New approach developed by UCLA’s Seulgi Moon
Each year, landslides kill thousands of people around the world and cause catastrophic property damage. But scientists are still trying to better understand the circumstances that cause them. Doing so would go a long way toward helping people predict where landslides could occur and how severe they might be. (more…)
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…)
Scientists have for the first time watched and manipulated stem cells as they regenerate tissue in an uninjured mammal, Yale researchers report July 1 online in the journal Nature.
Using a sophisticated imaging technique, the researchers also demonstrated that mice lacking a certain type of cell do not regrow hair. The same technique could shed light on how stem cells interact with other cells and trigger repairs in a variety of other organs, including lung and heart tissue.
“This tells us a lot about how the tissue regeneration process works,” said Valentina Greco, assistant professor of genetics and of dermatology at the Yale Stem Cell Center, researcher for the Yale Cancer Center and senior author of the study. (more…)
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…)
Study provides more evidence linking depression to possible dementia later in life
Depression is one of the most common mental disorders in the elderly, but little is known about the underlying biology of its development in older adults. (more…)
