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UCLA Scientists Design Experimental Treatment for Iron-Overload Diseases

By Guest PostNovember 6, 2011Health, Scienceamino acids, bo qiao, change in iron flow in the body, cooley anemia, damage, effects of hepcidin in mice, elizabeta nemeth, emilio ramos, excess iron in the body, ferroportin, genetic disorders, gloria c preza, heart, hepcidin, hereditary hemochromatosis, hormone, iron overload, iron overload diseases, iron regulating activity, iron regulation, liver, minihepcidins, molecules, organs, piotr ruchala, therapy, tomas ganz, toxic

Iron overload is a common condition affecting millions of people worldwide. Excess iron in the body is toxic, and deposits can cause damage to the liver, heart and other organs. Current treatments, researchers say, are not ideal and have significant side effects.

Iron in the body is regulated by a hormone called hepcidin, and a deficiency in this hormone can cause the iron overload seen in genetic disorders like hereditary hemochromatosis and Cooley’s anemia. (more…)

HIMB Scientists Develop Website to Aid with Climate Change Research

By Guest PostNovember 5, 2011Environment, Nature, Scienceanemones, climate change, coral reef ecosystems, corals, erik franklin, flagellate protozoa, genbank, geographic details of the symbiodinium records, geospatial visualization, geosymbio, geosymbio application, google apps, google sites, hawaii institute of marine biology, himb, hollie putnam, hybrid web application, interactive global map of corals, jellyfish, marine organisms, michael stat, national center for ecological analysis and synthesis, nceas, photosynthetic dinoflagellates, ruth gates, symbiodinium, symbiodinium ecology, symbiotic zooxanthellae, taxonomic description, tim mcclanahan, tropical coral reefs, uh manoa, uni cellular, xavier pochon, zooxanthellae

A team of researchers from UH Mānoa’s Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) has developed an interactive global map of corals and zooxanthellae, commonly known as flagellate protozoa, as part of a hybrid web application titled GeoSymbio. This application provides global-scale biological and ecosystem information on symbiotic zooxanthellae called Symbiodinium, which are uni-cellular, photosynthetic dinoflagellates that live inside the cells of other marine organisms like anemones, jellyfish and corals.

The GeoSymbio application provides the genetic identification and taxonomic description of over 400 distinct Symbiodinium subclades or genetic lineages in invertebrate hosts that have been sampled from a variety of marine habitats, thereby providing a wealth of information for symbiosis researchers in a single online location. By utilizing Google Apps, the team was able to develop this web-based tool to discover, explore, visualize and share data in a rapid, cost-effective and engaging manner. (more…)

Bird Song Yields a New Understanding of Cooperation

By Guest PostNovember 5, 2011Nature, Scienceecuador, eric fortune, humans, johns hopkins university, neuroscientist, site of a volcano, slopes of antisana volcano, tango

*A bird duet springs forth from each bird’s knowledge of the entire song*

The site of a volcano isn’t the first place one might think of to study cooperation. But neuroscientist Eric Fortune of Johns Hopkins University and colleagues went to the slopes of Antisana volcano in Ecuador to study cooperation as it plays out with a very special songbird, the plain-tailed wren. Funded in part by the National Science Foundation, the researchers report their observations in the Nov. 4, 2011, issue of Science.

Rapidly alternating their singing back and forth, female and male wrens cooperate to sing a duet that sounds as if a single bird sang it. The researchers assumed that the brain of each bird would have a memory of its own part of the duet, and also have a memory of the cues from its partner. They were surprised to find that both brains had a record of the complete duet–a performance that neither bird can do by itself. (more…)

Supercomputers Accelerate Development of Advanced Materials

By Guest PostNovember 5, 2011Scienceadvanced materials, knowledge of materials, materials genome project, materials project, supercomputers

Berkeley Lab helps develop a Google-like search engine for materials research.

New materials are crucial to building a clean energy economy—for everything from batteries to photovoltaics to lighter weight vehicles—but today the development cycle is too slow: around18 years from conception to commercialization. To speed up this process, a team of researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) teamed up to develop a new tool, called the Materials Project, which launches this month. (more…)

Digging Up Clues: Research On Buried Blow Flies Will Help Crime Scene Investigators

By Guest PostNovember 5, 2011Scienceblow flies, buried pupae, crime scene investigation, dr. wes watson, evidence of ascending vertical dispersal, forensic entomology, forensic science international, help forensic investigators, instar larvae, jonathan cammack, larvae, maggots, north carolina state university

When investigating a murder, every clue helps. New research from North Carolina State University sheds light on how – and whether – blow flies survive when buried underground during their development. It’s an advance that will help forensic investigators understand how long a body may have been left above ground before being buried – or possibly whether remains were moved from one grave to another.

“Blow flies are probably the most important insects to forensic entomology,” says Dr. Wes Watson, a professor of entomology at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the research. “They are usually the first insects to arrive after an animal – or a person – has died.” (more…)

Discovery could Improve Efficiency of Molecular Factories

By Guest PostNovember 4, 2011Scienceclumped chloroplasts, discovery, green chloroplasts, mutant plants, new gene

EAST LANSING, Mich. — The discovery of a new gene is helping researchers at Michigan State University envision more-efficient molecular factories of the future. (more…)

Berkeley Lab to Build Cost Model for Fuel Cells

By Guest PostNovember 2, 2011Scienceadam weber, analytica, ballard power systems, benefits of fuel cells, berkeley lab, carbon cycle 2, chris marnay, coal, eric masanet, fossil fuels, fuel cell design, fuel cell manufacturer, fuel cells, geographic factors, human health benefits, ideal energy source, jim mcmahon, julie chao, kilowatts, lawrence berkeley national laboratory, max wei, model, power from hydroelectricity, powerful public tool, software platform, university of california, washington state, west virginia

*A $2-million award from DOE will help bring down the cost of next-generation fuel cells.*

Fuel cells seem like an ideal energy source—they’re clean, efficient, silent and don’t require transmission lines. The hitch? They can be costly. Now scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) hope to change that equation by building a sophisticated cost model that will take into account the total cost of ownership.

With a $2-million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, a team of scientists led by Eric Masanet will perform a detailed assessment of fuel cell design and manufacturing that takes into account both intrinsic and external benefits. The aim is to quantify not only traditional manufacturing costs but also benefits that may previously have been overlooked and may ultimately bring down the cost of fuel cells. (more…)

The Genographic Project Confirms Humans Migrated Out of Africa through Arabia

By Guest PostNovember 2, 2011Scienceancient populations, genographic project, genographic scientists, human genome, human migration, migratory genealogy

New analytical method approaches the unstudied 99% of the human genome

WASHINGTON, D.C., – 02 Nov 2011: Evolutionary history shows that human populations likely originated in Africa, and the Genographic Project, the most extensive survey of human population genetic data to date, suggests where they went next. A study by the Project finds that modern humans migrated out of Africa via a southern route through Arabia, rather than a northern route by way of Egypt. These findings will be highlighted today at a conference at the National Geographic Society. (more…)

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