Breast Cancer DNA Mutator Found
Masonic Cancer Center researchers discover a virus-fighting enzyme
It’s well known that sunlight and chemical carcinogens can mutate DNA, and that mutations are essential for cancer to develop. (more…)
Masonic Cancer Center researchers discover a virus-fighting enzyme
It’s well known that sunlight and chemical carcinogens can mutate DNA, and that mutations are essential for cancer to develop. (more…)
ANN ARBOR — Scientists have known for nearly a century that cold-blooded animals, such as worms, flies and fish all live longer in cold environments, but have not known exactly why.
Researchers at the University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute have identified a genetic program that promotes longevity of roundworms in cold environments—and this genetic program also exists in warm-blooded animals, including humans. (more…)
Despite years of research, the genetic factors behind many human diseases and characteristics remain unknown. The inability to find the complete genetic causes of family traits such as height or the risk of type 2 diabetes has been called the “missing heritability” problem.
A new study by Princeton University researchers, however, suggests that missing heritability may not be missing after all — at least not in yeast cells, which the researchers used as a model for studying the problem. Published in the journal Nature, the results suggest that heritability in humans may be hidden due only to the limitations of modern research tools, but could be discovered if scientists know where (and how) to look. (more…)
In our ongoing quest for alternative energy sources, researchers are looking more to plants that grow in the wild for use in biofuels, plants such as switchgrass. (more…)
New study challenges theory of upward mobility in developing nations
Donald Bogue, professor emeritus in sociology and a distinguished scholar of demography, has found that unlike immigrants to the United States, immigrants between nations in Latin America frequently do not improve their lives by moving. (more…)
Structure of face may help predict expression of prejudice, researchers report
The structure of a man’s face may indicate his tendency to express racially prejudiced beliefs, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
Studies have shown that facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) is associated with testosterone-related behaviors, which some researchers have linked with aggression. But psychological scientist Eric Hehman of Dartmouth College and colleagues at the University of Delaware speculated that these behaviors may have more to do with social dominance than outright aggression. Hehman conducted the research while he was a graduate student at UD. (more…)
The strong, flapping flight of bats offers great possibilities for the design of small aircraft, among other applications. By building a robotic bat wing, Brown researchers have uncovered flight secrets of real bats: the function of ligaments, the elasticity of skin, the structural support of musculature, skeletal flexibility, upstroke, downstroke. (more…)
U alum Lesa Nord talks about her Fulbright Scholar experience
Lesa Nord was one of two U students on the Twin Cities campus to receive a highly competitive Fulbright Scholarship this year to the United Kingdom, where she is completing an interdisciplinary degree in humanitarianism and conflict response at the University of Manchester.
Nord began her college education at North Hennepin Community College before transferring to the U and receiving a bachelor of individualized studies with high distinction from the College of Liberal Arts. Along the way she has become a certified Emergency Medical Technician, and she’s already served as a volunteer interpreter and technician on medical mission trips in developing countries. (more…)