High levels of estrogen may enhance the brain’s response to stress, making women more vulnerable to mental illnesses such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a Yale study. Read the rest of this story »
An interaction between two brain proteins that leads to abnormal brain development has been identified by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine in a study published in the January 22, 2004 issue of the journal Neuron. Read the rest of this story »
Although vaccines developed to help the immune system fight tumors appear to have an impact against early-stage tumors, they have little if any success in slowing the growth of tumors in later stages. Now researchers writing in the Feb. 1, 2004 issue of The Journal of Immunology identify abnormalities in the immune system’s T cells, provide insight into their origin, and describe how these defects can be prevented and “repaired” in animal experiments. Read the rest of this story »
Biologists at the Josephine Bay Paul Center for Comparative Molecular Biology and Evolution at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) have confirmed that a group of microscopic animals has evolved for tens of millions of years without sexual reproduction. Read the rest of this story »
The Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute (JGI) is poised for a resounding response to the age-old question, “If we build it, will they come?” Already, collaborators are queuing up to take advantage of one of the world’s most powerful DNA sequencing facilities for the debut of DOE’s Community Sequencing Program (CSP). Read the rest of this story »
Rutgers researchers have discovered what could be the newest target for drugs in the treatment of memory and learning disabilities as well as diseases such as Alzheimer’s and fetal alcohol syndrome: a protein known as cypin. Read the rest of this story »
Today there is a great need for portable equipment that can quickly detect chemical and biological weapons such as nerve gases, viruses, bacteria, and toxins. In a new dissertation the Swedish researcher Inga Gustafsson shows that artificial membranes can be used for this purpose in future biosensors. Read the rest of this story »
An innovative method that allows increased success and speed of protein crystallization – a crucial step in the laborious, often unsuccessful process to determine the 3-dimensional structure unique to each of the body’s tens of Read the rest of this story »
A team of investigators at The Scripps Research Institute and its Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology in La Jolla, California has developed a new way of making glycoproteinsÂ-proteins with carbohydrates (sugars) attached. Read the rest of this story »