoring
Animals have an astonishing ability to develop reliably in spite of variable conditions during embryogenesis. New research, published in parallel this week in PLoS Biology and PLoS Computational Biology, addresses how living things can develop into precise, adult forms when there is so much variation present during their development stages. A team...
No hiding place for infecting bacteria
20.3.2009 | Press monitoring
Scientists in Colorado have discovered a new approach to prevent bacterial infections from taking hold. Writing in the Journal of Medical Microbiology, Dr Quinn Parks and colleagues describe how they used enzymes against products of the body's own defence cells to prevent Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria from building a protective biofilm which...
Doubling a gene in corn results in giant biomass
19.3.2009 | Press monitoring
The gene known as Glossy 15 was originally described for its role in giving corn seedlings a waxy coating that acts like a sun screen for the young plant. Without Glossy 15, seedling leaves instead appear shiny and glossy in sunlight. Further studies have shown that the main function of Glossy15 is to slow down shoot maturation. Moose wondered...
Microscope reveals how bacteria 'breathe' toxic metals
18.3.2009 | Press monitoring
Researchers are studying some common soil bacteria that "inhale" toxic metals and "exhale" them in a non-toxic form.
Novel Antibiotics That Don't Trigger Antibiotic Resistance Developed
17.3.2009 | Press monitoring
Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is one of medicine's most vexing challenges. In a study described in Nature Chemical Biology, researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University are developing a new generation of antibiotic compounds that do not provoke bacterial resistance. The compounds work against two notorious...
Wheat Gene With Resistance To Stripe Rust Discovered
16.3.2009 | Press monitoring
An international team of researchers that includes an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) expert on wheat biotechnology has discovered a gene that will make bread wheat capable of resisting stripe rust, a fungus that causes crop losses in many states. Scientists transferred a resistant gene, known as Yr36, from a race of wild wheat into a...
Images of bone, tooth and shell formation on cover of Science
15.3.2009 | Press monitoring
Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) have for the first time made high-resolution images of the earliest stages of bone formation. For industrial applications, they promise better materials and processes based on nature itself. The findings form the cover story of Science magazine’s Friday 13 March edition.
