Viruses con bacteria into working for them

Co-evolution of guest and host lets a virus control its host's machinery

30-Jan-2012 - MIT researchers have discovered that certain photosynthetic ocean bacteria need to beware of viruses bearing gifts: These viruses are really con artists carrying genetic material taken from their previous bacterial hosts that tricks the new host into using its own machinery to activate the genes, ...

IRCM researchers fuel an important debate in the field of molecular biology

30-Jan-2012 - Dr. François Robert, molecular biology researcher at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), and his team confirmed that the phosphorylation of RNA polymerase II, a key enzyme in the process of gene expression, is uniform across all genes. This discovery, which contributes to ...

Berkeley Lab researchers discover critical rotational motion in cells

30-Jan-2012 - In a study that holds major implications for breast cancer research as well as basic cell biology, scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have discovered a rotational motion that plays a critical role in the ability of breast ...

Heptares scientists report the first use of structure-based drug design to discover GPCR-targeted drug candidate

27-Jan-2012 - Heptares Therapeutics provided an update on recent scientific publications that highlight its unique ability to generate valuable information on GPCR structures and ligand binding. In the first of two new papers published in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, Heptares scientists describe how ...

Researchers induce Alzheimer's neurons from pluripotent stem cells

First-ever feat provides new method to understand cause of disease, develop drugs

27-Jan-2012 - Led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, scientists have, for the first time, created stem cell-derived, in vitro models of sporadic and hereditary Alzheimer's disease (AD), using induced pluripotent stem cells from patients with the much-dreaded ...

Cambridge Team First to Grow Smooth Muscle Cells from Patient Skin Cells

27-Jan-2012 - A Cambridge University research team has for the first time discovered a method of generating different types of vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) - the cells which make up the walls of blood vessels - using cells from patients' skin. This work could lead to new treatments and better screening ...

'Speed gene' in modern racehorses originated from British mare 300 years ago, scientists say

26-Jan-2012 - Scientists have traced the origin of the 'speed gene' in Thoroughbred racehorses back to a single British mare that lived in the United Kingdom around 300 years ago, according to findings published in Nature Communications.The origin of the 'speed gene' (C type myostatin gene variant) was ...

Scientists discover new clue to the chemical origins of life

26-Jan-2012 - Organic chemists at the University of York have made a significant advance towards establishing the origin of the carbohydrates (sugars) that form the building blocks of life. A team led by Dr Paul Clarke in the Department of Chemistry at York have re-created a process which could have occurred ...

UF researchers develop gene therapy that could correct a common form of blindness

24-Jan-2012 - A new gene therapy method developed by University of Florida researchers has the potential to treat a common form of blindness that strikes both youngsters and adults. The technique works by replacing a malfunctioning gene in the eye with a normal working copy that supplies a protein necessary ...

New U-M computer model predicts cholera outbreaks up to 11 months in advance

24-Jan-2012 - A new University of Michigan computer model of disease transmission in space and time can predict cholera outbreaks in Bangladesh up to 11 months in advance, providing an early warning system that could help public health officials there. The new forecast model applies specifically to the capital ...