Tumor suppressor pulls double shift as reprogramming watchdog

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LA JOLLA, CA—A collaborative study by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies uncovered that the tumor suppressor p53, which made its name as "guardian of the genome", not only stops cells that could become cancerous in their tracks but also controls somatic cell reprogramming.

Growing nanocrystals takes more than trial and error

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Not so long ago only the final products were visible and scientists were forced to gauge the processes behind those products by ensemble averages of many molecules. The limitations of that approach have become clear with the advent of technologies that allow for the observation and manipulation of single molecules. A prime example is the recent first ever direct observations in real-time of the growth of single nanocrystals in solution, which revealed that much of what we thought we knew is wrong.

The perfect cut for silicon wafers

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Cutting silicon blocks to make wafers for solar cells is not a matter of luck, its a honed skill. You need a special slicing tool to produce paper-thin wafers from silicon blocks ("ingots"): reminiscent of an egg slicer, a filigree wire is used to cut through the ingot at a speed of up to 60 km/h.

This wire is several hundred kilometers long and arranged in such a way that the ingot is sliced into hundreds of wafers simultaneously. The process takes around six hours and the resultant slices are approximately 180 µm thick.

Physical inactivity poses greatest health risk to Americans, research shows

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TORONTO – As many as 50 million Americans are living sedentary lives, putting them at increased risk of health problems and even early death, a leading expert in exercise science told the American Psychological Association today.

Speaking at APA's 117th Annual Convention, Steven Blair, PED, called Americans' physical inactivity "the biggest public health problem of the 21st century."

NOAA and partners to survey marine life at USS Monitor wreck site

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NOAA will participate in a private research expedition to study marine life living on and around the wreck of the USS Monitor. The August 2-8 expedition is the first in the history of Monitor National Marine Sanctuary devoted specifically to understanding how the wreck contributes to the health of underwater creatures and plants living in sanctuary waters.

New industrial operating software

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It is important for the people who operate facilities and machines to be able to answer any question at any given time, because malfunctions and failures can prove costly. Condition monitoring systems, or CM systems, are used to monitor machines remotely: sensors mounted on the equipment feed continuous measurements back to a control box, which records and stores the data, and if an error occurs, the system alerts the operator. However, before a CM system goes live, it has to be adapted for use with the specific facility it is to monitor.

Math tackles the scheduling of English football matches

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Can computers solve the logistical nightmare of planning English football fixtures?

Professor Graham Kendall from the School of Computer Science at The University of Nottingham believes they can. He has devised a special software programme for the Christmas and New Year fixtures which automatically takes into account detailed criteria laid down by the football authorities and reduces travel distances for clubs and fans.

New computer program searches for possible molecular treatments of cancer

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Tracking down new active agents for cancer or malaria treatment could soon become easier - thanks to a computer program with which researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund aim to facilitate the search for suitable pharmaceutical substances. The program, which is called Scaffold Hunter, acts as a tool for navigating chemical space. It generates maps of chemically-related structures and links them to biological activity, that is, to their potential to bind to proteins, in particular medically relevant proteins.

Electronic health records help cardiac patients remain healthy

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An innovative program that cut cardiac deaths by 73 percent by linking coronary artery disease patients and teams of pharmacists, nurses, primary care doctors, and cardiologists with an electronic health record also kept the patients healthy two years after they left the program by keeping them in touch with their care givers electronically, according to a randomized study by Kaiser Permanente published in The American Journal of Managed Care.

Complex diseases caused by genetic variations are more detectable

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Computational biologists at Carnegie Mellon University have developed an analytical technique to detect the multiple genetic variations that contribute to complex disease syndromes such as diabetes, asthma and cancer, which are characterized by multiple clinical and molecular traits.