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Cannibal Tadpoles Key to Understanding Digestive Evolution

By Guest PostMay 25, 2013Scienceafrican clawed frog, anne everly, budgetts frog, cannibal tadpoles, carlos infante, carnivorous, cris ledon rettig, digestive evolution, function, human birth defects, intestinal birth defects, james hanken, lepidobatrachus laevis, molecules, nanette nascone yoder, north Carolina, proteins, state university, tadpole, xenopus, xenopus embryos, xenopus laevis

A carnivorous, cannibalistic tadpole may play a role in understanding the evolution and development of digestive organs, according to research from North Carolina State University. These findings may also shed light on universal rules of organ development that could lead to better diagnosis and prevention of intestinal birth defects.

NC State developmental biologist Nanette Nascone-Yoder, graduate student Stephanie Bloom and postdoc Cris Ledon-Rettig looked at Xenopus laevis (African clawed frog) and Lepidobatrachus laevis (Budgett’s frog) tadpoles. These frog species differ in diet and last shared a common ancestor about 110 million years ago. Like most tadpoles, Xenopus exist primarily on a diet of algae, and their long, simple digestive tracts are not able to process insects or proteins until they become adult frogs. Budgett’s is an aggressive species of frog which is carnivorous – and cannibalistic – in the tadpole stage. (more…)

Easy come, easy grow

By Guest PostMay 25, 2013Sciencefemale flower organs, pollen tubes, precocious discharge, sperm cell, sperm delivery tools

Sperm cell release can be triggered by tightening the grip around the delivery organ, according to a team of nano and microsystems engineers and plant biologists at the University of Montreal and Concordia University. Concordia’s nanobiotech team devised a microchip that enabled the University of Montreal biologists to observe what happened when pollen tubes – the sperm delivery tools used by plants – tried to negotiate a microscopic obstacle course. The pollen tubes were exposed to a series of narrow, elastic openings resulting in a variety of cellular responses. When the opening was too narrow or tight, pollen tube growth stalled. However, the elongating tubes successfully penetrated slightly larger openings. Curiously, the pollen tubes burst and released the sperm cells when passing openings of a particular size relative to the pollen tube width. (more…)

Studying meteorites may reveal Mars’ secrets of life

By Guest PostMay 24, 2013Scienceage old question, alterations, Antarctica, billion years ago, data from meteorites, earth, geochemical processes, mars, michael velbel, michigan state university, miller range, mineralogical studies, mystery, nakhlite meteorite, rover data, secrets of life, solar system, studying meteorites

In an effort to determine if conditions were ever right on Mars to sustain life, a team of scientists, including a Michigan State University professor, has examined a meteorite that formed on the red planet more than a billion years ago.

And although this team’s work is not specifically solving the mystery, it is laying the groundwork for future researchers to answer this age-old question. (more…)

Comparing Proteins at a Glance

By Guest PostMay 23, 2013Scienceatp hydrolysis, berkeley lab, big puzzle, cancer chemotherapy, car spin, comparing proteins, cynthia mcmurray, en masse, function follows form, glance, greg hura, helen budworth, imaging technique, kevin dyer, macromolecules, michal hammel, multiple proteins, mutation, problematic dna, protein structures, robert rambo, saxs, xray analytical technique

Berkeley Lab Researchers Unveil Technique for Easy Comparisons of Proteins in Solution

A revolutionary X-ray analytical technique that enables researchers at a glance to identify structural similarities and differences between multiple proteins under a variety of conditions has been developed by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). As a demonstration, the researchers used this technique to gain valuable new insight into a protein that is a prime target for cancer chemotherapy.

“Proteins and other biological macromolecules are moving machines whose power is often derived from how their structural conformations change in response to their environment,” says Greg Hura, a scientist with Berkeley Lab’s Physical Biosciences Division. “Knowing what makes a protein change has incredible value, much like knowing that stepping on a gas pedal makes the wheels of a car spin.” (more…)

UMass Amherst Nuclear Physicist, with Hundreds Worldwide, Tracks Huge Magnetic Ring across Country for Muon Experiments

By Guest PostMay 22, 2013Sciencebeam of muons, magnetic ring, muon experiment, subatomic particles

Massive device to travel by barge and truck this summer

AMHERST, Mass. – Nuclear physicist David Kawall at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is among scientists from 26 institutions worldwide who are waiting patiently for an electromagnet 50 feet in diameter to be transported from New York to Illinois, where they plan to launch an experiment in 2016 that could open new realms of particle physics.
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Above other awards: the pride of publication

By Guest PostMay 22, 2013Scienceangel byrd, brown university, candida albicans, China, clumping behavior, courtney johnson, cr3, DNA, dna like spiderman, ecm, ecm protein fibronectin, eli lilly, extracellular matrix, fungal pathogens, gates millennium scholarship, gene expression, hiv patients, immune system cells, jonathan reichner, liz lavigne, neutrophils, pathology in washington, paul kubes, phd student, publication, receptor on neutrophils, rhode island hospital, tendril like hyphae, tougaloo college, united states, xian obrien

Dedicated, passionate and energetic, M.D./Ph.D. student Angel Byrd has earned many accolades and research opportunities. But she only recently won a young scientist’s most coveted prize: publication as lead author of a paper highly esteemed by her colleagues.

Well on her way to fulfilling her dreams both in research and medicine, Brown University M.D./Ph.D. student Angel Byrd nevertheless had recently begun to define herself by what was missing, said her adviser, Dr. Jonathan Reichner, associate professor of surgery (research) at Rhode Island Hospital. She still wasn’t a published author.

For years she had dedicated herself to studying how immune system cells capture invading fungal pathogens. Like those cells, called neutrophils, she had seized on seemingly every opportunity that had come her way. (more…)

Astronomers find evidence of hungry young exoplanets

By Guest PostMay 22, 2013Scienceasteroids, astronomer, complex, disk material, distorted formation, evidence, Galaxy, hungry young exoplanets, mystery, planetary childhood, planets, stefan kraus, the mechanics, university of exeter, v1247 orionis, weird

While astronomers now know that exoplanets are exceedingly common in the galaxy, the mechanics by which they are formed aren’t well understood. Planetary childhood remains a mystery.

Young stars start out with a massive disk of gas and dust that over time, astronomers think, either diffuses away or coalesces into planets and asteroids.

“The speculation is that as planets form they clear out a region of gas and dust around them, forming a telltale ‘gap’ in the disk”, said Stefan Kraus, from Physics and Astronomy at the University of Exeter. (more…)

Bold Move Forward in Molecular Analyses

By Guest PostMay 21, 2013Scienceabsolute scale, berkeley lab, cell biology, concentration, control, data collection, dataset, john tainer, macromolecules, molecular analyses, molecular machines, nanoparticle, neutrons, protein, robert rambo, sans, sas, sas analysis, sas based statistic, saxs, small angle scattering, solution, structural state, volume of correlation

Berkeley Lab Researchers Develop New Metrics for X-ray and Neutron Analysis of Flexible Macromolecules

A dramatic leap forward in the ability of scientists to study the structural states of macromolecules such as proteins and nanoparticles in solution has been achieved by a pair of researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). The researchers have developed a new set of metrics for analyzing data acquired via small angle scattering (SAS) experiments with X-rays (SAXS) or neutrons (SANS). Among other advantages, this will reduce the time required to collect data by up to 20 times.

“SAS is the only technique that provides a complete snapshot of the thermodynamic state of macromolecules in a single image,” says Robert Rambo, a scientist with Berkeley Lab’s Physical Biosciences Division, who developed the new SAS metrics along with John Tainer of Berkeley Lab’s Life Sciences Division and the Scripps Research Institute. (more…)

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