Microbiology

Molecular 'Clutch' Of Bacterium Is Detached By Protein

It has been long been known that bacteria swim by rotating their tail-like structure called the flagellum. The rotating motion of the flagellum is powered by a molecular engine located at the base of the flagellum. Just as engaging the clutch of a car conn ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 20 2008 - 1:33pm

Epicardium Yields New Heart Stem Cells

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston say they have pinpointed a new, previously unrecognized group of stem cells that give rise to cardiomyocytes; heart muscle cells. These stem cells, located in the surface of the heart, or epicardium, advance t ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 22 2008 - 11:40pm

Systems Biology Takes On The 21st Century Tomato

When tomatoes ripen in our gardens, we watch them turn gradually from hard, green globules to brightly colored, aromatic, and tasty fruits. This familiar and seemingly commonplace transformation masks a seething mass of components interacting in a well-reg ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 29 2008 - 8:32am

Induced Pluripotent Stem (IPS) Cells Might Boost Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Adult cells of mice created from genetically reprogrammed cells can be triggered via drug to enter an embryonic-stem-cell-like state, without the need for further genetic alteration, a discovery which promises to bring new efficiencies to embryonic stem ce ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 1 2008 - 4:23pm

GILZ: Small Protein May Mean More Bone And Less Fat

A small protein may have a big role in helping you make more bone and less fat, says Dr. Xingming Shi, bone biologist at the Medical College of Georgia Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics. "The pathways are parallel, and the idea is if you ca ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 1 2008 - 4:37pm

Adult Stem Cells Restore Muscle In Mice With Muscular Dystrophy

By injecting purified stem cells isolated from adult skeletal muscle, researchers have shown they can restore healthy muscle and improve muscle function in mice with a form of muscular dystrophy. Those muscle-building stem cells were derived from a larger ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 10 2008 - 9:41pm

Human Cytomegalovirus- A Viral Cloaking Device

Viruses achieve their definition of success when they can thrive without killing their host. Now, biologists Pamela Bjorkman and Zhiru Yang of the California Institute of Technology have uncovered how one such virus, prevalent in humans, evolved over time ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 18 2008 - 10:13am

Scientists Resurrect Ancient Virus That Once Battled Humanity

For millennia, humans and viruses have been locked in an evolutionary back-and-forth-- one changes to outsmart the other, prompting the second to change and outsmart the first. With retroviruses, which work by inserting themselves into their host's DN ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 21 2008 - 10:51am

Insulin-Producing Cells In Pancreas Can Regenerate, Says Study

The question of whether insulin-producing cells of the pancreas can regenerate is key to our understanding of diabetes, and to the further development of regenerative therapies against the disease. Dr Rosenberg from the McGill University Health Centre (MUH ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 21 2008 - 1:22pm

Turning Off Infections With CD200R Receptor Discovery

A new discovery could lead to treatments which turn off the inflammation in the lungs caused by influenza and other infections, according to a study published today in the journal Nature Immunology. The symptoms of influenza, such as breathlessness, weight ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 27 2008 - 4:33pm