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. (PhysOrg.com) -- Important molecular machines routinely crash into one another while plying their trades on DNA. New research shows that the enzymes that copy DNA before cell division, called replisomes, are the kings of this road, kicking aside machines that are performing less critical tasks, such as transcribing instructions for proteins. http://phys.org/news185010534.html Biology Wed, 10 Feb 2010 08:20:01 EST news185010534 Mechanisms of gastric carcinogenesis are still not yet understood. Studies have linked genetic and epigenetic factors or microbiological agents to gastric cancer, but they didn't look for these events together. Dr. Ferrasi from Brazil verified the methylation profile, microsatellite instability (MSI), Helicobacter pylori status and Epstein Barr virus infection in gastric cancer samples. Intestinal and diffuse adenocarcinoma showed different methylation profiles and an association was found between methylation and Helicobacter pylori-cagA+. http://phys.org/news184963044.html Medicine & Health Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:10:02 EST news184963044 With the help of effective drug therapies, HIV patients are living longer, healthier lives. Now, researchers want to improve these drug therapies and develop alternative preventative strategies, such as vaginal gels and creams that contain the same or related compounds used in treatments for people infected with HIV. A University of Missouri researcher is developing a compound that is more potent and longer-lasting than current HIV therapies. http://phys.org/news183658376.html Medicine & Health Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:13:35 EST news183658376 (AP) -- Call it pork in a petri dish - a technique to turn pig stem cells into strips of meat that scientists say could one day offer a green alternative to raising livestock, help alleviate world hunger, and save some pigs their bacon. http://phys.org/news182779099.html Biology Fri, 15 Jan 2010 11:58:39 EST news182779099 Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have discovered how a protein long known to be an essential activator of DNA replication actually triggers this process in cells. http://phys.org/news182080407.html Biology Thu, 07 Jan 2010 09:53:56 EST news182080407 The master regulator of muscle differentiation, MyoD, functions early in myogenesis to help stem cells proliferate in response to muscle injury, according to researchers at Case Western Reserve University. The study appears online Jan. 4 in the Journal of Cell Biology. http://phys.org/news181839905.html Biology Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:40:01 EST news181839905 A team of researchers working in a high containment laboratory at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, GA, have solved a fundamental mystery about smallpox that has puzzled scientists long after the natural disease was eradicated by vaccination: they know how it kills us. http://phys.org/news180712105.html Biology Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:10:18 EST news180712105 Investigators at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham), Mount Sinai School of Medicine (Mount Sinai), the Salk Institute for Biological Studies (Salk) and the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF) have identified 295 human cell factors that influenza A strains must harness to infect a cell, including the currently circulating swine-origin H1N1. The team also identified small molecule compounds that act on several of these factors and inhibit viral replication, pointing to new ways to treat flu. These findings were published online on December 21 in the journal Nature. http://phys.org/news180708941.html Biology Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:00:01 EST news180708941 Mice without the deoxycytidine kinase (dCK) enzyme have defects in their adaptive immune system, producing very low levels of both T and B lymphocytes, the major players involved in immune response, according to a study by researchers with UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. http://phys.org/news180708481.html Medicine & Health Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:49:18 EST news180708481 MIT and Boston University researchers have discovered that the drug hydroxyurea kills bacteria by inducing them to produce molecules toxic to themselves — a conclusion that raises the possibility of finding new antibiotics that use similar mechanisms. http://phys.org/news179674100.html Biology Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:29:28 EST news179674100 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, are challenging long-held beliefs that human beings are wired to be selfish. In a wide range of studies, social scientists are amassing a growing body of evidence to show we are evolving to become more compassionate and collaborative in our quest to survive and thrive. http://phys.org/news179512429.html Other Sciences Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:34:54 EST news179512429 A study published online in this week's Science shows that SPC3649, a breakthrough microRNA-targeted therapy developed by Santaris Pharma A/S, holds promise as a novel treatment for patients infected with the Hepatitis C virus (HCV). http://phys.org/news179073359.html Medicine & Health Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:36:40 EST news179073359 (PhysOrg.com) -- On average, our cells encounter a very lethal form of DNA damage 10 times a day. Lucky for us, we have the capacity to repair each and every one of them. New research now reveals exactly how two well-known proteins are involved in the process, a finding that not only helps shed light on cancer but also on how our cells maintain the integrity of our genome. http://phys.org/news177322691.html Medicine & Health Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:50:02 EST news177322691 An experimental drug cocktail that includes three prescriptions now widely available offers the best hope in developing a single agent to treat drug-resistant H1N1 swine flu, says a virology researcher in the University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. http://phys.org/news175869438.html Medicine & Health Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:38:44 EST news175869438 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists here have identified how the motions of an enzyme are related to correctly copying genetic instructions, setting the stage for studies that can uncover what happens when DNA copying mistakes are made. http://phys.org/news175867311.html Chemistry Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:02:20 EST news175867311 A study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has identified a key player in a molecular process essential for DNA replication within cells. http://phys.org/news175435791.html Biology Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:20:04 EST news175435791 By discovering the atomic structure of a key human enzyme, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have pointed the way toward designing anti-HIV drugs with far less toxic side effects. http://phys.org/news174833926.html Biology Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:10:01 EST news174833926 A team of scientists, led by a biomedical engineer at The University of Texas at Austin, have demonstrated - for the first time - that mathematical models created from data obtained by DNA microarrays, can be used to correctly predict previously unknown cellular mechanisms. This brings biologists a step closer to one day being able to understand and control the inner workings of the cell as readily as NASA engineers plot the trajectories of spacecraft today. http://phys.org/news174737745.html Biology Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:16:39 EST news174737745 While studying an HIV protein that plays an essential role in AIDS progression, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have discovered compounds that show promise as novel treatments for the disease. http://phys.org/news174664492.html Chemistry Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:10:03 EST news174664492 T cells are key players in the immune response to HIV, which are able to delete infected cells. This capacity is used for vaccine development against HIV. “To date however, success of this strategy remains elusive. Our understanding of T cell efficacy is still limited, and we need to identify precise T cell correlates of protection that could guide rationale vaccine design”, says Victor Appay, Group leader HIV Pathogenesis and Immunosenescence, Hopital Pitie-Salpetriere, Paris, at the 2nd European Congress of Immunology ECI 2009 in Berlin. http://phys.org/news172316676.html Medicine & Health Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:00:01 EST news172316676 A team of researchers from The Wistar Institute have shown that a large non-coding RNA in mammals and yeast plays a central role in helping maintain telomeres, the tips of chromosomes that contain important genetic information and help regulate cell division. Since this RNA also facilitates the formation of DNA at telomeres -- a process that can protect aging cells and destabilize tumor cells -- manipulating its expression may be useful in treating cancer and other diseases. http://phys.org/news170954150.html Medicine & Health Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:30:02 EST news170954150 (PhysOrg.com) -- A small piece of foreign DNA recognizes when and where to slip into a bacterium's genetic code, allowing bacteria to genetically adapt to their environment -- and develop resistance to antibiotics, according to a new Cornell study in the Aug. 21 issue of the journal Cell. http://phys.org/news170005193.html Biology Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:50:02 EST news170005193 "A biologist, a physicist, and a nanotechnologist walk into a..." sounds like the start of a joke. Instead, it was the start of a collaboration that has helped to decipher a critical, but so far largely unstudied, phase of how cells divide. Errors in cell division can cause mutations that lead to cancer, and this study could shed light on the role of chromosome abnormalities in uncontrolled cell replication. http://phys.org/news169736758.html Biology Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:20:02 EST news169736758 Viruses need living cells for replication and production of virus progeny. Thus far, antiviral therapy primarily targets viral factors but often induces therapy resistance. New improved therapies attempt to targets cellular factors that are essential for viral replication. http://phys.org/news169473882.html Medicine & Health Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:20:01 EST news169473882 Scientists from the Department of Biological Sciences and the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech have developed a quantitative, mathematical model of DNA replication and cell division for the bacterium Caulobacter crescentus. C. crescentus, an alpha-proteobacterium that inhabits freshwater, seawater and soils, is an ideal organism for genetic and computational biology studies due to the wealth of molecular information that has been accumulated by researchers. It also plays a key role in global carbon cycling in its natural environment. http://phys.org/news169448410.html Biology Fri, 14 Aug 2009 06:00:42 EST news169448410 The Stowers Institute's Conaway Lab has uncovered a previously unknown function of a gene product called Amplified in Liver Cancer 1 (Alc1), which may play a role in the onset of cancer. The work was published yesterday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science Early Edition. http://phys.org/news168967407.html Medicine & Health Sun, 09 Aug 2009 06:30:03 EST news168967407 Peering into the DNA of tiny yeast, researchers at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego and the San Diego Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research have pinpointed a large number of genes that can prevent a type of genetic rearrangement that may lead to cancer and other diseases. http://phys.org/news168786880.html Medicine & Health Thu, 06 Aug 2009 14:15:17 EST news168786880 (PhysOrg.com) -- A group of nanoengineers, biologists and physicists have used innovative approaches to deduce the internal structure of chromatin, a key player in DNA regulation, to reconcile a longstanding controversy in this field. This new finding could unlock the mystery behind the origin of many diseases such as cancer. http://phys.org/news168270003.html Chemistry Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:40:36 EST news168270003 Researchers have devised a scheme for identifying genes in yeast that could lead to the identification of new cancer genes in humans. The study is published online this week in the open-access journal PLoS Biology. http://phys.org/news167989074.html Biology Tue, 28 Jul 2009 09:00:04 EST news167989074 By manipulating individual atoms in DNA and forming unique molecules, a Georgia State University researcher hopes to open new avenues in research towards better understanding the mechanisms of DNA replication and transcription, and perhaps leading to new treatments for diseases. http://phys.org/news167058036.html Chemistry Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:03:03 EST news167058036