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) -- When cells are exposed to life-threatening stresses, they take quick action to save themselves. Among other defenses, they start manufacturing proteins that perform critical tasks such as repairing DNA. http://phys.org/news211800177.html Biology Fri, 17 Dec 2010 09:23:16 EST news211800177 (PhysOrg.com) -- Assistant Professor of Bioengineering Christina Smolke has engineered biological molecules that regulate a cell's behavior by adjusting their own forms and functions in response to the internal conditions of the cell. These tools can be used to facilitate medical research and biotechnology today and could one day be used as diagnostic and therapeutic aides. http://phys.org/news210354684.html Biology Tue, 30 Nov 2010 15:51:47 EST news210354684 (PhysOrg.com) -- In today's world of sophisticated organisms proteins are the stars. They are the indispensible catalytic workhorses, carrying out the processes essential to life. But long, long ago ribonucleic acid (RNA) reigned supreme. http://phys.org/news208963038.html Chemistry Sun, 14 Nov 2010 13:17:58 EST news208963038 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 When most genes are transcribed, the nascent RNAs they produce are not quite ready to be translated into proteins - they have to be processed first. One of those processes is called splicing, a mechanism by which non-coding gene sequences are removed and the remaining protein-coding sequences are joined together to form a final, mature messenger RNA (mRNA), which contains the recipe for making a protein. http://phys.org/news207217401.html Biology Mon, 25 Oct 2010 09:23:44 EST news207217401 Cells read only those genes which are needed at a given moment, while the others are chemically labeled and, thus, selectively turned off. Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center have now been the first to discover how these labels are placed at exactly the right spot in the genetic material. Important players are regulatory RNA molecules. They form a plait-like triple helix with the DNA serving as a signpost for the labels. http://phys.org/news206615832.html Medicine & Health Mon, 18 Oct 2010 10:19:28 EST news206615832 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists once believed that proteins govern most cellular activities. However in recent years scientists have found that a diverse group of RNA molecules regulate numerous biological activities. Despite their ancient origin, these RNA molecules have come to rely on younger protein partners to carry out their functions. http://phys.org/news206198853.html Biology Wed, 13 Oct 2010 14:28:33 EST news206198853 The ability to efficiently generate patient-specific stem cells from differentiated cells and then reliably direct them to form specialized cells (like neurons or muscle) has tremendous therapeutic potential for replacing diseased or damaged tissues. However, despite some successes, there have been significant limitations associated with existing methods used to generate human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). http://phys.org/news205072024.html Biology Thu, 30 Sep 2010 13:40:01 EST news205072024 By constructing a microscope apparatus that achieves resolution never before possible in living cells, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have illuminated the molecular interactions that occur during one of the most important "trips" in all of biology: the journey of individual messenger Ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules from the nucleus into the cytoplasm (the area between the nucleus and cell membrane) so that proteins can be made. The results, published in the September 15 online edition of Nature, mark a major advance in the use of microscopes for scientific investigation (microscopy). The findings could lead to treatments for disorders such as myotonic dystrophy in which messenger RNA gets stuck inside the nucleus of cells. http://phys.org/news203776292.html Biology Wed, 15 Sep 2010 13:31:47 EST news203776292 Imagine a war in which you are vastly outnumbered by an enemy that is utterly relentless - attacking you is all it does. The intro to another Terminator movie? No, just another day for microbes such as bacteria and archaea, which face a never-ending onslaught from viruses and invading strands of nucleic acid known as plasmids. To survive this onslaught, microbes deploy a variety of defense mechanisms, including an adaptive-type nucleic acid-based immune system that revolves around a genetic element known as CRISPR, which stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats. http://phys.org/news203266633.html Biology Thu, 09 Sep 2010 15:57:45 EST news203266633 A small RNA molecule determines whether or not lung cancer cells grow invasively and metastasize. This has been discovered in the culture dish by scientists of the German Cancer Research Center and the University Medical Center Mannheim. Moreover, they found out that the following is true also for patients with non-small cell lung cancer: The less micro-RNA is produced by tumor cells, the higher the tumor's tendency to metastasize. http://phys.org/news203162998.html Medicine & Health Wed, 08 Sep 2010 11:10:18 EST news203162998 Cancer is a difficult disease to treat because it's a personal disease. Each case is unique and based on a combination of environmental and genetic factors. Conventional chemotherapy employs treatment with one or more drugs, assuming that these medicines are able to both "diagnose" and "treat" the affected cells. Many of the side effects experienced by chemotherapy patients are due to the fact that the drugs they are taking aren't selective enough. For instance, taking a drug that targets fast-growing tumor cells frequently results in hair loss, because cells in the hair follicle are among some of the fastest growing in the body. When it comes down to it, these drugs get the diagnosis wrong. http://phys.org/news203004991.html Biology Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:16:50 EST news203004991 (PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time, it's possible to experimentally capture a global snapshot of the conformation of thousands of RNA molecules in a cell. The finding is important because this scrappy little sister of DNA has recently been shown to be much more complex than previously thought. http://phys.org/news202567629.html Biology Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:47:33 EST news202567629 Two new groundbreaking scientific papers by researchers at UC Santa Barbara demonstrate the synthesis of nanosize biological particles with the potential to fight cancer and other illnesses. The studies introduce new approaches that are considered "green" nanobiotechnology because they use no artificial compounds. http://phys.org/news202483649.html Nanotechnology Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:28:00 EST news202483649 Within a dangerous stomach bacterium, Yale University researchers have discovered an ancient but functioning genetic remnant from a time before DNA existed, they report in the August 13 issue of the journal Science. http://phys.org/news200842170.html Biology Thu, 12 Aug 2010 15:00:04 EST news200842170 Single-molecule sequencing technology has detected and quantified novel small RNAs in human cells that represent entirely new classes of the gene-translating molecules, confirming a long-held but unproven hypothesis that mammalian cells are capable of synthesizing RNA by copying RNA molecules directly. The findings were reported in Nature by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Helicos Biosciences Corp., Integromics Inc., and the University of Geneva Medical School. http://phys.org/news200656763.html Biology Tue, 10 Aug 2010 11:50:06 EST news200656763 Investigators have identified a new mechanism that controls the number of hematopoietic stem cells - cells that give rise to all blood and immune system cells. In a report in the online Early Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute identify a tiny RNA molecule that increases the number of these blood stem cells, an advance that may improve treatment of blood system cancers. http://phys.org/news200149453.html Medicine & Health Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:04:28 EST news200149453 Researchers at JILA have demonstrated the use of infrared laser light to quickly and precisely heat the water in "nano bathtubs" -- tiny sample containers -- for microscopy studies of the biochemistry of single molecules and nanoparticles. http://phys.org/news199722622.html Chemistry Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:30:39 EST news199722622 (PhysOrg.com) -- Polymer strands wriggle their way through nanometer-sized pores in a membrane to get from here to there and do their jobs. New theoretical research by Rice University scientists quantifies precisely how long the journey takes. http://phys.org/news199635756.html Nanotechnology Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:10:01 EST news199635756 (PhysOrg.com) -- The spread of cancer cells in the tongue may be reduced if a gene that regulates cancer cell migration can be controlled, according to new research at the University of Illinois at Chicago. http://phys.org/news199086172.html Medicine & Health Fri, 23 Jul 2010 07:30:01 EST news199086172 The central dogma of molecular biology, as proposed in 1970 by Francis Crick and James Watson, holds that genetic information is transferred from DNA to functional proteins by way of messenger RNA (mRNA). This suggests that mRNA has but a single role, that being to encode for proteins. http://phys.org/news196516390.html Medicine & Health Wed, 23 Jun 2010 13:00:16 EST news196516390 Researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), the Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) and the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare have discovered a biomarker that could help in the treatment of patients with an aggressive type of lung cancer. http://phys.org/news195750301.html Medicine & Health Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:30:01 EST news195750301 (PhysOrg.com) -- Red blood cells, the delivery men that take oxygen to cells all around the body, have short lives. To keep enough of them in circulation, the human body produces around 2 million of these cells every second - even more in response to challenges like severe blood loss. http://phys.org/news194545274.html Medicine & Health Mon, 31 May 2010 17:40:02 EST news194545274 (PhysOrg.com) -- Future pandemics of seasonal flu, H1N1 and other drug-resistant viruses may be thwarted by a potent, immune-boosting payload that is effectively delivered to cells by gold nanorods, report scientists at the University at Buffalo and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The work is published in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://phys.org/news193937327.html Nanotechnology Mon, 24 May 2010 16:29:16 EST news193937327 For the first time, biologists have directly shown how spontaneous mutation of a small RNA (sRNA) regulatory molecule can provide an evolutionary advantage. Reporting in this week's Science, Indiana University Bloomington scientists also identify the sRNA as a key regulator of social behavior in Myxococcus xanthus, a soil bacterium widely studied for its ability to cooperatively construct fruiting bodies that house stress-resistant spores when food runs out. http://phys.org/news193581640.html Biology Thu, 20 May 2010 14:00:09 EST news193581640 Genes interact in complex networks that govern cellular processes, much like people connect a social network through relationships. Researchers are now discovering how biological networks change and are rewired in cancer. In a study published today in Genome Research, scientists have analyzed the genetic networks of microRNAs in tumors, shedding light on how interactions go awry in disease. http://phys.org/news192014171.html Medicine & Health Sun, 02 May 2010 17:00:01 EST news192014171 A small piece of RNA appears to play a big role in the development of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), according to lung disease researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Their study, which is the first to examine microRNAs in the disease, is available online in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. http://phys.org/news191741637.html Medicine & Health Thu, 29 Apr 2010 06:34:12 EST news191741637 MicroRNAs are small bits of RNA within cells that wield enormous power. They influence virtually every biological process by controlling the "expression" of genes. Helping them in exerting this control is a unique class of proteins called Argonautes. http://phys.org/news191666070.html Medicine & Health Wed, 28 Apr 2010 10:10:01 EST news191666070 Viruses have evolved a broad range of strategies that enable them to evade the immune systems of their hosts. A team of researchers led by LMU virologist Professor Jürgen Haas has been studying a novel, recently discovered mechanism that pathogenic viruses exploit for this purpose, and their latest results could point the way to new antiviral therapies. The mechanism is based on the production of short RNA molecules, called microRNAs, by the virus. http://phys.org/news191157900.html Biology Thu, 22 Apr 2010 12:25:25 EST news191157900 How does the brain work? This question is one of the greatest scientific mysteries, and neurobiologists have only recently begun to piece together the molecular building blocks that enable human beings to be "thinking" animals. http://phys.org/news190468614.html Medicine & Health Wed, 14 Apr 2010 13:00:06 EST news190468614