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. For decades, scientists have studied a laboratory mouse model that develops signs of the paralyzing disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) as they age. In a new study appearing in Nature Biotechnology, investigators at Nationwide Children's Hospital have developed a new model of ALS, one that mimics sporadic ALS, which represents about 90 percent of all cases. http://phys.org/news232276169.html Biology Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:09:40 EST news232276169 Researchers can now watch molecules move in living cells, literally millisecond by millisecond, thanks to a new microscope developed by scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany. Published online today in Nature Biotechnology, the new technique provides insights into processes that were so far invisible. http://phys.org/news232014010.html Biology Mon, 08 Aug 2011 09:20:40 EST news232014010 A Purdue University scientist is urging federal officials to decide whether genetically engineered salmon would be allowed for U.S. consumption and arguing that not doing so may set back scientific efforts to increase food production. http://phys.org/news231812453.html Biology Sat, 06 Aug 2011 01:40:01 EST news231812453 The study on single-nucleotide resolution structural variations (SVs) of an Asian and African genome was published online in Nature Biotechnology. This study was performed by BGI (previously known as the Beijing Genomics Institute), the largest genomics organization in the world, and demonstrates that whole genome de novo assembly could serve as a new solution for developing a more comprehensive SV map of individuals. http://phys.org/news230805656.html Biology Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:30:01 EST news230805656 While research using human embryonic stem cells has roused political controversy for almost two decades, little has been done to scientifically assess American attitudes on the subject. New research from the University of Nevada, Reno provides decision-makers with a much clearer picture of how their constituents truly feel about the subject. http://phys.org/news228562905.html Biology Wed, 29 Jun 2011 10:42:09 EST news228562905 Researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have demonstrated in mice that the performance of a novel biomarker-development pipeline using targeted mass spectrometry is robust enough to support the use of an analogous approach in humans. The findings, by principal investigator Amanda Paulovich, M.D., Ph.D., an associate member of the Hutchinson Center's Clinical Research Division, are published in Nature Biotechnology. http://phys.org/news227707244.html Biology Sun, 19 Jun 2011 13:01:24 EST news227707244 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) have identified a region of the date palm genome linked to gender, making it possible for the first time to quickly and easily identify male and female trees. The finding provides a crucial piece of information for more efficient cultivation and propagation, as well as additional genetic studies. http://phys.org/news226221604.html Biology Thu, 02 Jun 2011 08:21:24 EST news226221604 Pity the lowly astrocyte, the most common cell in the human nervous system. http://phys.org/news225287621.html Biology Sun, 22 May 2011 13:00:01 EST news225287621 VIB/UGent researchers have unveiled a mechanism that can be used to develop crop varieties resistant to mild droughts. For years, improving drought tolerance has been a major aim of academic and industrial research, thereby focusing on effects of extreme drought stress. However, translating this research to the field has proven to be problematic. In a set of papers in Nature Biotechnology and the Plant Cell, the team of Dirk Inzé at the VIB Department of Plant Systems Biology, UGent now shows that the focus should be on mild drought stress instead. It turns out that under non-lethal stress conditions plants inhibit growth more than absolutely necessary, opening new opportunities for yield improvement. http://phys.org/news224324388.html Biology Wed, 11 May 2011 09:20:01 EST news224324388 (PhysOrg.com) -- RNA plays a critical role in directing the creation of proteins, but there is more to the life of an RNA molecule than simply carrying DNA's message. One can imagine that an RNA molecule is born, matures, and eventually, meets its demise. Researchers at the Broad have developed an approach that offers many windows into the lifecycle of these essential molecules and will enable other scientists to investigate what happens when something in a cell goes wrong. They describe their approach, which offers high resolution and a comprehensive scope, in a Nature Biotechnology article published online on April 24. http://phys.org/news222871386.html Biology Sun, 24 Apr 2011 13:43:21 EST news222871386 A software package designed to minimize the potential risks of synthetic biology for the nation's defense and security is now available to the gene synthesis industry and synthetic biology community in an open-source format. http://phys.org/news219929085.html Biology Mon, 21 Mar 2011 13:10:08 EST news219929085 (PhysOrg.com) -- Oxford University scientists have developed a new method for delivering complex drugs directly to the brain, a necessary step for treating diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Motor Neuron Disease and Muscular Dystrophy. http://phys.org/news219921702.html Medicine & Health Mon, 21 Mar 2011 10:22:54 EST news219921702 Defects in the genome are the cause of many diseases. Gene therapy – direct replacement of mutant genes by intact DNA copies – offers a means of correcting such defects. Now a research team based at the Medical Center of the University of Munich, and led by Privatdozent Dr. Carsten Rudolph, has taken a new approach that avoids DNA delivery. The team shows for the first time that chemical modification of mRNAs (the metabolically active molecules derived from genomic DNA that programs protein synthesis) provides a promising alternative to DNA-based procedures. http://phys.org/news216308892.html Biology Mon, 07 Feb 2011 13:48:30 EST news216308892 Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine and the University of Chicago have developed a method for labeling and mapping a "sixth nucleotide," whose biological role scientists are only beginning to explore. http://phys.org/news211460030.html Biology Mon, 13 Dec 2010 10:54:22 EST news211460030 States, not the federal government, now fund the majority of human embryonic stem cell research conducted in the United States, according to a recent study in the journal Nature Biotechnology. In addition, states varied substantially in the extent to which they prioritized human embryonic stem cell research, and much of the research performed in the states could likely have been funded by the National Institutes of Health under federal guidelines established by President Bush in 2001. http://phys.org/news211088805.html Biology Thu, 09 Dec 2010 03:47:12 EST news211088805 Bioengineers from the University of California, San Diego developed an explanation for why some types of neurons die sooner than others in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease. These insights, published in the journal Nature Biotechnology on November 21, come from detailed models of brain energy metabolism developed in the Department of Bioengineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. http://phys.org/news210870623.html Biology Mon, 06 Dec 2010 15:10:55 EST news210870623 Using a novel, real-time imaging system, scientists have tracked a group of near-infrared fluorescent nanoparticles from the airspaces of the lungs, into the body and out again, providing a description of the characteristics and behavior of these minute particles which could be used in developing therapeutic agents to treat pulmonary disease, as well as offering a greater understanding of the health effects of air pollution. http://phys.org/news208439308.html Nanotechnology Mon, 08 Nov 2010 11:49:33 EST news208439308 Two-thirds of all human embryos fail to develop successfully. Now, in a new study, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have shown that they can predict with 93 percent certainty which fertilized eggs will make it to a critical developmental milestone and which will stall and die. The findings are important to the understanding of the fundamentals of human development at the earliest stages, which have largely remained a mystery despite the attention given to human embryonic stem cell research. http://phys.org/news205330724.html Biology Sun, 03 Oct 2010 13:19:10 EST news205330724 Auxogyn, Inc., a privately held medical technology company focused on women's reproductive health, today announced that it acquired an exclusive license from Stanford University to develop a set of products that may allow medical practitioners in the field of assisted reproduction to significantly improve the effectiveness of in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures. http://phys.org/news205330674.html Biology Sun, 03 Oct 2010 13:18:07 EST news205330674 The lure of greater profits elsewhere in the world may divert bio-pharmaceutical firms in developing countries from the creation and distribution of affordable drugs, vaccines and diagnostics for illnesses of local concern, undermining the health prospects of millions of poor people, experts warn. http://phys.org/news203260877.html Biology Thu, 09 Sep 2010 14:21:35 EST news203260877 Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that a kind of sugar molecule common to chimpanzees, gorillas and other mammals but not found in humans provokes a strong immune response in some people, likely worsening conditions in which chronic inflammation is a major issue. http://phys.org/news199082379.html Biology Sun, 25 Jul 2010 13:00:12 EST news199082379 Adult cells that have been reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) do not completely let go of their past, perhaps limiting their ability to function as a less controversial alternative to embryonic stem cells for basic research and cell replacement therapies, according to researchers at Children's Hospital Boston, John Hopkins University and their colleagues. http://phys.org/news198771305.html Biology Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:50:03 EST news198771305 (PhysOrg.com) -- Investigators at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Center for Regenerative Medicine have confirmed that induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) retain some characteristics of the cells from which they were derived, something that could both assist and impede potential clinical and research uses. In their report that will be published in Nature Biotechnology and has received early online release, the researchers also describe finding that these cellular "memories" fade and disappear as cell lines are cultured through successive generations. http://phys.org/news198772872.html Biology Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:41:30 EST news198772872 One of the challenges in making cellulosic biofuels commercially viable is to cost-effectively deconstruct plant material to liberate fermentable energy-rich sugars. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is funding several projects focused on identifying enzymes in organisms that optimally degrade cellulosic feedstocks. One such source are fungi, which break down dead wood and leaf litter in forests; in fact, some pest management companies consider wood rot more destructive for homes than termites. http://phys.org/news198167499.html Biology Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:32:13 EST news198167499 Defeating the flu is challenging because the virus responsible for the disease undergoes frequent changes of its genetic code, making it difficult for scientists to manufacture effective vaccines for the seasonal flu in a timely manner. Now, a University of Miami (UM) computer scientist, Dimitris Papamichail, and a team of researchers from Stony Brook University have developed a rapid and effective approach to produce vaccines for new strains of influenza viruses. The researchers hope to develop the new technology and provide an efficient method to confront the threat of seasonal epidemics. http://phys.org/news197890296.html Biology Fri, 09 Jul 2010 10:35:20 EST news197890296 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team of molecular biologists and computer scientists at Stony Brook University have used a novel method to weaken (attenuate) influenza virus by way of designing hundreds of mutations to its genetic code to create an effective vaccine. http://phys.org/news195927651.html Biology Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:30:11 EST news195927651 A new synthetic Petri dish coating could overcome a major challenge to the advancement of human embryonic stem cell research, say University of Michigan researchers. http://phys.org/news194718856.html Biology Wed, 02 Jun 2010 17:40:49 EST news194718856 (PhysOrg.com) -- You might call it comparing apples and oranges, but lining up different species' genomes is common practice in evolutionary research. Scientists can see how species have evolved, pinpoint which sections of DNA are similar between species, meaning they probably are crucial to the animals' survival, or sketch out evolutionary trees in places where the fossil record is spotty. http://phys.org/news194114774.html Biology Wed, 26 May 2010 17:47:48 EST news194114774 Just like members of an orchestra are active at different times although playing the same piece of music, every cell in our body contains the same genetic sequence but expresses this differently to give rise to cells and tissues with specialised properties. http://phys.org/news189941497.html Biology Thu, 08 Apr 2010 11:00:13 EST news189941497 (PhysOrg.com) -- For neuroscientists, one of the best ways to study brain activity is with a scanning technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which reveals blood flow in the brain. http://phys.org/news186687539.html Medicine & Health Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:10:01 EST news186687539