tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75958672011-12-14T21:35:15.416-05:00Your source for Bioinformatics and Biotechology News! Stem cell research, Gene Synthesis, Microarray and Microfluidics research, Retrovirology, Gene therapy... by a Bioinformatics PhD student working on AIDS.FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comBlogger1921100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1107126664683704752005-01-30T17:56:00.000-05:002005-01-30T18:12:27.680-05:00

Most of you probably wonder why the site hasn't been updated in about a week. No, I wasn't kidnapped by ninjas because I was working on a top secret project. The answer is simpler : I was preparing a surprise! I registered a domain, www.BiologyNews.net, got hosted at TotalChoiceHosting (I totally recommend these guys, incredible price, package, service!), moved all the content and the template of

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106780040608979622005-01-26T17:52:00.000-05:002005-01-26T17:54:00.606-05:00

year ago, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers discovered that the spleen might be a source of adult stem cells that could regenerate the insulin-producing islets of the pancreas. In a follow-up to that unexpected finding, members of the same team now report that these potential adult stem cells produce a protein previously believed to be present only during the embryonic development

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106779942207826102005-01-26T17:51:00.000-05:002005-01-26T17:52:22.206-05:00

Two genes with very strong associations with the disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have been identified by a team of scientists headed by researchers at the Department of Medical Sciences at Uppsala University. The findings are being published today on the Web page of the highly prestigious American Journal of Human Genetics. "These findings are probably the first genetic pieces of a

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106779869311862322005-01-26T17:50:00.000-05:002005-01-26T17:51:09.310-05:00

Researchers have discovered a way to make light sensitive cells in the eye by switching on a single gene. According to research published online today in Nature, the team from Imperial College London and the University of Manchester, have discovered that activating the melanopsin gene in the nerve cells causes them to become light responsive, or photoreceptive.Using mouse cells, the researchers

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106779741713991852005-01-26T17:43:00.000-05:002005-01-26T17:49:01.713-05:00

UC Riverside researchers from the Departments of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Botany and Plant Sciences have worked together to discover a way to utilize Quantum Dot bio-conjugates to uncover new knowledge about the binding of a protein at the growing pollen tube tip. This protein plays a critical role along with another protein (chemocyanin) in guiding

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106698418337167552005-01-25T19:12:00.000-05:002005-01-25T19:13:38.336-05:00

Made-to-measure skin and bones, which could be used to treat burn victims or patients who have suffered severe disfigurements, may soon be a reality using inkjets which can print human cells. Scientists at The University of Manchester have developed the breakthrough technology which will allow tailor-made tissues and bones to be grown, simply by inputting their dimensions into a

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106698280933726672005-01-25T19:10:00.000-05:002005-01-25T19:11:20.933-05:00

In a finding that broadens our insight into the cause of certain kinds of UV-induced skin cancer, researchers at Erasmus University Medical Center (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) have employed an evolutionarily ancient enzyme-repair system to identify the principal type of DNA damage responsible for the onset of skin-tumor development. The researchers' findings also suggest that this enzyme system

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106698218130103832005-01-25T19:09:00.000-05:002005-01-25T19:10:18.130-05:00

Microbes living in the brilliantly colored hot springs of Yellowstone National Park use primarily hydrogen for fuel, a discovery University of Colorado at Boulder researchers say bodes well for life in extreme environments on other planets and could add to understanding of bacteria inside the human body. A team of CU-Boulder biologists led by Professor Norman Pace, one of the world's leading

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106698069469757162005-01-25T19:07:00.000-05:002005-01-25T19:07:49.470-05:00

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have discovered a way to overcome one of the major hurdles in gene therapy for cancer: its tendency to kill normal cells in the process of eradicating cancer cells. In a new study published in the Jan. 25 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the researchers demonstrated that the technique works by incorporating it

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106697955260319942005-01-25T19:03:00.000-05:002005-01-25T19:05:55.260-05:00

Researchers at Nanosphere, Inc. today reported unprecedented benefits in the company's technology for the medical analysis of human DNA. Nanosphere's nanoparticle-based technology allows for rapid, highly-sensitive and specific Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) genotyping, which is the direct detection of a particular gene and the extent to which it is normal or mutated. The technology,

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106697513083472772005-01-25T18:53:00.000-05:002005-01-25T18:58:56.113-05:00

Following the "Current human embryonic stem cell lines contaminated UCSD/Salk team finds" story from two days ago, I spotted an interesting comment from the White House Gaggle : "This is an issue that has been previously raised and discussed. We've known from the very beginning that the lines that were authorized for research had this particular trait…and the scientists at NIH are very well

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106616709119369522005-01-24T20:30:00.000-05:002005-01-24T20:31:49.120-05:00

Bioengineering researchers at the University of California, San Diego have invented a process to help turn embryonic stem cells into the types of specialized cells being sought as possible treatments for dozens of human diseases and health conditions. Sangeeta Bhatia and Shu Chien, UCSD bioengineering professors, and Christopher J. Flaim, a bioengineering graduate student, described the

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106616277046468912005-01-24T20:20:00.000-05:002005-01-24T20:24:37.046-05:00

For the first time, researchers have automatically grouped fluorescently tagged proteins from high-resolution images of cells. This technical feat opens a new way to identify disease proteins and drug targets by helping to show which proteins cluster together inside a cell. The approach, developed by Carnegie Mellon University, outperforms existing visual methods to localize proteins inside

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106615901644866962005-01-24T20:13:00.000-05:002005-01-24T20:18:21.643-05:00

Lack of the enzyme, acetyl CoA carboxylase 2 or ACC2, appears to turn the adipose or fat cells of mice into fat burners, explaining in part why the animals can eat more and weigh less than their normal counterparts, said Baylor College of Medicine researchers. The report that appears online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."We studied the fat cells in these mice bred

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106534080835466392005-01-23T21:31:00.000-05:002005-01-23T21:34:40.836-05:00

Physicians at Emory University School of Medicine are conducting a clinical trial using stem cells generated within the bone marrow to grow new blood vessels that could improve circulation in patients with blockages in the arteries of their legs -- a condition called peripheral vascular disease (PVD). Individuals with PVD have decreased blood flow to the muscles of the legs, especially during

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106533872117263932005-01-23T21:23:00.000-05:002005-01-23T21:31:12.116-05:00

Medication against nicotine addiction is nowadays readily available. However, a similar and equally dangerous addiction, alcoholism, can't yet be controlled by drugs. Or can it be? Researchers from the University of California in San Diego identified a natural compound able to block alcohol addiction in rodents. We can only hope that anti-alcoholism patchs or gum will be available in a close

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106533404100635672005-01-23T21:19:00.000-05:002005-01-23T21:23:24.100-05:00

Currently available lines of human embryonic stem cells have been contaminated with a non-human molecule that compromises their potential therapeutic use in human subjects, according to research by investigators at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine and the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California. In a study published online January 23, 2005 in the journal Nature

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106533181311157012005-01-23T21:13:00.000-05:002005-01-23T21:19:41.310-05:00

Along with aiding efforts to study addicted smokers, a new drug that attaches only to areas of the brain that have been implicated in nicotine addiction may help studies of people battling other disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia. Developed by UC Irvine Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center scientists, the new drug – Nifrolidine – is a selective binding agent that

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106441008755375392005-01-22T19:42:00.000-05:002005-01-22T19:43:28.756-05:00

Brain cells in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease have surprised scientists with their ability to recuperate after the disorder's characteristic brain plaques are removed. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis injected mice with an antibody for a key component of brain plaques, the amyloid beta (Abeta) peptide. In areas of the brain where antibodies cleared

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106440915641824592005-01-22T19:40:00.000-05:002005-01-22T19:41:55.640-05:00

Another important piece to the photosynthesis puzzle is now in place. Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California at Berkeley have identified one of the key molecules that help protect plants from oxidation damage as the result of absorbing too much light. The researchers determined that when chlorophyll

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106440719136526382005-01-22T19:37:00.000-05:002005-01-22T19:38:39.136-05:00

Many rivers and streams in the United States are believed to contain a toxic antimicrobial chemical whose environmental fate was never thoroughly scrutinized despite large scale production and usage for almost half a century, according to an analysis conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The chemical, triclocarban, has been widely used for decades in

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106440618029763212005-01-22T19:35:00.000-05:002005-01-22T19:36:58.030-05:00

Timing is everything, it seems, even in science. A team led by Johns Hopkins scientists has unraveled the first step in translating genetic information in order to build a protein, only to find that it's not one step but two. In a series of experiments, the scientists found that when yeast's protein-building machinery recognizes the starting line for a gene's instructions, it first alters its

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106440480708857032005-01-22T19:15:00.000-05:002005-01-22T19:34:40.706-05:00

University of Washington TechTransfer recently licensed software that will give scientists a huge advantage in the fight against disease. The software, known as Rosetta, predicts how proteins fold, information that is highly valuable to biological and biomedical researchers. UW Tech Transfer's Digital Ventures licensed Rosetta software without charge to the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB),

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106182077379963992005-01-19T19:45:00.000-05:002005-01-19T19:47:57.380-05:00

How do insects smell? Badly, according to a new study, if they lack a certain kind of protein critical to their ability to detect and interpret pheromones – the insect equivalent of "smelling." Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered how a protein, called an olfactory binding protein, links incoming pheromone signals and specific nerve cells in an insect's brain, which in

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106181911181345332005-01-19T19:43:00.000-05:002005-01-19T19:45:11.183-05:00

A novel antiviral treatment combining nanoparticle and gene silencing technologies thwarts attacks of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) -- a virus associated with severe bronchitis and asthma, an animal study by University of South Florida researchers found. The study was reported in the January 2005 issue of the journal Nature Medicine. RSV infects lung cells and can be life-threatening in very

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106181815815976192005-01-19T19:41:00.000-05:002005-01-19T19:43:35.816-05:00

The first study to examine the probability of HIV infection per act of heterosexual sex among a population with multiple sexual partners has found that uncircumcised men have more than twice the risk of acquiring HIV than do circumcised men. In the study, published in the Feb. 15 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online, Jared Baeten and colleagues from the United States

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106181624898875902005-01-19T19:39:00.000-05:002005-01-19T19:41:04.360-05:00

A year ago, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers discovered that the spleen might be a source of adult stem cells that could regenerate the insulin-producing islets of the pancreas. In a follow-up to that unexpected finding, members of the same team now report that these potential adult stem cells produce a protein previously believed to be present only during the embryonic

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106181557809053332005-01-19T19:37:00.000-05:002005-01-19T19:39:17.810-05:00

Sacramento - Today, Affymetrix, Inc. announced plans to make eight new GeneChip(R) plant and animal genome arrays available in 2005 as part of its Consortia Program, including canine, Rhesus macaque, Medicago trancatula (legume), Brassica, tomato, citrus, poplar and sugar cane. More than 20 research presentations at this week's Plant and Animal Genome Conference XIII in San Diego, Calif. feature

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106181438876823652005-01-19T19:32:00.000-05:002005-01-19T19:37:18.876-05:00

Wired published an article about the fundamental problems brought by patents and trade secrets in Life Science, especially in biotechnology. Basically, they impede progress by restricting access to key technologies. Its very frustrating, especially when coupled to the fact that most of the time you don't have access to everything that is published in subscription-based journals.You can read about

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106181109110850642005-01-19T18:55:00.000-05:002005-01-19T19:31:49.110-05:00

For everyone doing or reading a paper about microarray-based experiments, reproductibility, especially inter-lab, is the #1 concern. Can I trust these results? If I redo the same experiment in one month, will I be able to compare both? The NIH recently demonstrated that microarrays experiments performed in different labs "have a high degree of reproducibility, as long as standardized protocols

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106105226116573912005-01-18T22:26:00.000-05:002005-01-18T22:27:06.116-05:00

Two new studies strongly suggest that a mutation in a recently discovered gene is the most common genetic cause of Parkinson's disease identified to date. The discovery by an international research team provides fresh evidence that genetics may contribute to the development of some cases of Parkinson's disease. The findings could lead to the development of a genetic test to detect the mutation in

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106105134470393082005-01-18T22:23:00.000-05:002005-01-18T22:25:34.470-05:00

The replenishment of missing neurons in the brain as a treatment for Parkinson disease reached the stage of human trials over 15 years ago, however the field is still in its infancy. Researchers from Kyoto University have now shown that dopamine-producing neurons (DA neurons) generated from monkey embryonic stem cells and transplanted into areas of the brain where these neurons have degenerated

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106105005433105982005-01-18T22:18:00.000-05:002005-01-18T22:23:25.433-05:00

International efforts towards developing a vaccine against HIV infection have been given a much-needed boost by the publication today of the Global HIV/AIDS Vaccine Enterprise's scientific strategic plan, published online in the freely available, open-access global health journal PLoS Medicine. The Global HIV/AIDS Vaccine Enterprise is an international alliance of independent agencies and

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106104690273146502005-01-18T22:10:00.000-05:002005-01-18T22:18:10.273-05:00

Late update tonight; my girlfriend is sick and I took care of her. First headline : a newly discovered virus causing respiratory infection. Let's hope its just a coincidence :) A newly discovered virus may be responsible for many respiratory tract illnesses in infants and children, and may be associated with an important multi-organ disease whose cause has remained a mystery for decades,

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106007474174411242005-01-17T19:14:00.000-05:002005-01-17T19:17:54.173-05:00

We ran a similar gene synthesis story earlier; progress in this area is made in the UK, too. It'll open tons of research avenue, speeding the slow (and tedious) process of gene cloning, or gene modification (mutations, deletions, etc). Devices the size of a pager now have greater capabilities than computers that once occupied an entire room. Similar advances are being made in the emerging field

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106006809177139482005-01-17T18:58:00.000-05:002005-01-17T19:06:49.176-05:00

Finding out where gene-regulator proteins bind to DNA and identifying the genes they regulate just got a step easier thanks to a new technique developed by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory. The technique could greatly speed the process of unraveling the role these proteins play in turning on and off the genes that establish the very identity of cells —

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106005999989752372005-01-17T18:49:00.000-05:002005-01-17T18:53:19.990-05:00

The Notch pathway is an important molecular signaling mechanism whose existence has been known, or at least hinted at, for nearly a century since the identification of a mutant strain of Drosophila fruit flies with “notched” wings in Thomas Hunt Morgan’s lab in 1910. Later studies revealed that the Notch gene encodes a receptor protein that extends through both sides of the cell membrane and

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106005694760069472005-01-17T18:35:00.000-05:002005-01-17T18:48:14.760-05:00

Sometimes a potential target for a drug seems very promising on paper; things are often very different in reality. Its the case of telomerase inhibitors to treat cancer; they are supposed to strip the "immortal" (able to divide indefinitely) aspect of cancer cells. Yet, something in the cell seems to block their function, preventing them to inhibit completely the telomerase. What to do then?

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1106004826081602312005-01-17T18:25:00.000-05:002005-01-17T18:42:14.856-05:00

Sequence analysis is nothing new under the sun; its probably one of the oldest, most used and most studied area of bioinformatics. Still, improvements are made on a constant basis. One of the lastest, published in BMC Bioinformatics, tackle the issue of non-collinear alignment. Most traditional sequence alignment programs are excellent to align orthologous sequences; however, for non-coding

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105912830709973362005-01-16T16:51:00.000-05:002005-01-16T19:11:01.573-05:00

Humanity has been looking for a "Fontaine de Jouvence" forever; a way to slow or stop aging. While its still nowhere to be found, we are making progress; in worms. Researchers found that an epilepsy drug used in humans had the unexpected effect of prolonging the life span of C. Elegans: A class of anti-seizure medications slows the rate of aging in roundworms, according to researchers at

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105911864150399142005-01-16T16:41:00.000-05:002005-01-16T16:49:18.876-05:00

A novel application involving the buzzword "nano" - cancer detection using nanoparticles and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) : Accurate staging of cancers is one of the most important parts of the work up of patients for both prediction of prognosis and determination of the most appropriate treatment. And an essential part of this work up is assessing whether or not there has been lymphatic

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105911620746104642005-01-16T16:30:00.000-05:002005-01-16T16:50:19.930-05:00

Precision surgery on microscaled worms (C. Elegans) is quite a challenge; its about 1 mm in length. A research team from the University of Texas at Austin developed a method of laser-assisted surgery to work on these little beasts, being able to section a single axon (the "arms" of a neuron) with great precision : An ultra-short pulse laser that can perform extremely precise surgery on tiny

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105910119085760782005-01-16T15:59:00.000-05:002005-01-16T16:51:13.180-05:00

There's a paradigm in life science and drug development : only "lucrative" "markets" get exploited by R&D companies. In many occasions I've seen very promising drugs candidates or related research get canned because no money was to be made with it, even if millions would have been saved worldwide. The usual strategy to avoid this fate is to find a drug candidate that affect a "profitable"

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105828720077304412005-01-15T17:36:00.000-05:002005-01-15T17:38:40.076-05:00

A new development in the analysis of cancer has been announced by Agilent Technologies. The company has reported an innovative method that enables the rapid advance of microarray-based comparative genomic studies in cancer. According to the report published in the December 24, 2004 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) in collaboration with the National Human Genome

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105827546164457662005-01-15T17:18:00.000-05:002005-01-15T17:19:06.166-05:00

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have demonstrated for the first time what happens inside a cell when it is deprived of the essential nutrient iron. Iron is found abundantly in red meats, shellfish dried fruits, whole grains, spinach, seeds and other foods. Their study in yeast cells demonstrated that iron-starved cells preserve the little iron they possess by shutting down the

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105749299327355522005-01-14T19:33:00.000-05:002005-01-14T19:34:59.326-05:00

Improved Outcomes Software (IOS) today announced the release of GeneLinker(TM) Gold and Platinum 4.6, new versions of the award-winning Gene Expression and Proteomics Analysis Software products. "The new releases are focused primarily on importing and analyzing protein biomarker data, a high priority for many of our customers. For example, we have integrated the Protein Biomarker Package into

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105749189316622222005-01-14T19:32:00.000-05:002005-01-14T19:33:09.316-05:00

Scientists report today in the journal Genome Research that they have successfully cloned and characterized a previously intractable DNA sequence: a 554-kilobase-pair genomic segment near the centromere of the human Y chromosome. This sequence contains eight putatively active genes that could be implicated in sex-associated height differences and gonadal tumor development.This pericentromeric gap

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105749050010709922005-01-14T19:23:00.000-05:002005-01-14T19:30:50.010-05:00

For many years, DNA and proteins have been viewed as the real movers and shakers in genomic studies, with RNA seen as little more than a messenger that shuttles information between the two. But researchers from Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have discovered that small RNA molecules called microRNAs regulate thousands of human genes--more than

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105748580304960872005-01-14T19:22:00.000-05:002005-01-14T19:23:00.306-05:00

Researchers at New York University have developed a model of the intra-cellular mammalian biological clock that reveals how rapid interaction of molecules with DNA is necessary for producing reliable 24-hour rhythms. They also found that without the inherent randomness of molecular interactions within a cell, biological rhythms may dampen over time. These findings appeared in the most recent

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105748512040719422005-01-14T19:21:00.000-05:002005-01-14T19:21:52.040-05:00

Mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) play an important role in the development of prostate cancer, according to research by scientists at Emory University School of Medicine and the University of California, Irvine. The findings are published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Mitochondrial DNA, which is separate from nuclear DNA, is found in the

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105748377647813212005-01-14T19:18:00.000-05:002005-01-14T19:19:37.646-05:00

For the first time, scientists have found that bacteria can use a Sonar-like system to spot other cells (either normal body cells or other bacteria) and target them for destruction. Reported in the December 24 issue of Science, this finding explains how some bacteria know when to produce a toxin that makes infection more severe. It may lead to the design of new toxin inhibitors. “Blocking or

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105680096132229292005-01-14T01:20:00.000-05:002005-01-14T00:21:36.133-05:00

When researchers came up with the powerful cocktail of anti-HIV drugs known as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), they hoped they had found a way to finally rid the body of the virus. But they were wrong. The virus instead goes into hiding, dormant and practically undetectable in the body – and impervious to attack. While HAART manages to keep the virus at bay, it’s still quite capable

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105661920047077522005-01-13T19:15:00.000-05:002005-01-13T19:18:40.046-05:00

A scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) has published the results of an EPA-funded clam embryo study that supports her hypothesis that, when combined, the pollutants bromoform, chloroform, and tetrachloroethylene--a chemical cocktail known as BCE--can act synergistically to alter a key regulator in nerve cell development. While scientists have previously studied the effects of these

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105661685295454012005-01-13T19:13:00.000-05:002005-01-13T19:14:45.296-05:00

The best method for preventing HIV patients from developing drug resistance is a careful, dedicated adherence to their prescribed drug regimen, according to a long-term, large-scale study presented today in New York City at the American Medical Association Media Briefing, HIV/AIDS, The Drug Resistance Epidemic. Other key predictors of resistance include measures of how much virus was present in a

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105661566713223562005-01-13T19:11:00.000-05:002005-01-13T19:12:46.713-05:00

A recently developed mouse model of brain tumors common in the genetic disorder neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) successfully mimics the human condition and provides unique insight into tumor development, diagnosis and treatment, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. After validating their animal model, the team made two important discoveries: New blood

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105661432902232052005-01-13T19:09:00.000-05:002005-01-13T19:10:32.903-05:00

B cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) is the most common leukemia in adults and is characterized by the progressive accumulation of mature B lymphocytes in the blood, bone marrow, and lymphatic tissues. It is believed that in the early stages of disease, B-CLL is the result of an undefined defect in the programmed signals that trigger normal B cell death (apoptosis). Livio Trentin and

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105661329475822152005-01-13T19:07:00.000-05:002005-01-13T19:08:49.476-05:00

In a project that already has benefited an important field of biomedical research, scientists have deciphered the genomes of two closely related strains of Cryptococcus neoformans, a fungus whose importance as a human pathogen has risen in parallel with the HIV/AIDS worldwide epidemic and the increased use of immunosuppressive therapies. The study, posted online January 13 in Science Express,

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105661212609469952005-01-13T19:04:00.000-05:002005-01-13T19:06:52.610-05:00

By impaling individual chromosomes with glass needles one thousandth the diameter of a human hair, a Duke University graduate student has tested their "stickiness" to one another during cell division. Her uncanny surgical skills have added a piece to the large and intricate puzzle of how one cell divides into two -- a process fundamental to all organisms. In the Dec. 14, 2004, issue of Current

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105574751446648682005-01-12T19:04:00.000-05:002005-01-12T19:05:51.446-05:00

Few things about growing older are as inevitable and obvious as “going gray,” yet scientists have been unable to explain the precise cause of this usually unwelcome transformation. In a report posted today on the Web site of the journal Science, researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children’s Hospital Boston say they have found the cellular cause of graying hair while investigating

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105574657952119532005-01-12T19:03:00.000-05:002005-01-12T19:04:17.953-05:00

New research by investigators at Duke University Medical Center has provided insight into a fundamental cellular control mechanism that governs tissue regeneration, stem cell renewal and cancer growth. In humans, malfunctions in the pathway have been implicated in skin and brain cancers, as well as certain developmental defects, according to the researchers. The team found that the protein

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105574562581169042005-01-12T19:01:00.000-05:002005-01-12T19:02:42.580-05:00

When prostate cancer, one of the leading causes of cancer death among men, spreads in the body, it most often goes to the bone where it is particularly difficult to treat. Metastasis to the bone is implicated in over 70% of prostate cancer deaths. Prof. Zelig Eshhar, Head of the Immunology Department at the Weizmann Institute of Science, has now shown how a treatment that works on cancer in the

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105574486752700782005-01-12T19:00:00.000-05:002005-01-12T19:01:26.753-05:00

Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have compiled the first atlas showing the locations of crucial gene regulators, or switches that determine how different parts of the brain develop – and, in some cases, develop abnormally or malfunction. The scientists say the map will accelerate research on brain tumors and neurological diseases that result from mutations in these switch genes –

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105574383613414722005-01-12T18:58:00.000-05:002005-01-12T18:59:43.613-05:00

Scientists at the University of Michigan's Comprehensive Cancer Center and the National Cancer Institute have identified genes that promote the growth and recurrence of skin cancer. Andrzej Dlugosz, M.D., a professor of dermatology in the U-M Medical School, and colleagues at the University of Michigan and the National Cancer Institute examined the functions of the Hedgehog (Hh) signaling

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105574264083537452005-01-12T18:56:00.000-05:002005-01-12T18:57:44.083-05:00

Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered that the shape of a protein on the surface of pneumonia bacteria helps these germs invade the human bloodstream. This finding, published Dec. 16 online by the EMBO Journal, could help scientists develop a vaccine that is significantly more effective at protecting children against the disease. The St. Jude researchers determined

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105491511150413742005-01-11T19:57:00.000-05:002005-01-11T19:58:31.150-05:00

The Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory has publicly released a prototype of the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD). CTD aims to advance understanding about the impact of environmental chemicals on human health. It is the first database to provide centralized, integrated, and curated molecular and toxicology data from diverse organisms for scientists worldwide."It is becoming

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105491420049534012005-01-11T19:56:00.000-05:002005-01-11T19:57:00.050-05:00

'Nanoshells' enhance sensitivity to chemical detection by factor of 10 billion New research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science finds that tailored nanoparticles known as nanoshells can enhance chemical sensing by as much as 10 billion times. That makes them about 10,000 times more effective at Raman scattering than traditional methods.When molecules and materials

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105491223194942842005-01-11T19:45:00.000-05:002005-01-11T19:53:43.193-05:00

Based on successful animal studies, a novel vaccine that uses immune cells as factories to produce Her2/neu protein may offer a way to treat some human breast cancers, say researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. [Ed : Her2/neu is a protein often present / surexpressed in breast cancer] Their study, published in the online journal, Breast Cancer Research, on Nov. 29,

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105490641623936212005-01-11T19:40:00.000-05:002005-01-11T19:44:01.623-05:00

One of the most urgent problems in HIV/AIDS policy is in deciding how best to allocate resources toward preventing new infections or treating infected individuals. An analysis by Joshua Salomon and colleagues in the premier open-access journal PLoS Medicine, published online January 11, 2005, suggests that an exclusive focus on one or the other of these alternatives will yield minimal benefits--

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105489800935887972005-01-11T19:26:00.000-05:002005-01-11T19:30:00.940-05:00

Findings reported last week reveal how an evolutionary innovation involving the sharing of genes between two ant species has given rise to a deep-seated dependency between them for the survival of both species populations. The new work illustrates how genetic exchange through interbreeding between two species can give rise to a system of interdependence at a high level of biological organization

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105412552231979702005-01-10T22:00:00.000-05:002005-01-10T22:03:39.926-05:00

Epidemiological studies suggest that statins, a class of cholesterol-lowering drugs, lower the risk for Alzheimer disease. How exactly statins and Alzheimer Disease are connected is not known, but a study by Sam Gandy and colleagues now suggests a possible mechanism.Alzheimer disease is characterized by accumulation of amyloid deposits in the brain. These deposits are composed of amyloid-beta (Ab

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105412410389472952005-01-10T21:59:00.000-05:002005-01-10T22:00:10.390-05:00

In an innovative project with implications for malaria vaccine development, scientists have used genomics, proteomics and gene expression studies to trace how malaria parasites evolve on a molecular level as they move between their hosts and insect vectors. That focus on the parasites' complex life cycle is helping researchers understand when different genes switch on and off as the pathogens

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105412271235497542005-01-10T21:56:00.000-05:002005-01-10T21:57:51.236-05:00

A portable device similar to today's home pregnancy tests that can quickly detect the presence of infectious diseases, including HIV-AIDS and measles, as well as biological agents such as ricin and anthrax, is the object of a new joint university/industry research project. Vanderbilt University's Institute for Integrative Biosystems Research and Education (VIIBRE) and Pria Diagnostics LLC, a

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105412137347050712005-01-10T21:51:00.000-05:002005-01-10T21:55:37.346-05:00

Scientists at the University of Oregon have discovered a form of blue-green algae that lives independently in California's Salton Sea, using near-infrared light for photosynthesis, according to an article published in this week's online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). "This new strain of Acaryochloris is unique because it is able to live on its own," says

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105297972335828172005-01-09T14:07:00.000-05:002005-01-09T14:12:52.336-05:00

"Public Library of Science (PLoS) and the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) are pleased to announce the launch of PLoS Computational Biology, a monthly, peer-reviewed open-access publication with the inaugural issue scheduled for June 2005. The journal is run by Editor-in-Chief, Philip E. Bourne, and an international Editorial Board. With the focus on significant biological

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105202881895279962005-01-08T11:46:00.000-05:002005-01-08T11:48:01.896-05:00

Stem cell transplants have become the standard of care for patients with relapsed lymphoma, but not for patients who suffer from both this disease and HIV. A new study showing that this treatment is a viable option for select patients with HIV-associated lymphoma will be published in the January 15, 2005, issue of Blood, the official journal of the American Society of Hematology. Because of the

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105202645076610592005-01-08T11:40:00.000-05:002005-01-08T11:44:05.076-05:00

Millions of patients suffering from liver damage (cirrhosis) and failure may benefit from research by the Universities of Edinburgh and Southampton which may lead to new life-saving treatments. There is currently no cure for liver cirrhosis and a patient's only hope of survival is to receive a liver transplant. The Edinburgh scientists from the University's Centre for Inflammation Research, in

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105160353381402172005-01-07T23:55:00.000-05:002005-01-07T23:59:13.383-05:00

Dr. Roger Brent, President and Director of Research at the Molecular Sciences Institute ("MSI"), announced today the release of a new approach to simulation of intracellular biochemical networks in the January 2005 edition of Nature Biotechnology. The research article, entitled "Automatic generation of cellular reaction networks with Moleculizer 1.0" (pdf) describes MSI's discrete stochastic

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105160071095389292005-01-07T23:51:00.000-05:002005-01-07T23:55:27.460-05:00

A team led by Johns Hopkins scientists has found the first clear evidence that the process behind the human immune system's remarkable ability to recognize and respond to a million different proteins might have originated from a family of genes whose only apparent function is to jump around in genetic material. "Jumping genes" essentially cut themselves out of the genetic material, and

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105159852531080962005-01-07T23:48:00.000-05:002005-01-07T23:50:52.530-05:00

Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have found a fundamental mechanism used by embryonic stem cells to assure that genetically damaged stem cells do not divide and pass along the damage to daughter stem cells. Their discovery, detailed in an advance online publication of the journal Nature Cell Biology, solves the longstanding mystery of how embryonic stem cells, which have the

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105071615780055212005-01-06T23:11:00.000-05:002005-01-06T23:21:26.056-05:00

A new promising strategy in our fight agaisnt HIV : a topical cream containing a DNA-based "vaccine" (god I hate when this word is used for a therapy that isn't preventive, but I digress). It is painless, side effects are minimal, and you would only need it 8 times a year. Downsides? The cream contain the genome of inactivated SHIV (simian-human hybrid of HIV and SIV). And its only a temporary

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105071086727532792005-01-06T23:10:00.000-05:002005-01-06T23:11:26.726-05:00

"The born-to-dechlorinate bug" is what Cornell University researchers called Dehalococcoides ethenogenes Strain 195 when they found the bacterium obligingly detoxifying the pollutant PCE, or perchloroethylene (a chlorinated solvent used for dry cleaning), in sludge from an Ithaca, N.Y., sewage treatment plant. Their discovery led to two questions: Might cultures of the naturally occurring

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1105070945374760562005-01-06T23:06:00.000-05:002005-01-06T23:09:05.373-05:00

Bioinformatics.org informs us that Bio-Linux, a Debian distro focused on bioinformatics, got released under version 4.0.``After intensive testing, Bio-Linux 4.0 is released. If you are interested in a Debian-based bioinformatics workstation, contact the EGTDC for an installtion of Bio-Linux! You can contact the EGTDC helpdesk at helpdesk@envgen.nox.ac.uk. ``It is based on Debian 3.1 and KDE3.3/

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1104969460322888472005-01-05T18:55:00.000-05:002005-01-05T18:57:40.323-05:00

Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have succeeded in discovering and isolating a new protein from the poplar tree with special structural and qualitative characteristics that could have consequences for development of future nanocapsules for drug delivery to cancer cells. In addition to being obtained from plant tissue, the protein can now also be produced in large quantities as a

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1104969321815833152005-01-05T18:52:00.000-05:002005-01-05T18:55:21.816-05:00

CLINT, the chimpanzee whose genome sequence will soon be published, has died. His demise has sparked a debate about whether more effort should be made to preserve samples from the individuals that are sequenced. "The manifestations of these sequenced genomes must be preserved for posterity. If anyone wants to go back and study them, they have to have something to go to," says Robert Hanner of

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1104969153964915562005-01-05T18:51:00.000-05:002005-01-05T18:52:33.963-05:00

Glia appear essential for 'hair cells' responsible for hearing and balance. Traditionally viewed as supporting actors, cells known as glia may be essential for the normal development of nerve cells responsible for hearing and balance, according to new University of Utah research. The study is reported in the January 6, 2005 issue of Neuron and is co-authored by scientists at the University of

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1104968807104960992005-01-05T18:44:00.000-05:002005-01-05T18:47:26.920-05:00

A common cause of foodborne disease from poultry products can survive refrigeration and freezing say researchers from Pennsylvania. Their findings appear in the December 2004 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. Campylobacter bacteria are estimated to be responsible for 2.5 million cases of infection in the United States each year and 50% of those cases are attributed to

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1104968650215741402005-01-05T18:32:00.000-05:002005-01-05T18:44:10.216-05:00

Got a mail in my inbox today informing me that GenMAPP, the popular pathway-mapping for microarray analysis, got released. I didn't try it yet and I hope that version 2.0 fix most shortcomings of the first version, which was an interface / file format nightmare. Here's the email : "We are writing to inform you that GenMAPP 2.0 is now available to the public. GenMAPP (Gene Map Annotator and

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1104883223866360972005-01-04T18:57:00.000-05:002005-01-04T19:00:23.866-05:00

UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas researchers have found a way of stimulating the immune systems of mice to fight against amyloid proteins that cause the devastating plaques that are characteristic of Alzheimer's disease. For years scientists have examined the possibility of using a protein-based vaccine to slow the progression of the disease in its early stages. UT Southwestern

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1104882768484211762005-01-04T18:44:00.000-05:002005-01-04T18:52:48.486-05:00

Scientists have identified specific cellular events that enable a cell to make the transition from a state of active growth to an irreversible state of growth arrest, called senescence. Understanding the mysterious process of senescence is of great importance to human biology, because a failure to enter this normal stage in the life cycle of a cell may lead to uncontrolled growth and cellular

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1104882231975568632005-01-04T18:41:00.000-05:002005-01-04T18:43:51.976-05:00

Rapidly distributing antibiotics to people exposed to anthrax spores during a bioterrorist attack, could by itself, prevent about 70 percent of anthrax infections from occurring, according to researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. To increase the prevention rate to 90 percent, their study found that at least 63 percent of the population would need to be immunized

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1104805671967627132005-01-03T21:26:00.000-05:002005-01-03T21:27:51.966-05:00

PHILADELPHIA -- An estrogen-like chemical commonly used to synthesize plastic food containers has been shown to encourage the growth of a specific category of prostate cancer cell, potentially affecting the treatment efficacy for a subset of prostate cancers. According to a study published in the January 1 issue of Cancer Research, such prostate cancer cells proved to be vulnerable to exposure

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1104805524706790072005-01-03T21:18:00.000-05:002005-01-03T21:25:24.706-05:00

CANVAC, the Canadian Network for Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics, has announced the development of a new method to assess how well the thymus (an organ located at the base of the neck) works and the discovery of a functional abnormality of this organ in HIV-infected individuals. The team of investigators led by Dr. Rafick-Pierre Sékaly, professor at Université de Montréal, scientist at the CHUM

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1104804981356042912005-01-03T21:05:00.000-05:002005-01-03T21:16:21.356-05:00

PANTHER, a protein classification system from Applied Biosystems, got updated to version 5.0. Proteins are classified by family, molecular and biological function (GO ontology) and known pathways. Its main use is probably microarray analysis - it incorporate automated GO surrepresentation analysis with graphical output. Best of all, its available freely. A paper describing the Database is

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1104714616420427112005-01-02T20:00:00.000-05:002005-01-02T20:10:16.420-05:00

From Biomed Central : "The Scientist has just launched its upgraded website incorporating The Scientist Daily, the first daily newspaper for the life sciences, and its 18-year article archive. For more information on The Scientist's wide range of content, plus information on how to subscribe, visit the website." Unfortunately, they changed to subscription-based ($$) content. Strange and

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1104713920913056072005-01-02T19:55:00.000-05:002005-01-02T19:58:40.913-05:00

"Because up to 75 percent of breast cancer patients have an abnormality in a specific cell signaling pathway, drugs that target different molecules along that pathway may be especially effective for treating the disease, says a researcher from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center." A clearer picture is now emerging about the importance of the phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K)

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1104623712920222222005-01-01T18:53:00.000-05:002005-01-01T18:55:12.920-05:00

From EMBL : Human geneticists can now see which variations on the human genome are inherited together, thanks to a new way of viewing genetic variations in the latest release of the Ensembl genome browser [a joint project between EMBL's EBI and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute]. The new viewer will help researchers to understand susceptibility to complex diseases such as heart disease,

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1104623413464866362005-01-01T18:48:00.000-05:002005-01-01T20:06:23.156-05:00

From the New Jersey Institute of Technology : By alternating the flow of fluid through tiny plastic pipes, a team of mechanical engineers at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) has discovered a new and speedier way to mix liquids, which in turn will someday produce better and safer medications.“Everybody looks at creating turbulence in three dimensions to mix liquids,” said team leader

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1104545983416424022004-12-31T21:08:00.000-05:002004-12-31T21:19:43.416-05:00

Traditionally, when you're interested in studying a gene or want to use it in a fancy molecular construction, you have only one option : molecular cloning techniques which are (very) time consuming. Recently, Gene production techniques emerged; they are relatively rapid (turnaround ranging from 2 weeks to a month or more, for more complicated construction) but very expensive (1.5$ / basepair...

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1104545272084648282004-12-31T20:53:00.000-05:002004-12-31T21:07:52.083-05:00

The University of Manchester has put up a free, web-based bioinformatics course. It even has an introductory "quiz" asking questions related to the course material (I personally scored 50%, which I consider to be quite an achievment; some questions are very tough / obscure). Of course, bioinformatics is a very large field, covering very differents topics (microarrays, sequence analysis, structure

FiReaNG3Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05323161937897265743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595867.post-1104459380857755642004-12-30T21:06:00.000-05:002004-12-30T21:16:20.856-05:00

Even if SARS is a distant memory (from last year), research is still ongoing to understand this deadly virus. Californian researchers determined by X-Ray spectroscopy the 3D structure of the RNA genome of SARS. They found unusual and very interesting features, including a rare 90 degree bend. The unique structure could be a promising target for future drug development against SARS. The article

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