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 Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170407.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170407.php Scientists and industry leaders from around the world will gather in Boston Nov. 14-19, 2009, for the AACR-NCI-EORTC Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics International Conference, which will feature groundbreaking information on important cancer therapies in development. "Cancer is a complex disease and to treat it effectively we need a greater understanding of the activity that takes place at the molecular level," said Lewis Cantley, Ph.D. Cancer / Oncology Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170347.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170347.php While too much amyloid beta protein in the brain is linked to the development of Alzheimer's disease, not enough of the protein in healthy brains can cause learning problems and forgetfulness, Saint Louis University scientists have found. The finding could lead to better medications to treat Alzheimer's disease, said John Morley, M.D., director of the division of geriatrics at Saint Louis University and the lead researcher on the study. Alzheimer's / Dementia Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170358.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170358.php The Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) announces its upcoming 2009 Annual Meeting and Exhibits, together with the latest advances in clinical molecular diagnostics. What: The four-day event will feature more than 100 corporate exhibits, as well as many cutting-edge lectures, workshops and plenary sessions. The keynote speaker is the distinguished recipient of the 2009 AMP Award for Excellence in Molecular Diagnostics, Kay E. Davies, Ph.D. Biology / Biochemistry Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170313.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170313.php On Noah's Ark animals came in twos: male and female. In human bodies trillions of cells are coupled, too, and so are the molecules from which they are composed. Yet these don't come in twos, they are regrouped into indistinguishable clusters. Because these complex cell networks are the backbone of life - and illness - scientists have long searched for ways to splice cell clusters down to their original pairs. Biology / Biochemistry Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170268.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170268.php Researchers at Purdue University have discovered a new approach for repairing damaged nerve fibers in spinal cord injuries using nano-spheres that could be injected into the blood shortly after an accident. The synthetic "copolymer micelles" are drug-delivery spheres about 60 nanometers in diameter, or roughly 100 times smaller than the diameter of a red blood cell. Neurology / Neuroscience Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170269.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170269.php Using imaging mass spectrometry, researchers at the University of California, San Diego have developed tools that will enable scientists to visualize how different cell populations of cells communicate. Their study shows how bacteria talk to one another - an understanding that may lead to new therapeutic discoveries for diseases ranging from cancer to diabetes and allergies. In the paper published in the November 8 issue of Nature Chemical Biology, Pieter C. Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170276.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170276.php World experts are gathering this week to discuss DNA barcodes and their uses, covering a wide range of areas from medicine to agriculture, health to fraud, from smuggling to exploring our planet's prehistoric life. About 350 experts from 50 countries are meeting for the third International Barcode of Life conference that is taking place from 9 to 11 November in Mexico City. Genetics Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170258.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170258.php Viruses have an uncanny ability to trick cells into letting them inside. Once inside, they take over, says Brian Bothner, a faculty member in Montana State University's Center for Bio-Inspired Nanomaterials and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Now -- with the assistance of an MSU senior who helped renovate the campus duck pond - Bothner has a $1.2 million grant to tap into that talent. Biology / Biochemistry Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170239.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170239.php The Monell Center and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) are co-hosts of the Beijing International Meeting on Taste and Smell Research. Organized by Monell in collaboration with the CAS, the meeting will be the first international meeting on taste and smell to be held in China. Ear, Nose and Throat Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170242.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170242.php The scientific ability to quickly and accurately identify species through DNA "barcoding" is being embraced and applied by a growing legion of global authorities - from medical and agricultural researchers to police and customs authorities to palaeontologists and others. Genetics Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170164.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170164.php As global temperatures and energy costs continue to soar, renewable sources of energy will be key to a sustainable future. An attractive replacement for gasoline is biofuel, and in two studies published online in Genome Research, scientists have analyzed the genome structures of bioethanol-producing microorganisms, uncovering genetic clues that will be critical in developing new technologies needed to implement production on a global scale. Biology / Biochemistry Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170161.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170161.php Scientists at Michigan State University are receiving nearly $3 million from the National Institutes of Health to uncover how several popular plants make medicinal compounds. Biology / Biochemistry Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170114.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170114.php A University of Colorado at Boulder team has developed the first atlas of bacterial diversity across the human body, charting wide variations in microbe populations that live in different regions of the human body and which aid us in physiological functions that contribute to our health. Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170118.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170118.php When it comes to plants' innate immunity, like many of the dances of life, it takes two to tango. A receptor molecule in the plant pairs up with a specific molecule on the invading bacteria and, presto, the immune system swings into action to defend against the invasion of the disease-causing microbe. Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170131.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170131.php A unique large-scale research device from Jülich has gone into operation in the USA. At the strongest neutron source in the world, the spallation source SNS in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Forschungszentrum Jülich inaugurated a so-called neutron spin echo (NSE) spectrometer. The NSE spectrometer enables detailed observations to be made of the motion of proteins and polymers. It will thus help to develop improved plastics or to understand metabolic processes in cells. Medical Devices / Diagnostics Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170132.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170132.php Embryonic development is like a well-organised building project, with the embryo's DNA serving as the blueprint from which all construction details are derived. Cells carry out different functions according to a developmental plan, by expressing, i.e. turning on, different combinations of genes. Genetics Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170157.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170157.php A new study by a team of researchers led by Crislyn D'Souza-Schorey, associate professor of biological sciences at the University of Notre Dame, sheds light on the molecular basis by which tumor cells modulate their surroundings to favor cancer progression. The study elucidates mechanisms involved in the release of microvesicles - small membrane enclosed sacs - from tumor cells that facilitate creation of paths of least resistance allowing tumor cells to migrate. Cancer / Oncology Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170163.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170163.php A team of US scientists that has developed the first map of bacterial diversity across nearly 30 sites of the human body from hair, to ears, nostrils, mouth, armpits, intestines, navels, backs of knees and soles of the feet, was surprised to find big person to person differences in variously sited bacterial populations among healthy individuals. Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170139.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170139.php Whether it's magnetic nanoparticles (mNPs) giving an army of 'therapeutically armed' white blood cells direction to invade a deadly tumour's territory, or the use of mNPs to target specific nerve channels and induce nerve-led behaviour (such as the life-dependant thumping of our hearts), mNPs have come a long way in the past decade. The future for mNPs however appears even brighter. Medical Devices / Diagnostics Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170050.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170050.php What is the role of proteins called polycystins in patients with polycystic kidney disease? A team of researchers from CNRS and INSERM, led by Eric Honore from the Institut de Pharmacologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IPMC, Universite de Nice Sophia Antipolis/CNRS) has elucidated the molecular and cellular mechanisms linked to polycystin malfunctions that cause this common hereditary disease. Urology / Nephrology Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170053.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170053.php A powerful new biosensor developed by European researchers will help identify cells in the immune system that actively suppress tumour growth, then put them to use. Enlisting the patient's own immune system would be like sending reinforcements for resistance fighters. Cancer / Oncology Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169959.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169959.php The hormones, called androgens, are important in the development of masculine characteristics such as aggression and strength. It is also thought that prenatal androgens affect finger length during development in the womb. High levels of androgens, such as testosterone, increase the length of the fourth finger in comparison to the second finger. Endocrinology Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169960.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169960.php One of the many mysteries of Alzheimer's disease is how protein-like snippets called amyloid-beta peptides, which clump together to form plaques in the brain, may cause cell death, leading to the disease's devastating symptoms of memory loss and other mental difficulties. In order to answer that key question and develop new approaches to preventing the damage, scientists must first understand how amyloid-beta forms the telltale clumps. Alzheimer's / Dementia Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169975.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169975.php It's no bigger than a stamp packet but it has the potential to allow rapid development of a new generation of drugs and genetic engineering organisms, and to better control in-vitro fertilization. Engineering researchers at McMaster University have fabricated a palm-sized, automated, micro-injector that can insert proteins, DNA and other biomolecules into individual cells at volumes exponentially higher than current procedures, and at a fraction of the cost. IT / Internet / E-mail Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169978.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169978.php Scientists in Canada are reporting the development of a fast, inexpensive "dipstick" test to identify small amounts of pesticides that may exist in foods and beverages. Their paper-strip test is more practical than conventional pesticide tests, producing results in minutes rather than hours by means of an easy-to-read color-change, they say. The study is in the November 1 issue of ACS' Analytical Chemistry, a semi-monthly journal. Nutrition / Diet