(Press-News.org) In a recent publication, researchers achieved new accuracy in the ability to measure energy differences between states of molecules, thus predicting which states will be observed.
It has been known since the seventies that excessive salt causes DNA to reverse its twist, from a right-handed spiral to a left-handed one. DNA in the Z form is treated by our natural repair enzymes as damaged, and is therefore usually deleted from the cell. Deletion of genetic material can lead to cancer or to other problems, so the B-Z transition is no mere curiosity. However such is the complexity of the DNA molecule that a theoretical explanation which correctly predicts the amount of salt to do this has never before been found.
Dr. Josh Berryman and Professor Tanja Schilling of the University of Luxembourg have now been able to find a method of calculation which predicts this transition with unprecedented accuracy. With this success in describing the most enigmatic of molecules, the team is optimistic that they will be able to perform similar mathematical analyses for a variety of other substances. "It will enable us to predict material properties such as melting temperatures or elasticity. And this will be done with high accuracy using our new technique. Hence, we can now design new materials and biomaterials on the computer more effectively than before," said Prof. Schilling.
Prof Schilling and Dr Berryman are physicists at the University's Physics and Material Sciences Research Unit, which comprises a team of 50 researchers.
INFORMATION:
New calculations solve an old problem with DNA
2012-12-21
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Ups and downs of biodiversity after mass extinction
2012-12-21
The climate after the largest mass extinction so far 252 million years ago was cool, later very warm and then cool again. Thanks to the cooler temperatures, the diversity of marine fauna ballooned, as paleontologists from the University of Zurich have reconstructed. The warmer climate, coupled with a high CO2 level in the atmosphere, initially gave rise to new, short-lived species. In the longer term, however, this climate change had an adverse effect on biodiversi-ty and caused species to become extinct.
Until now, it was always assumed that it took flora and fauna ...
Strength training improves vascular function in young black men
2012-12-21
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Six weeks of weight training can significantly improve blood markers of cardiovascular health in young African-American men, researchers report in the Journal of Human Hypertension.
The researchers measured blood markers associated with inflammation, immune response or the remodeling of arteries that normally occur after tissue damage, infection or other types of stress. They found that levels of two of these markers dropped significantly in African-American men but not in Caucasian men after six weeks of resistance training.
"This suggests that resistance ...
Physicists take photonic topological insulators to the next level
2012-12-21
AUSTIN, Texas—Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have designed a simulation that for the first time emulates key properties of electronic topological insulators.
Their simulation, which was described this week in Nature Materials, is part of a rapidly moving scientific race to understand and exploit the potential of topological insulators, which are a state of matter that was only discovered in the past decade. These insulators may enable dramatic advances in quantum computing and spintronics.
"The discovery of these materials, which are insulators in ...
Targeted gene silencing drugs are more than 500 times more effective with new delivery method
2012-12-21
New Rochelle, NY, December 20, 2012—Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are a potent new drug class that can silence a disease-causing gene, but delivering them to a target cell can be challenging. An innovative delivery approach that dramatically increases the efficacy of an siRNA drug targeted to the liver and has made it possible to test the drug in non-human primates is described in an article in Nucleic Acid Therapeutics, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com). The article is available on the Nucleic Acid Therapeutics ...
Researchers discover genetic basis for eczema, new avenue to therapies
2012-12-21
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers at Oregon State University today announced the discovery of an underlying genetic cause of atopic dermatitis, a type of eczema most common in infancy that also affects millions of adults around the world with dry, itchy and inflamed skin lesions.
The findings were just published in PLoS ONE, a professional journal, and may set the stage for new therapeutic approaches to this frustrating syndrome, which is difficult to treat and has no known cure. Eczema is also related to, and can sometimes cause asthma, a potentially deadly immune dysfunction.
Pharmaceutical ...
Extending steroid treatment does not benefit children with hard-to-treat kidney disease
2012-12-21
Highlights
Six months of steroid treatment in children with nephrotic syndrome did not reduce relapse rates or side effects compared with three months of treatment.
Because many children with nephrotic syndrome face frequent relapses, future research should focus on preventing relapses through new treatment strategies.
Nephrotic syndrome has an estimated incidence of two to seven cases per 100,000 children and a prevalence of nearly 16 cases per 100,000.
Washington, DC (December 20, 2012) — Extending steroid treatment for the most common form of kidney disease ...
New target for treating prediabetes in patients with kidney disease
2012-12-21
Highlights
Retention of certain compounds that are normally excreted by the kidneys may cause insulin resistance, or prediabetes, in kidney disease patients.
When mice with kidney disease were treated with a prebiotic that reduces blood levels of these compounds, insulin resistance and lipid abnormalities were prevented.
Washington, DC (December 20, 2012) —Insulin resistance, or prediabetes, in individuals with kidney disease may be caused by the progressive retention of certain compounds that are normally excreted by the kidneys in healthy individuals, ...
Science's Breakthrough of the Year: Discovery of the Higgs boson
2012-12-21
The observation of an elusive sub-atomic particle, known as the Higgs boson, has been heralded by the journal Science as the most important scientific discovery of 2012. This particle, which was first hypothesized more than 40 years ago, holds the key to explaining how other elementary particles (those that aren't made up of smaller particles), such as electrons and quarks, get their mass.
In addition to recognizing the detection of this particle as the 2012 Breakthrough of the Year, Science and its international nonprofit publisher, AAAS, have identified nine other ...
Wallace's century-old map of natural world updated
2012-12-21
Until today, Alfred Russell Wallace's century old map from 1876 has been the backbone for our understanding of global biodiversity. Thanks to advances in modern technology and data on more than 20,000 species, scientists from University of Copenhagen have now produced a next generation map depicting the organisation of life on Earth. Published online in Science Express today, the new map provides fundamental information regarding the diversity of life on our planet and is of major significance for future biodiversity research.
An essential question in understanding life ...
Unlocking new talents in nature
2012-12-21
PASADENA, Calif.—Protein engineers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have tapped into a hidden talent of one of nature's most versatile catalysts. The enzyme cytochrome P450 is nature's premier oxidation catalyst—a protein that typically promotes reactions that add oxygen atoms to other chemicals. Now the Caltech researchers have engineered new versions of the enzyme, unlocking its ability to drive a completely different and synthetically useful reaction that does not take place in nature.
The new biocatalysts can be used to make natural products—such ...