Copyright 2009 Medical News Today Latest Biology / Biochemistry News From Medical News Today. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/biology-biochemistry/ admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin) editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors) en-us Fri, 27 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172378.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172378.php A novel approach to classify the gender of six-week-old turkey poults could save millions of male chicks from being killed shortly after birth, according to Dr. Gerald Steiner from the Dresden University of Technology in Germany and his team. Their use of infrared spectroscopy to determine the gender of young birds shows that it is a fast and accurate method with the potential to be used by the breeding industry to identify and select female eggs for breeding. Biology / Biochemistry Fri, 27 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172343.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172343.php Whitehead researchers have developed a new type of genetic screen for human cells to pinpoint specific genes and proteins used by pathogens, according to their paper in Science. In most human cell cultures genes are present in two copies: one inherited from the father and one from the mother. Gene inactivation by mutation is therefore inefficient because when one copy is inactivated, the second copy usually remains active and takes over. Genetics Fri, 27 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172359.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172359.php If you're like most people, you probably think chemistry is too difficult to bother with outside of school and too clinical to be any fun. But chemistry offers a magic and elegance to behold: from the fascination of fall foliage and fireworks to the fundamentals of digestion (as when good pizza goes bad!) there is a true 'joy' in chemistry. Cathy Cobb and Monty L. Biology / Biochemistry Fri, 27 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172270.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172270.php It seems obvious that naturally waking up from sleep and being startled by something in the environment are two very different emotional states. However, the neuroscience that underlies these different forms of arousal has, for the most part, remained a mystery. Now, new research published by Cell Press in the November 25 issue of the journal Neuron demonstrates that there are at least two completely separate and independent forms of arousal in fruit flies. ADHD Fri, 27 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172290.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172290.php You wouldn't want a car with no brakes. It turns out that the developing brain needs them, too. Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a set of molecular brakes that stabilize the developing brain's circuitry. Moreover, experimentally removing those brakes in mice enhanced the animals' performance in a test of visual learning, suggesting a long-term path to therapeutic application. In a study to be published Nov. Neurology / Neuroscience Fri, 27 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172299.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172299.php Over the course of a lifetime, the heart pumps some 250 million liters of blood through the body. In order to do this, the muscle fibers of the heart have to be extremely durable. The research group headed by Dr. Wolfgang Rottbauer, vice chair of the Department of Medicine III at Heidelberg University Hospital (Chairman: Prof. Dr. H. A. Katus), has discovered a protein that is responsible for the stability of the smallest muscular unit, the sarcomere. Cardiovascular / Cardiology Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172275.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172275.php The so-called RANK protein and the molecule that binds to it, the RANK ligand or RANKL, form a focus of the work of Josef Penninger, director of the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) in Vienna. In 1999 his group deleted the RANKL gene from mice and showed that the RANK/RANKL system was the "master regulator" governing bone loss (Kong et al. 1999 Nature 402, 304-309). Bones / Orthopaedics Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172281.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172281.php Bacteria don't have easy lives. In addition to mammalian immune systems that besiege the bugs, they have natural enemies called bacteriophages, viruses that kill half the bacteria on Earth every two days. Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172283.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172283.php When cells are confronted with an invading virus or bacteria or exposed to an irritating chemical, they protect themselves by going off their DNA recipe and inserting the wrong amino acid into new proteins to defend them against damage, scientists have discovered. Biology / Biochemistry Thu, 26 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172215.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172215.php When you eat may be just as vital to your health as what you eat, found researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Their experiments in mice revealed that the daily waxing and waning of thousands of genes in the liver the body's metabolic clearinghouse is mostly controlled by food intake and not by the body's circadian clock as conventional wisdom had it. Nutrition / Diet Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172160.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172160.php The world's largest species of monkey 'chooses' mates with genes that are different from their own to guarantee healthy and strong offspring, according to a new research study. The results obtained from mandrills, a species closely related to humans, support the disputed theory that humans are attracted to those with a dissimilar genetic make up to maintain genetic diversity. Genetics Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172170.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172170.php Springer and the American College of Medical Toxicology (ACMT) have signed an agreement to collaborate on the publication of the Journal of Medical Toxicology (JMT), the official journal of the ACMT, beginning in March 2010. It was previously published by the University of Pennsylvania Press. The Journal of Medical Toxicology, an international, peer-reviewed journal, is dedicated to advancing the science and practice of medical toxicology. Biology / Biochemistry Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172176.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172176.php The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is investing $42.3 million for grants in scientific areas it identified as "Grand Opportunities (GO)." NIH developed the GO grant program to stimulate biomedical research and the economy using funds provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act). Biology / Biochemistry Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172106.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172106.php The atomic-level action of a remarkable class of ring-shaped protein motors has been uncovered by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) using a state-of-the-art protein crystallography beamline at the Advanced Light Source (ALS). Genetics Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172088.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172088.php A sticky solution for identifying effective probiotics Scientists have crystallised a protein that may help gut bacteria bind to the gastrointestinal tract. The protein could be used by probiotic producers to identify strains that are likely to be of real benefit to people. GastroIntestinal / Gastroenterology Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172039.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172039.php By producing some of the highest resolution images of peptides attaching to mineral surfaces, scientists have a deeper understanding of how biomolecules manipulate the growth of crystals. This research may lead to a new treatment for kidney stones using biomolecules. The research, which appears in the Nov. Biology / Biochemistry Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172050.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172050.php Two new studies reveal in unprecedented detail how the ribosome interacts with other molecules to assemble new proteins and guide them toward their destination in biological cells. The studies used molecular dynamics flexible fitting (MDFF) to examine the interaction of the ribosome with two prominent molecular partners. IT / Internet / E-mail Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171981.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171981.php Scientists at the Brain Research Centre, a partnership of the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, have uncovered new information about the mechanism by which brain cells die following a stroke, as well as a possible way to mitigate that damage. The results of the study were recently published online in Nature Medicine. Following a stroke, many brain cells continue to die even after blood flow has been restored. Stroke Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171983.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171983.php Physician-scientists from Weill Cornell Medical College have discovered a molecular mechanism that may prove to be a powerful target for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a type of cancer that affects lymphocytes, or white blood cells. By exploiting this mechanism, researchers have been able to powerfully suppress tumor formation in lab testing and in animal models. Lymphoma / Leukemia / Myeloma Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171985.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171985.php A butterfly's proboscis looks like a straw -- long, slender, and used for sipping -- but it works more like a paper towel, according to Konstantin Kornev of Clemson University. He hopes to borrow the tricks of this piece of insect anatomy to make small probes that can sample the fluid inside of cells. Kornev presented his work at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society's (APS) Division of Fluid Dynamics November 22-24 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Medical Devices / Diagnostics Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171988.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171988.php On the skin's surface, bacteria are abundant, diverse and constant, but inflammation is undesirable. Research at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine now shows that the normal bacteria living on the skin surface trigger a pathway that prevents excessive inflammation after injury. "These germs are actually good for us," said Richard L. Dermatology Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172010.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172010.php Biomethylation of arsenic compounds appears to cause oxidative DNA damage and to increase their carcinogenicity, according to a new study published online November 23 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Although biomethylation was once believed to detoxify inorganic arsenic, it is now thought to enhance its toxicity and potentially its carcinogenicity. To assess the role of arsenic biomethylation in oxidative DNA damage in mice, Michael P. Cancer / Oncology Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172012.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172012.php The generation of new nerve cells in the brain is regulated by a peptide known as C3a, which directly affects the stem cells' maturation into nerve cells and is also important for the migration of new nerve cells through the brain tissue, reveals new research from the Sahlgrenska Academy published in the journal Stem Cells. Neurology / Neuroscience Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172049.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172049.php A study funded by the US National Institutes of Health concluded that titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles, found in items people all over the world use every day from cosmetics and sunscreen to vitamins and paint, caused systemic genetic damage in mice. The study was the work of senior study author Dr Robert Schiestl from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and colleagues, and was published in the journal Cancer Research on 15 November. Genetics Tue, 24 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171974.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171974.php A University of Aberdeen research scientist, Alex Brand (53), who only entered the profession at the age of 40, has been awarded the Medical Research Council New Investigator Grant. The microbiologist also recently received another prestigious funding award, the Royal Society University Research Fellowship. Biology / Biochemistry