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. The genes of a cell are like the 88 keys of a piano. To play chords and music, however, the keys must be activated in exact combinations by a pianist's hands. Those hands represent the coregulators of a cell that simultaneously and precisely activate genes to produce all of the cell's functions. http://phys.org/news225628446.html Biology Thu, 26 May 2011 12:00:06 EST news225628446 Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, have identified a protein called Sestrin that serves as a natural inhibitor of aging and age-related pathologies in fruit flies. They also showed that Sestrin, whose structure and biochemical function are conserved between flies and humans, is needed for regulation of a signaling pathway that is the central controller of aging and metabolism. The work, led by Michael Karin, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology in UCSD's Laboratory of Gene Regulation and Signal Transduction, is the cover story of the March 5 issue of the journal Science. http://phys.org/news186922238.html Medicine & Health Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:00:12 EST news186922238 The underlying causes of the debilitating psychiatric disorder schizophrenia remain poorly understood. In a new study published online in Genome Research March 2, 2010, however, scientists report that a powerful gene network analysis has revealed surprising new insights into how gene regulation and age play a role in schizophrenia. http://phys.org/news186686585.html Medicine & Health Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:40:01 EST news186686585 (PhysOrg.com) -- Dundee scientists studying how plants control the time at which they flower have uncovered an unusual form of gene control that could have implications for both plant and medical science. http://phys.org/news186161526.html Biology Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:50:01 EST news186161526 (PhysOrg.com) -- A breakthrough in decoding gene regulation of Helicobacter pylori has been made by an international research team led by Jörg Vogel of the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin, Germany. http://phys.org/news186136271.html Biology Tue, 23 Feb 2010 08:31:39 EST news186136271 (PhysOrg.com) -- A University of Pennsylvania-led study in which training was provided to a high-stress U.S. military group preparing for deployment to Iraq has demonstrated a positive link between mindfulness training, or MT, and improvements in mood and working memory. Mindfulness is the ability to be aware and attentive of the present moment without emotional reactivity or volatility. http://phys.org/news185466556.html Medicine & Health Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:50:01 EST news185466556 People with generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD, have abnormalities in the way their brain unconsciously controls emotions. That's the conclusion of a new Stanford University School of Medicine study, and the study authors say the findings could open up new avenues for treatments and change our understanding of how emotion is regulated in everyday life. http://phys.org/news185025828.html Medicine & Health Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:30:01 EST news185025828 (PhysOrg.com) -- University of Michigan researchers have shown that tension on DNA molecules can affect gene expression---the process at the heart of biological function that tells a cell what to do. http://phys.org/news184336712.html Physics Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:38:49 EST news184336712 One of many reasons that attendance at Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings helps people with alcohol use disorders stay sober appears to be alleviation of depression. A team of researchers has found that study participants who attended AA meetings more frequently had fewer symptoms of depression - along with less drinking - than did those with less AA participation. The report will appear in the journal Addiction and has been release online. http://phys.org/news183906335.html Medicine & Health Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:05:58 EST news183906335 Draw a map of the brain when fear and anxiety are involved, and the amygdala -- the brain's almond-shaped center for panic and fight-or-flight responses -- looms large. http://phys.org/news183819726.html Medicine & Health Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:20:01 EST news183819726 Newborns of women who smoked during pregnancy show signs of circulatory dysfunction in the first few weeks of life that get worse throughout the first year, Swedish researchers reported in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association. http://phys.org/news183661422.html Medicine & Health Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:03:59 EST news183661422 An international research consortium has found 13 new genetic variants that influence blood glucose regulation, insulin resistance, and the function of insulin-secreting beta cells in populations of European descent. Five of the newly discovered variants increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes. http://phys.org/news182957302.html Medicine & Health Sun, 17 Jan 2010 13:29:09 EST news182957302 (PhysOrg.com) -- Plans for mandatory internet filtering in Australia may see a wide range of material disappear from computer screens, according to research led by a UNSW academic. http://phys.org/news180173596.html Technology Wed, 16 Dec 2009 09:00:04 EST news180173596 Australian and Canadian competition authorities have approved the Internet search and advertising partnership between Yahoo! and Microsoft, the companies said Tuesday. http://phys.org/news178314674.html Technology Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:51:39 EST news178314674 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have documented that the brain hormone serotonin is made in human breast cancer cells and functions abnormally, contributing to malignant growth. http://phys.org/news178308579.html Medicine & Health Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:20:02 EST news178308579 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team led by Penn State's Ross Hardison, T. Ming Chu Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, has taken a large step toward unraveling how regulatory proteins control the production of gene products during development and growth. Working with collaborators including Drs. Mitchell Weiss and Gerd Blobel at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, they focused specifically on the complex process of producing red blood cells (erythrocytes). These cells contain large amounts of hemoglobin, a molecule essential for transporting oxygen throughout the body. Abnormalities in hemoglobin figure in many serious diseases, such as sickle-cell disease, and abnormalities in producing blood cells can lead to leukemias. The work will be published in the December 2009 issue of the journal Genome Research. http://phys.org/news177865776.html Medicine & Health Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:40:21 EST news177865776 A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered a direct link between insulin—a hormone long associated with metabolism and metabolic disorders such as diabetes—and core body temperature. While much research has been conducted on insulin since its discovery in the 1920s, this is the first time the hormone has been connected to the fundamental process of temperature regulation. http://phys.org/news177861868.html Medicine & Health Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:20:01 EST news177861868 A new statistical technique developed by researchers at the University of Illinois allows scientists to scan a genome for specific gene-regulatory regions without requiring prior knowledge of the relevant transcription factors. The technique has been experimentally validated in both the mouse genome and the fruit fly genome. http://phys.org/news177859128.html Biology Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:19:22 EST news177859128 Removing the PKCI/HINT1 gene from mice has an anti-depressant-like and anxiolytic-like effect. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Neuroscience applied a battery of behavioral tests to the PKCI/HINT1 knockout animals, concluding that the deleted gene may have an important role in mood regulation. http://phys.org/news177276531.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:30:03 EST news177276531 Embryonic development is like a well-organised building project, with the embryo's DNA serving as the blueprint from which all construction details are derived. Cells carry out different functions according to a developmental plan, by expressing, i.e. turning on, different combinations of genes. These patterns of gene expression are controlled by transcription factors: molecules which bind to stretches of DNA called cis-regulatory modules (CRMs), and, once bound, switch the relevant genes on or off. http://phys.org/news176574396.html Biology Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:27:12 EST news176574396 Brain tumors in childhood cast a long shadow on survivors. The first study of the lasting impact of these tumors -- the most common solid malignancies in childhood -- shows that survivors have ongoing cognitive problems. They also have lower levels of education, employment and income than their siblings and survivors of other types of cancer, according to a report published by the American Psychological Association. http://phys.org/news176353211.html Medicine & Health Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:10:01 EST news176353211 (PhysOrg.com) -- It’s the age-old psychological conundrum: nature versus nurture. Are children more, less or equally affected by their genetics and the environment in which they grow up? Professor of Psychology Leslie Atkinson is working to advance one aspect of this often-perplexing question. http://phys.org/news176124645.html Medicine & Health Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:34:44 EST news176124645 Our body's activity levels fall and rise to the beat of our internal drums—the 24-hour cycles that govern fundamental physiological functions, from sleeping and feeding patterns to the energy available to our cells. Whereas the master clock in the brain is set by light, the pacemakers in peripheral organs are set by food availability. The underlying molecular mechanism was unknown. http://phys.org/news174834182.html Medicine & Health Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:04:23 EST news174834182 (PhysOrg.com) -- A Florida State University College of Medicine researcher has solved a century-old mystery about proteins that play a vital role in the transfer of the human genetic code from one cell to another. The discovery could lead to finding new ways to help the body fight a variety of diseases, including cancer. http://phys.org/news174138276.html Biology Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:45:08 EST news174138276 A French multicenter study headed by Jean Cottraux (Lyon) has investigated the role of psychotherapy in borderline personality disorder. http://phys.org/news172914867.html Medicine & Health Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:01:35 EST news172914867 Discovery by Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers of an additional role for a key molecule in our bodies provides a further step in world-wide efforts to develop genetic regulation aimed at controlling many diseases, including AIDS and various types of cancers. http://phys.org/news172401540.html Chemistry Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:20:43 EST news172401540 A new study published in the September 11, 2009 issue of Science by researchers at the NYU School of Medicine reveals a conceptually novel mechanism that plays an important role in making human pathogens like Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus anthracis resistant to numerous antibiotics. http://phys.org/news171811284.html Medicine & Health Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:21:55 EST news171811284 Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine assistant professor in the Center for RNA Molecular Biology, Jeff Coller, Ph.D., and his team discovered that messenger RNA (mRNA) predominately degrade on ribosomes, fundamentally altering a common understanding of how gene expression is controlled within the cell. The study, "Co-translational mRNA decay in Saccharomyces cerevisiae", is published in the latest issue of Nature. http://phys.org/news170256361.html Biology Sun, 23 Aug 2009 14:26:29 EST news170256361 Scientists at Stanford University have identified a gene that may play a role in the development of type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the body's insulin-producing cells. Insulin, a hormone produced by cells of the pancreas, helps the body to absorb sugars found in food and to maintain blood sugar at appropriate levels. http://phys.org/news169121256.html Medicine & Health Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:08:15 EST news169121256 The findings, published in this week's issue of Science, conclude that food-web stability is enhanced when many diverse predator-prey links connect high and intermediate trophic levels. The computations also reveal that small ecosystems follow other rules than large ecosystems: differences in the strength of predator-prey links increase the stability of small webs, but destabilize larger webs. http://phys.org/news168787660.html Biology Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:20:01 EST news168787660