Researchers find nature's shut-off switch for cellulose production

Tweet

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University researchers found a mechanism that naturally shuts down cellulose production in plants, and learning how to keep that switch turned on may be key to enhancing biomass production for plant-based biofuels.

Nicholas Carpita, a professor of botany and plant pathology, said that small-interfering RNAs (siRNAs) play a normal role in plant development by shutting off genes involved in primary cell wall growth in order to begin development of thicker, secondary cell walls.

Study: Did early climate impact divert a new glacial age?

Tweet

SAN FRANCISCO — The common wisdom is that the invention of the steam engine and the advent of the coal-fueled industrial age marked the beginning of human influence on global climate.

But gathering physical evidence, backed by powerful simulations on the world's most advanced computer climate models, is reshaping that view and lending strong support to the radical idea that human-induced climate change began not 200 years ago, but thousands of years ago with the onset of large-scale agriculture in Asia and extensive deforestation in Europe.

MIT finds climate change could dramatically affect water supplies

Tweet

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--It's no simple matter to figure out how regional changes in precipitation, expected to result from global climate change, may affect water supplies. Now, a new analysis led by MIT researchers has found that the changes in groundwater may actually be much greater than the precipitation changes themselves.

Cardiac stent patients with diabetes may benefit from drug that counteracts the effects of leptin

Tweet

NEW YORK (Dec. 17, 2008) – The naturally high levels of leptin in diabetic patients may reduce the effectiveness of drug-eluting stents used to treat heart blockages, but using a chemical that differs from the one commonly used to coat stents could counteract this effect.

No quick or easy technological fix for climate change, researchers say

Tweet

Global warming, some have argued, can be reversed with a large-scale "geoengineering" fix, such as having a giant blimp spray liquefied sulfur dioxide in the stratosphere or building tens of millions of chemical filter systems in the atmosphere to filter out carbon dioxide.

Modified gene targets cancer cells a thousand times more often than healthy cells

Tweet

Researchers at the University of Rochester have designed a gene that produces a thousand times more protein in cancer cells than in healthy cells.

The findings may help address the prime challenge in anti-cancer therapy: improving treatments' ability to specifically and effectively target cancer cells. Using this new approach, scientists should be able to insert "self-destruct" codes into the modified gene, forcing cancer cells to kill themselves while healthy cells remain largely unaffected.

Molecular marker identifies normal stem cells as intestinal tumor source

Tweet

Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have answered a central question in cancer biology: whether normal stem cells can give rise to tumors. Stem cells are immature cells that can renew themselves and give rise to mature differentiated cells that compose the range of body tissues. In recent years, researchers have developed evidence that cancers may arise from mutant forms of stem cells.

Primary cilium as cellular 'GPS system' crucial to wound repair

Tweet

The primary cilium, the solitary, antenna-like structure that studs the outer surfaces of virtually all human cells, orient cells to move in the right direction and at the speed needed to heal wounds, much like a Global Positioning System helps ships navigate to their destinations.

A microscale system to study frustration in buckled monolayers of microspheres at Penn

Tweet

PHILADELPHIA –- A team of University of Pennsylvania physicists has demonstrated a simple system based on micron-sized spheres in water to study and control geometric frustration. Their research, published today in the journal Nature, elucidates open questions about frustration and frustration relief and provides a new tool for scientists grappling with these issues in a variety of fields from magnetism to basic statistical mechanics.

Monthly shot for holiday drinkers on wagon

Tweet

ALCOHOLICS struggling to keep off shots of the hard stuff over the festive season may want to consider an alternative shot: a monthly injection that keeps them off the booze.