Genetics & Molecular Biology

Protein Found In Malaria Could Help Stop Cancer

Researchers have discovered how a protein from malaria could some day help stop cancer. While exploring why pregnant women are particularly susceptible to malaria, they found that the mosquito-borne parasite that causes malaria also produces a protein tha ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 26 2015 - 8:30am

Testing The Internet's Food Claims With Citizen Science

If you'd like to lose a few pounds, poke around the Internet and read about food and farming. Within ten minutes you will likely find that all of your favorite fare is poised to kill you, contributing to dozens of maladies from allergies, to autism, t ...

Article - Kevin M. Folta - Oct 17 2015 - 7:42am

Regrowing Teeth: Yes In Fish So Why Not In Humans?

When a Lake Malawi cichlid loses a tooth, a new one drops neatly into place as a replacement. Why can't humans similarly regrow teeth lost to injury or disease? Working with hundreds of these colorful fish, researchers are beginning to understanding ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 22 2015 - 7:00am

Gene Therapy For Weight Loss Without Bone Loss

Delivering the hormone leptin directly to the brain through gene therapy can aid weight loss without the significant side effect of bone loss, according to new research. Rapid or significant weight loss through dieting can trigger bone loss. Loss of bone d ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 22 2015 - 1:26pm

This Biomarker Portends Premature Death

A single blood test could reveal whether an otherwise healthy person is unusually likely to die of pneumonia or sepsis within the next 14 years. Based on an analysis of 10,000 individuals, researchers have identified a molecular byproduct of inflammation, ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 22 2015 - 4:56pm

Plant U-Box 4 Protein Helps Plants Avoid Accumulation Of Damaged Chloroplasts

The identification of a protein that selectively clears damaged chloroplasts from plant cells reveals how plants maintain a "clean workshop" during the process of photosynthesis. Chloroplasts play an important role in transforming light into use ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 23 2015 - 9:40am

Epilepsy Switch Discovered

Approximately five percent of people suffers an epileptic attack, during which the nerve cells get out of their usual rhythm and fire in a very rapid frequency, over the course of their lives. This results in seizures and such synchronous discharges in the ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 27 2015 - 8:03am

'Natural' Mosquito Repellents- Do They Work As Well As DEET? The Science Answer

10 commercially available insect repellents were evaluated for their effectiveness at repelling mosquitoes. Three of the products (Repel 100® Insect Repellent, OFF® Deep Woods Insect Repellent VIII, and Cutter® Skinsations Insect Repellent) were mosquito ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 4 2015 - 7:30am

Embryonic Stem Cells And Artificial Stem Cells- What's The Difference?

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) technology has been around since the late 1990s and became a political football in the early 2000s when President George W. Bush made federal funding for it available for the first time, but limited it to existing lines, ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 2 2015 - 11:00am

What Algae And Brain Fluid Share In Common

The lipid ceramide, long known to help keep skin smooth, also helps algae swim toward the light and appears to enable one type of brain cell to keep cerebrospinal fluid moving, researchers report in a new paper.  Ceramide helps make and keep in motion hai ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 4 2015 - 7:13am