Body

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– Physicists at UC Santa Barbara have created a microscopic device to assist biologists in making very fast molecular measurements that aid the understanding of protein folding. This development may help elucidate biological processes associated with diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Since proteins in the body perform different functions according to their shape, the folding process is considered a key area of study.

Using new, whole-genome sequencing technology coupled with classic methods of genetic investigation, scientists at Duke University, along with colleagues at Johns Hopkins, have discovered two mutations in the same gene that seem to cause metachondromatosis in humans. This is a rare, heritable disease that leads to bony growths, mostly on the hands and feet.

Discovery of a key red cell molecule used by the malaria parasite gives renewed hope for an effective vaccine in the future, according to an international team of researchers.

Plasmodium falciparum, a blood parasite that causes malaria by invading and multiplying in the red blood cells, kills 1 to 2 million people annually.

DURHAM, N.C. – Combining new, whole-genome sequencing technology with classic genetic approaches to understanding inherited diseases, Duke University Medical Center geneticists and colleagues at Johns Hopkins have discovered two gene mutations that cause metachondromatosis, a rare, heritable disorder that leads to bony growths, typically on hands and feet.

They did it by sequencing the entire genome of just one individual.

Conservation efforts aimed at protecting endangered Caribbean corals may be overlooking regions where corals are best equipped to evolve in response to global warming and other climate challenges.

BUFFALO, N.Y.

Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have discovered a mechanism by which an enzyme regulates gene expression and growth in melanoma cells, a finding that could someday lead to more effective drugs to attack cancers and make them more treatable.

STANFORD, Calif. — Web sites that promote anorexia and bulimia offer interactive communities where site users can encourage one another in unhealthy eating behaviors, yet the majority of these sites also recognize eating disorders as a disease, according to new research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Stanford University School of Medicine.

ANN ARBOR, MI -- During pregnancy, many women experience remission of autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and uveitis. Now, scientists have described a biological mechanism responsible for changes in the immune system that helps to explain the remission.

Scientists have found that the ocean temperature at the earth's polar extremes has a significant impact thousands of miles away at the equator.

Newcastle University's Dr Erin McClymont is part of an international team of researchers who have published research in Science today (18 June 2010) demonstrating a close link between the changes in the subpolar climate and the development of the modern tropical Pacific climate around two million years ago.

The team believes this solves another piece of the puzzle concerning oceanic behaviour and its influence on climate.

STANFORD, Calif. — The rise in AIDS death rates in sub-Saharan Africa has led to a burgeoning new category of neglected individuals — nearly a million orphaned elderly, or older adults living alone without the benefit of any caregivers, Stanford University School of Medicine researchers have found.

BOSTON, Mass. (June 17, 2010) – A single species of bacteria that lives in the gut is able to trigger a cascade of immune responses that can ultimately result in the development of arthritis.

Our gut, like that of most mammals, is filled with thousands of species of bacteria, many of which are helpful and aid in the development of a normal, healthy immune system. Gut-residing bacteria can also play a role in disorders of the immune system, especially autoimmune disorders in which the body attacks its own cells.

New research published today (17 June) by scientists funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) shows that malaria is tens of thousands of years older than previously thought. An international team, led by researchers at Imperial College London, have found that the potentially deadly tropical disease evolved alongside anatomically modern humans and moved with our ancestors as they migrated out of Africa around 60-80,000 years ago. The research is published in the journal Current Biology.

Gene expression takes place in two stages: the transcription of DNA to RNA by an enzyme called RNA polymerase, , followed by the translation of this RNA into proteins, whose behaviour affects the characteristics of each individual.

Transcription: a mechanism controlled in time and space