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UMass Amherst Cell Biologists Show Molecular Forces Are Key to Proper Cell Division

By Guest PostJanuary 24, 2013Scienceanna ye, cell biologist, cell death, cell division, chromosome, chromosome microtubule interactions, culture cell, daughter cell, detection pathway, error rate, flawless cell, fluorescently tag chromosomes, fruit fly tissue, function, human disease, interaction error, kinetochore microtubule interaction, kinetochore regulator, kinetochores, massachusetts amherst, microtubule filament, mitotic spindle, modulate, molecular engine, molecular glue, molecular surveillance system, pef, polar ejection force, spindle, stuart cane, syntelic attachments, thomas maresca, university

AMHERST, Mass. – Studies led by cell biologist Thomas Maresca at the University of Massachusetts Amherst are revealing new details about a molecular surveillance system that helps detect and correct errors in cell division that can lead to cell death or human diseases. Findings are reported in the current issue of the Journal of Cell Biology.

The purpose of cell division is to evenly distribute the genome between two daughter cells. To achieve this, every chromosome must properly interact with a football-shaped structure called the spindle. However, interaction errors between the chromosomes and spindle during division are amazingly common, occurring in 86 to 90 percent of chromosomes, says Maresca, an expert in mitosis. (more…)

Golden Algae: They Hunt, They Kill, They Cheat

By Guest PostJanuary 23, 2013Sciencealgae bloom, golden algae, single celled algae, toxic algae, toxicity, toxin production

Cheating is a behavior not limited to humans, animals and plants. Even microscopically small, single-celled algae do it, a team of UA researchers has discovered.

Humans do it, chimpanzees do it, cuckoos do it – cheating to score a free ride is a well-documented behavior by many animals, even plants. But microscopically small, single-celled algae? Yes, they do it too, biologists with the University of Arizona’s department of ecology and evolutionary biology have discovered. (more…)

Martian Crater May Once Have Held Groundwater-Fed Lake

By Guest PostJanuary 22, 2013Sciencearabia terra, carbonate, clay mineral, compact reconnaissance, crism, early evolution, flat rock, groundwater, hydrothermal fluids, imaging spectrometer, joseph michalski, lake environment, layered, mars, mars orbiters, mars reconnaissance orbiter, martian crater, martian history, mclaughlin crater, meteor impact, mro, nasa spacecraft, non acidic conditions, potential habitat, red planet, rich zurek, scott murchie, spectrometer data, subsurface, subsurface habitability, underground water, wet underground environment

PASADENA, Calif. — A NASA spacecraft is providing new evidence of a wet underground environment on Mars that adds to an increasingly complex picture of the Red Planet’s early evolution.

The new information comes from researchers analyzing spectrometer data from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which looked down on the floor of McLaughlin Crater. The Martian crater is 57 miles (92 kilometers) in diameter and 1.4 miles (2.2 kilometers) deep. McLaughlin’s depth apparently once allowed underground water, which otherwise would have stayed hidden, to flow into the crater’s interior. (more…)

Flying Test Bed: New Aerial Platform Supports Development of Lightweight Sensors for UAVs

By Guest PostJanuary 22, 2013Scienceairborne payloads, electronic scanning, lightweight sensors, radar package, self guided uavs, sensing technology, uavs, unmanned aerial vehicle

A research team at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is developing an airborne testing capability for sensors, communications devices and other airborne payloads. This aerial test bed, called the GTRI Airborne Unmanned Sensor System (GAUSS), is based on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) made by Griffon Aerospace and modified by GTRI. (more…)

Mating Swarm Study Offers New Way to View Flocks, Schools, Crowds

By Guest PostJanuary 21, 2013Scienceadulthood, biology, bird flock, coherent system, collective animal motion, collective motion, degree of modularity, douglas h kelley, external force, group behavior, high speed cameras, insect swarm, mating swarm, mechanical engineering, midge fly, MIT, nicholas t ouellette, position, quantitative data, swarm behavior, synchronized, three-dimensional

The adulthood of a midge fly is decidedly brief — about three days. But a new study of its mating swarm may yield lasting benefits for analyses of bird flocks, fish schools, human crowds and other forms of collective animal motion.

“This is a field where there’s been almost no quantitative data,” said Nicholas T. Ouellette of the Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science, principal investigator of the research, published Jan. 15 in the journal Scientific Reports. “What we’ve been able to do is put this in the laboratory, and that lets us take as much data as we want.” (more…)

Lack of Protein Sp2 Disrupts Neuron Creation in Brain

By Guest PostJanuary 21, 2013Sciencecancer research, cell cycle regulator, cerebral cortex, creation of neurons, experimental mice, function of sp2, genetic tools, guanxi xiao, haifeng yin, how protein works, huixuan liang, jon horowitz, mechanism, neural therapies, neurodevelopmental diseases, north Carolina, offspring, program stem cell, protein, regeneration, regenerative medicine, simon hippenmeyer, skin, sp2, state university, stem cells, troy ghashghaei, tumor

A protein known as Sp2 is key to the proper creation of neurons from stem cells, according to researchers at North Carolina State University. Understanding how this protein works could enable scientists to “program” stem cells for regeneration, which has implications for neural therapies.

Troy Ghashghaei and Jon Horowitz, both faculty in NC State’s Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences and researchers in the Center for Comparative Medicine and Translational Research, wanted to know more about the function of Sp2, a cell cycle regulator that helps control how cells divide. Previous research from Horowitz had shown that too much Sp2 in skin-producing stem cells resulted in tumors in experimental mice. Excessive amounts of Sp2 prevented the stem cells from creating normal cell “offspring,” or skin cells. Instead, the stem cells just kept producing more stem cells, which led to tumor formation. (more…)

Portable X-Ray Source Invented at MU Could Put Medical Diagnosis and Terrorism Prevention in the Palm of the Hand

By Guest PostJanuary 19, 2013Sciencecell phone, compact source, crystal, curiosity rover, electric charge, electricity, energy, forms of radiation, hand held scanners, interplanetary probes, lithium niobate, phenomenon, piezoelectric effect, portable x ray, power consumption, radiation source, radioactive material, radioisotopes, remote, scanner, scott kovaleski, shooting the rays, star trek, stress, tricorders, university of missouri, x-rays

The inexpensive device could improve health in the developing world and reduce mining risks

COLUMBIA, Mo. — The hand-held scanners, or tricorders, of the Star Trek movies and television series are one step closer to reality now that a University of Missouri engineering team has invented a compact source of X-rays and other forms of radiation. The radiation source, which is the size of a stick of gum, could be used to create inexpensive and portable X-ray scanners for use by doctors, as well as to fight terrorism and aid exploration on this planet and others.

“Currently, X-ray machines are huge and require tremendous amounts of electricity,” said Scott Kovaleski, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at MU. “In approximately three years, we could have a prototype hand-held X-ray scanner using our invention. The cell-phone-sized device could improve medical services in remote and impoverished regions and reduce health care expenses everywhere.” (more…)

Searching for the Lost Royal City of Nubia in Northern Sudan

By Guest PostJanuary 18, 2013Culture, Scienceel kurru, kings of nubia, kush, lost royal city, northern sudan, nubia, nubian capital, nubian pyramid

ANN ARBOR — Geoff Emberling is doing what few archaeologists do anymore in a world that has been worked over pretty well by picks, trowels and shovels. He’s searching for a lost royal city. (more…)

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