http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Turning vast amounts of genomic data into meaningful information about the cell is the great challenge of bioinformatics, with major implications for human biology and medicine. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and colleagues have proposed a new method that creates a computational model of the cell from large networks of gene and protein interactions, discovering how genes and proteins connect to form higher-level cellular machinery. http://phys.org/news274884580.html Biology Sun, 16 Dec 2012 13:00:07 EST news274884580 (PhysOrg.com) -- A compound found in red wine, grapes and other fruits, and similar in structure to resveratrol, is able to block cellular processes that allow fat cells to develop, opening a door to a potential method to control obesity, according to a Purdue University study. http://phys.org/news252761908.html Chemistry Wed, 04 Apr 2012 12:38:50 EST news252761908 Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Germany, are now using a procedure which brings forward ecological research on insects: They study gene functions in moth larvae by manipulating genes using the RNA interference technology (RNAi). RNAi is induced by feeding larvae with plants that have been treated with viral vectors. This method called "plant virus based dsRNA producing system" increases sample throughput compared to the use of genetically transformed plants. http://phys.org/news247399158.html Biology Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:59:43 EST news247399158 An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, have developed a new method for discerning the functions of previously uncharacterized genes and placing them in interactive, functional networks that reveal how gene products interact to bring about cellular events. http://phys.org/news223218193.html Biology Thu, 28 Apr 2011 14:03:42 EST news223218193 For years, scientists have thought of DNA as a passive blueprint capable only of producing specific proteins through RNA transcription. Now, research led by scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute has shown DNA can also act to fine-tune the activity of certain proteins known as nuclear receptors. http://phys.org/news221659640.html Biology Sun, 10 Apr 2011 13:07:39 EST news221659640 Ben-Gurion University of the Negev researchers have developed techniques to manipulate root development functionality that can help plants better adapt to hostile growing environments. http://phys.org/news216990550.html Biology Tue, 15 Feb 2011 11:09:22 EST news216990550 Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have found a gene - called ROBO1 - linked to the mechanism in the brain that helps infants develop speech. http://phys.org/news216653436.html Medicine & Health Fri, 11 Feb 2011 13:50:01 EST news216653436 University of Illinois research has resulted in the development of a novel and widely applicable molecular tool that can serve as a road map for making plant breeding easier to understand. Researchers developed a unified nomenclature for male fertility restorer (RF) proteins in higher plants that can make rapid advancements in plant breeding. http://phys.org/news213385002.html Biology Tue, 04 Jan 2011 17:36:57 EST news213385002 Researchers at North Carolina State University have found a way to "cage" genetic off switches in such a way that they can be activated when exposed to UV light. Their technology gives scientists a more precise way to control and study gene function in localized areas of developing organisms. http://phys.org/news207490988.html Chemistry Thu, 28 Oct 2010 13:23:46 EST news207490988 New research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators adds to evidence that the Six3 gene functions like a doorman in the developing brain and visual system, safeguarding the future retina by keeping the region where the eye is forming free of a signaling protein capable of disrupting the process. http://phys.org/news204216416.html Medicine & Health Mon, 20 Sep 2010 15:47:15 EST news204216416 The private sector and an Austrian research institute are chipping in to help support one of the most widely used public biological databases in the world. Although the majority of funding continues to come from the National Science Foundation, The Arabidopsis Information Resource (TAIR) database is now receiving support from other organizations as well. Almost 40,000 researchers worldwide use it monthly to study everything from crop engineering and alternative energy sources to human disease. Although Arabidopsis thaliana is an experimental plant, it shares many of its genes and basic biological processes with other species of plants and animals including humans. http://phys.org/news200138975.html Biology Wed, 04 Aug 2010 11:09:49 EST news200138975 To determine how arsenic increases the risk of lung cancer and to identify potential treatments, a Michigan State University researcher will use $1.7 million in federal funding during the next five years to examine why certain genes disrupt cells, leading to the disease. http://phys.org/news198326061.html Medicine & Health Wed, 14 Jul 2010 11:34:35 EST news198326061 New research led by McGill Biochemist Dr. William Muller helps explain why breast-milk cells lose their structure, causing them to clump up in strange ways (photos available) and sometimes become cancer tumors. With the support of Chen Ling and Dongmei Zuo at McGill's Goodman Cancer Centre, Muller has discovered how one particular gene regulates epithelial cells - cells that normally form in sheets and are polarized to enable the transport of molecules in a single direction. http://phys.org/news191847421.html Chemistry Fri, 30 Apr 2010 12:10:01 EST news191847421 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists and their colleagues at the Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute today announced that they have completed sequencing the genome of a kind of wild grass that will enable researchers to shed light on the genetics behind hardier varieties of wheat and improved varieties of biofuel crops. The research is published today in the journal Nature. http://phys.org/news185026159.html Biology Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:00:07 EST news185026159 Groundbreaking research done at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) School of Biological Sciences (SBS) could lead to the development of more potent drugs or a vaccine for malaria, which is transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes and kills up to three million people each year. http://phys.org/news184588668.html Biology Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:00:01 EST news184588668 Scientists have created a new computational model that can be used to predict gene function of uncharacterized plant genes with unprecedented speed and accuracy. The network, dubbed AraNet, has over 19,600 genes associated to each other by over 1 million links and can increase the discovery rate of new genes affiliated with a given trait tenfold. It is a huge boost to fundamental plant biology and agricultural research. http://phys.org/news184141251.html Biology Sun, 31 Jan 2010 13:00:04 EST news184141251 (PhysOrg.com) -- UNSW students have sequenced the chloroplast genome of the ancient Wollemi Pine - a world first that could reveal how a "dinosaur" of the tree kingdom survived 200 million years of shifting continents and changing climates. http://phys.org/news180285175.html Biology Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:50:07 EST news180285175 Bacteria don't have easy lives. In addition to mammalian immune systems that besiege the bugs, they have natural enemies called bacteriophages, viruses that kill half the bacteria on Earth every two days. http://phys.org/news178375259.html Biology Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:42:43 EST news178375259 Researchers at Queen's University have found a link between two genes involved in cancer formation in humans, by examining the genes in worms. The groundbreaking discovery provides a foundation for how tumor-forming genes interact, and may offer a drug target for cancer treatment. http://phys.org/news177089021.html Biology Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:25:02 EST news177089021 (PhysOrg.com) -- A researcher at Iowa State University has discovered how a group of proteins from plant pathogenic bacteria interact with DNA in the plant cell, opening up the possibility for what the scientist calls a "cascade of advances." http://phys.org/news177018700.html Biology Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:30:03 EST news177018700 The hormones, called androgens, are important in the development of masculine characteristics such as aggression and strength. It is also thought that prenatal androgens affect finger length during development in the womb. High levels of androgens, such as testosterone, increase the length of the fourth finger in comparison to the second finger. Scientists used finger ratios as an indicator of the levels of exposure to the hormone and compared this data with social behaviour in primate groups. http://phys.org/news176555766.html Biology Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:17:05 EST news176555766 (PhysOrg.com) -- We are on the brink of another new age of discovery- this time of countless new proteins, which could be used in a whole range of situations from medicine to industry, following the successful development of a new laboratory technique. http://phys.org/news174312566.html Chemistry Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:20:01 EST news174312566 Researchers are delving into abnormal gene function in mitochondria, structures within cells that power our lives. Mitochondria are the place where energy is generated from the most basic molecules of food. Because this function is essential to life, defects in mitochondria may affect a wide range of organ systems in humans and animals. http://phys.org/news173012799.html Medicine & Health Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:07:55 EST news173012799 While the art of fine winemaking is a beautiful thing, winemakers are increasingly turning to the power of science to give them the tools they need to ensure a high quality pour each and every time. http://phys.org/news171713377.html Biology Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:25:06 EST news171713377 When bees sting, they pump into their victims a peptide toxin called melittin that destroys cell membranes. Now, by encapsulating this extremely potent molecule within a nanoparticle, researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have created a potential new type of anticancer therapy with the potential to target a wide range of tumors. This work was reported in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. http://phys.org/news170690607.html Nanotechnology Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:10:02 EST news170690607 (PhysOrg.com) -- Why do some plants blossom even when days are short and gray? Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology have found the answer to this question: An endogenous mechanism allows them to flower in the absence of external influences such as long days. A small piece of RNA, a so-called microRNA, has a central role in this process, as a decline of its concentration in the shoot apex triggers flowering. http://phys.org/news169995560.html Biology Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:20:02 EST news169995560 Ten articles describing how a universal language to describe genes is bringing benefits to the study of the microbial world have been published in a special issue of Trends in Microbiology, co-edited by Virginia Bioinformatics Institute professor Brett Tyler. The Gene Ontology is a powerful language that gives researchers a shared vocabulary to describe disease-related and beneficial interactions between a microbe and its host. By allowing scientists to link experimental results to a computer-readable language, the Gene Ontology provides scientists with an important bridge between specific experiments that characterize gene function and larger-scale, systems biology efforts to provide a global picture of host-microbe interactions. http://phys.org/news166808777.html Biology Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:46:55 EST news166808777 The Myc-gene plays an important role in cell regulation; in about 50 percent of all tumors this gene is mutated. Scientists led by Professor Klaus Bister of the University of Innsbruck, Austria have shown that the gene BASP1 specifically inhibits the effect of this oncogene, thereby preventing uncontrolled cell growth which is typical for tumors. The biochemists have just published their findings in the renowned journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://phys.org/news156619414.html Medicine & Health Wed, 18 Mar 2009 18:24:11 EST news156619414 Think researchers know all there is to know about Escherichia coli, commonly known as E. coli? Think again. "E. coli has more than four thousand genes, and the functions of one-fourth of these remain unknown," says Dr. Deborah Siegele, a biology professor at Texas A&M University whose laboratory specializes in carrying out research using the bacterium. http://phys.org/news137301112.html Biology Thu, 07 Aug 2008 04:11:52 EST news137301112