The Global Syndicator - biotechnology

New nano device detects immune system cell signaling

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:14:55 +0000

Scientists have detected previously unnoticed chemical signals that individual cells in the immune system use to communicate with each other over short distances. The signals the researchers detected

Trigger For Brain Plasticity Identified

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 02:38:02 +0000

Researchers have long sought a factor that can trigger the brain’s ability to learn – and perhaps recapture the “sponge-like” quality of childhood. In the August 8 issue of the journal Cell, neuroscientists at Children’s Hospital Boston report that they’ve identified such a factor, a protein called Otx 2.

Prevailing theory of aging challenged in worm study

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 02:14:24 +0000

Age may not be rust after all. Specific genetic instructions drive aging in worms, report researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Their discovery contradicts the prevailing theory that aging is a buildup of tissue damage akin to rust, and implies science might eventually halt or even reverse the ravages of age.

A new cellular pathway linked to cancer

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 02:12:23 +0000

In the life of a cell, the response to DNA damage determines whether the cell is fated to pause and repair itself, commit suicide, or grow uncontrollably, a route leading to cancer. In a new study, pu

Stem Cells Restore Muscle In Mice With Muscular Dystrophy

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 02:09:22 +0000

Researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center have demonstrated for the first time that transplanted muscle stem cells can both improve muscle function in animals with a form of muscular dystrophy and replenish the stem cell population for use in the repair of future muscle injuries.

Scientists suspect omega-3 fatty acids could slow acute wound healing

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 21:29:21 +0000

A recent study shows that popular fish oil supplements have an effect on the healing process of small, acute wounds in human skin. But whether that effect is detrimental, as researchers initially suspected, remains a mystery.

Vitamin A pushes breast cancer to form blood vessel cells

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 21:27:15 +0000

Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have discovered that vitamin A, when applied to breast cancer cells, turns on genes that can push stem cells embedded in a tumor to morph into endothelial cells.

Scientists have developed a new method for making biological ‘chips’

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 15:24:30 +0000

Protein chips – or ‘protein arrays’ as they are more commonly known – are objects such as slides that have proteins attached to them and allow important scientific data about the behaviour of proteins to be gathered.

Genes That Control Embryonic Stem Cell Fate Identified

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 04:30:23 +0000

Scientists have identified about two dozen genes that control embryonic stem cell fate. The genes may either prod or restrain stem cells from drifting into a kind of limbo, they suspect. The limbo lies between the embryonic stage and fully differentiated, or specialized, cells, such as bone, muscle or fat.

Antibody Engineering Cuts the Collateral Damage of Cancer Drugs

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 03:06:22 +0000

Killing cancer cells, while leaving normal tissue unscathed, is almost impossible. Nanotechnology may do the trick, but big pharmaceutical companies are far from embracing that strategy. In the meantime, highly-engineered biological molecules will fill the void.

Researchers converts biodiesel byproduct into omega-3 fatty acids

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 03:01:15 +0000

The typical American diet often lacks omega-3 fatty acids despite clinical research that shows their potential human health benefits. Zhiyou Wen, assistant professor of biological systems engineering in Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, found a way to grow these compounds using a byproduct of the emerging biodiesel industry.

Being a control freak aids dividing cells

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 01:37:20 +0000

Micromanagers may generate resentment in an office setting, but they get results in your body. New data indicate that a dividing cell takes micromanagement to the extreme, tagging more than 14,000 different sites on its proteins with phosphate, a molecule that typically serves as a signal for a variety of biological processes.

Exercise could be the heart’s fountain of youth

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 01:29:19 +0000

Absence may make the heart grow fonder, but endurance exercise seems to make it younger. According to a study conducted at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, older people who did endurance exercise training for about a year ended up with metabolically much younger hearts.

Biology in pictures: Synchiropus splendidus (Herre, 1927)

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 22:06:18 +0000

Synchiropus splendidus (Herre, 1927) on Flickr - Photo Sharing!.

Researchers Unveil Near-complete Protein Catalog For Mitochondria

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 21:09:16 +0000

Imagine trying to figure out how your car’s power train works from just a few of its myriad components: It would be nearly impossible. Scientists have long faced a similar challenge in understanding cells’ tiny powerhouses — called “mitochondria” — from scant knowledge of their molecular parts.