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UCLA Bioengineers Discover Single Cancer Cell Can Produce Up To Five Daughter Cells

By Guest PostJuly 16, 2012Science3d mechanical environment, aneuploidy, biological process, cancer cell, cancer mitosis, chromosome, daughter cell, dino di carlo, Environment, invasive cancer, mammalian cell division, microfluidic device, microfluidic platform, mitosis, tumor environment, ucla, westbrook mcconnell weaver

Findings could aid researchers in understanding progression of disease

It’s well known in conventional biology that during the process of mammalian cell division, or mitosis, a mother cell divides equally into two daughter cells. But when it comes to cancer, say UCLA researchers, mother cells may be far more prolific.

Bioengineers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science developed a platform to mechanically confine cells, simulating the in vivo three-dimensional environments in which they divide, and found that, upon confinement, cancer cells often split into three or more daughter cells.

“We hope that this platform will allow us to better understand how the 3-D mechanical environment may play a role in the progression of a benign tumor into a malignant tumor that kills,” said Dino Di Carlo, an associate professor of bioengineering at UCLA and principal investigator on the research. (more…)

Scientists Urge New Approaches to Plant Research

By Guest PostJune 30, 2012Nature, Sciencearms race, Environment, evolution, genetic engineering, kurt stepnitz, metabolic pathway, metabolic reaction, michigan state university, molecular biology, new approach, nonrenewable energy, plant metabolism, plant research, robert last, ron milo, satellite image, therapeutic properties, weizmann institute

EAST LANSING, Mich. — You’d be amazed at how much you can learn from a plant.

In a paper published this week in the journal Science, a Michigan State University professor and a colleague discuss why if humans are to survive as a species, we must turn more to plants for any number of valuable lessons.

“Metabolism of plants provides humans with fiber, fuel, food and therapeutics,” said Robert Last, an MSU professor of biochemistry and molecular biology. “As the human population grows and nonrenewable energy sources diminish, we need to rely increasingly on plants and to increase the sustainability of agriculture.” (more…)

Humans Have Love-Hate Relationship With the Environment

By Guest PostJune 26, 2012Environmentanthropologist, canal irrigation, climate changes, Environment, environmental change, environmental trend, geomorphological characteristics, global warming, hominid ancestors, human pollution, humans, industrial revolution, interaction, irrigation agriculture, james watson, la playa site, local landscape, love hate, methane, mother nature, natural disaster, North America, northern mexico, northern sonora, relationship, soil deposition, sonoran desert, southern arizona, steep slope, toxic gases, village settlement

James Watson, a UA anthropologist, has published chapters describing how long-term environmental trends encourage stable adaptations within local environments.

Human/environment interactions have a history as long as the existence of our species on the planet.

Hominid ancestors began polluting their environment nearly 700,000 years ago with the control of fire, and humans have not looked back since.

The modern phenomenon of global warming is very likely the direct result of human pollution and destruction of the environment, said James Watson, a University of Arizona assistant professor in the School of Anthropology. (more…)

Neurons that Control Overeating also Drive Appetite for Cocaine

By Guest PostJune 25, 2012Scienceappetite, behavior, body, brain, brain function, cocaine, cognitive behavior, diabetes, diphtheria toxin, drug addiction, Environment, function, hypothalamus, jeremy bober, jozelia g ferreira, marcelo o dietrich, metabolic disorder, neurons, obesity, overeating, tamas l horvath, transgenic mice

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have zeroed in on a set of neurons in the part of the brain that controls hunger, and found that these neurons are not only associated with overeating, but also linked to non-food associated behaviors, like novelty-seeking and drug addiction.

Published in the June 24 online issue of Nature Neuroscience, the study was led by Marcelo O. Dietrich, postdoctoral associate, and Tamas L. Horvath, the Jean and David W. Wallace Professor of Biomedical Research and chair of comparative medicine at Yale School of Medicine.

In attempts to develop treatments for metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes, researchers have paid increasing attention to the brain’s reward circuits located in the midbrain, with the notion that in these patients, food may become a type of “drug of abuse” similar to cocaine. Dietrich notes, however, that this study flips the common wisdom on its head. (more…)

Digital Media vs. Print Media

By Guest PostJune 22, 2012Media, Technologycar accident, computer, digital media, electronic drop box, Environment, environmentalist, environmentally friendly, freelance writers, garbage, Google, internet, mailbox, main street, michael truman, movement, newspaper, papers, popular option, print media, recycle, search box, smart phone, waste

When you wake up in the morning, what’s one of the first things that you do? Do you head outside to pick the paper off the stoop, or do you hop online to see the latest news bits from overnight? Well, people still do both, but digital media is quickly becoming a very popular option.

Up-to-date Information

Sure, the newspaper tells you what is going on “now” in the general sense; however, the Internet can literally give you a play by play as a story is unfolding. People choose digital media because they can find out what is happening at that exact moment. Furthermore, they don’t have to wait for the newspaper to come; they can log on to the web at any time via a computer or smart phone. (more…)

Hacking Code of Leaf Vein Architecture Solves Mysteries, Allows Predictions of Past Climate

By Guest PostMay 27, 2012Environment, Natureancient greeks, carbon dioxide, christine scoffoni, climate, conifers, cycads, Environment, ferns, flowering plants, fossil record, global ecology, hacking code, images of leaves, lawren sack, leaf fossils, leaf sizes, leaf vein architecture, leaf vein systems, mathematical equation, mathematical linkages, michael rawls, past climate, photosynthesis, photosynthetic rate, plants, prediction, respiration, scaling patterns, superhighways, theophrastus of lesbos, tropical forest tree, ucla life scientists, vein network, water transport, xylem pipes

UCLA life scientists have discovered new laws that determine the construction of leaf vein systems as leaves grow and evolve. These easy-to-apply mathematical rules can now be used to better predict the climates of the past using the fossil record.

The research, published May 15 in the journal Nature Communications, has a range of fundamental implications for global ecology and allows researchers to estimate original leaf sizes from just a fragment of a leaf. This will improve scientists’ prediction and interpretation of climate in the deep past from leaf fossils.

Leaf veins are of tremendous importance in a plant’s life, providing the nutrients and water that leaves need to conduct photosynthesis and supporting them in capturing sunlight. Leaf size is also of great importance for plants’ adaptation to their environment, with smaller leaves being found in drier, sunnier places. (more…)

Mojave Desert Tests Prepare for NASA Mars Roving

By Guest PostMay 14, 2012Sciencecalifornia, curiosity, dumont dunes, earth, Environment, gale crater, gravity of mars, human mission, mars, mars roving, michael malin, microbial life, mobility system, mojave desert, mount sharp, NASA, safe landing, tests

Team members of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory mission took a test rover to Dumont Dunes in California’s Mojave Desert this week to improve knowledge of the best way to operate a similar rover, Curiosity, currently flying to Mars for an August landing.

The test rover that they put through paces on various sandy slopes has a full-scale version of Curiosity’s mobility system, but it is otherwise stripped down so that it weighs about the same on Earth as Curiosity will weigh in the lesser gravity of Mars. (more…)

Pigeons’ Homing Skill Not Down to Iron-Rich Beak Cells

By Guest PostApril 16, 2012Natureballs of iron, beaks, david keays, electrical signal, Environment, imaging technique, infection, iron, macrophages, magnetic cell, magnetic field, magnetic nerve cell, mark lythgoe, mechanism, migratory bird, navigation, nerve cell, pigeon, red blood cell, state-of-the-art, theory, university college london, vienna, white blood cell

The theory that pigeons’ famous skill at navigation is down to iron-rich nerve cells in their beaks has been disproved by a new study published in Nature.

The study shows that iron-rich cells in the pigeon beak are in fact specialised white blood cells, called macrophages. This finding, which shatters the established dogma, puts the field back on course as the search for magnetic cells continues. (more…)

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