LA JOLLA, CA – October 23, 2014 - Breaking carbon-hydrogen (C-H) bonds to alter existing molecules to create new ones is an increasingly important avenue for drug development. Of particular interest is mirror-image or "one-handed" compounds, but C-H breaking methods for making pure batches of these molecules have worked with only a limited range of starting materials. Now a team from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has established a new C-H activation technique that opens the door to creating a broader range of pure molecules of one-handedness or "chirality" ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- When pathogenic bacteria like Salmonella or Staphylococcus invade a host, the host organism should respond by going into a state of high alert, altering its metabolism to defend against the attack. But if the host doesn't reverse course once the battle is won, its efforts will be wasted on defense rather than on repairing the damage done by bacterial invaders. Duke University researchers have uncovered the genes that are normally activated during recovery from bacterial infection. The finding could lead to ways to jumpstart this recovery process and ...

Over the last decade, powerful new microscopes have dramatically sharpened biologists' focus on the molecules that animate and propel life. Now, a new imaging platform developed by Eric Betzig and colleagues at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Research Campus offers another leap forward for light microscopy. The new technology collects high-resolution images rapidly and minimizes damage to cells, meaning it can image the three-dimensional activity of molecules, cells, and embryos in fine detail over longer periods than was previously possible. The developers ...

To protect our oceans from irreversible harm, governments, conservationists, and researchers around the world must address the enormous threat posed by unregulated and destructive fisheries, say top marine scientists. In an article published today in Science, Prof. Amanda Vincent of Project Seahorse at the University of British Columbia and Dr. Jean M. Harris of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife in South Africa call for bold new approaches to the pressing global issue of overfishing and habitat destruction, including networks of marine protected areas, co-ordinated governance, and ...

This news release is available in German. Viral infections always follow a similar course. The pathogen infiltrates the host cells and uses their replication and protein production machinery to multiply. The virus has to overcome the initial barrier by docking on the surface of the cell membrane. The cell engulfs the virus in a bubble and transports it towards the cell nucleus. During this journey, the solution inside the bubble becomes increasingly acidic. The acidic pH value is ultimately what causes the virus's outer shell to melt into the membrane of the bubble. Capsid ...

A DNA mutation that can lead to horses being genetically male, but female in appearance, may explain at least two cases of controversial sexual identity, according to research led by professors from the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM) and published in PLOS Genetics. This type of genetic abnormality is caused by a mutation called DNA copy number variation (CNV), in which there are deletions and duplications in the genome typically larger than 50 base pairs. These variations are one way that individuals of the same species are genetically ...

Kansas City, MO. — The development of a new organism from the joining of two single cells is a carefully orchestrated endeavor. But even before sperm meets egg, an equally elaborate set of choreographed steps must occur to ensure successful sexual reproduction. Those steps, known as reproductive cell division or meiosis, split the original number of chromosomes in half so that offspring will inherit half their genetic material from one parent and half from the other. During meiosis, each set of homologous chromosomes pair up in a kind of chromosomal square dance, ...

An international team of researchers from Japan and the UK has discovered how a single protein, called PP4, oversees the processing of DNA during sperm and egg generation for successful fertilization. This protein's activity becomes even more paramount during aging. The study, published in the journal PLOS Genetics, may one day help scientists to understand the mechanisms underlying age-related fertility declines in humans. While a typical adult human cell contains 46 DNA strands, or chromosomes, that carry our complete genetic information, reproductive cells such as ...

Research conducted at the highest-altitude Pleistocene archaeological sites yet identified in the world sheds new light on the capacity of humans to survive in extreme environments. The findings, to be published in the Oct. 24 edition of the academic journal Science – co-authored by a team of researchers including University of Calgary archaeologist Sonia Zarrillo – were taken from sites in the Pucuncho Basin, located in the Southern Peruvian Andes. The primary site, Cuncaicha is a rock shelter at 4,480 metres above sea level, with a stone-tool workshop ...

Scientists working on islands in Florida have documented the rapid evolution of a native lizard species — in as little as 15 years — as a result of pressure from an invading lizard species, introduced from Cuba. After contact with the invasive species, the native lizards began perching higher in trees, and, generation after generation, their feet evolved to become better at gripping the thinner, smoother branches found higher up. The change occurred at an astonishing pace: Within a few months, native lizards had begun shifting to higher perches, and over ...

When a solid material is immersed in a liquid, the liquid immediately next to its surface differs from that of the bulk liquid at the molecular level. This interfacial layer is critical to our understanding of a diverse set of phenomena from biology to materials science. When the solid surface is charged, just like an electrode in a working battery, it can drive further changes in the interfacial liquid. However, elucidating the molecular structure at the solid-liquid interface under these conditions has proven difficult. Now, for the first time, researchers at the US ...

Ferns are believed to be 'old' plant species – some of them lived alongside the dinosaurs, over 200 million years ago. However, a group of Andean ferns evolved much more recently: their completely new form and structure (morphology) arose and diversified within the last 2 million years. This novel morphology seems to have been advantageous when colonising the extreme environment of the high Andes. Dr Patricia Sanchez-Baracaldo (Bristol) and Dr Gavin Thomas (Sheffield) used molecular and morphological data to study a group of ferns which grow in a unique ecosystem ...

Proteins are long linear molecules that fold up to form well-defined 3D shapes. These 3D molecular architectures are essential for biological functions such as the elasticity of skin, the digestion of food, and the transport of oxygen in blood. Despite the wide variety of tasks that natural proteins perform, they appear to use only a limited number of structural types, perhaps just a few thousand or so. These are used over and over again, being altered and embellished through evolution to generate many different functions. This raises the question: are more protein ...

A Dartmouth study suggests that it may be possible to use Diffuse Optical Spectroscopic Tomographic imaging (DOST) to predict which patients will best respond to chemotherapy used to shrink breast cancer tumors before surgery. These findings could eliminate delays in effective early treatment for tumors unlikely to respond to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). The study, "Predicting breast tumor response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy with Diffuse Optical Spectroscopic Tomography prior to treatment," was published online in Clinical Cancer Research on October 7, 2014. Breast ...

BOSTON - New achievements in synthetic biology announced today by researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, which will allow complex cellular recognition reactions to proceed outside of living cells, will dare scientists to dream big: there could one day be inexpensive, shippable and accurate test kits that use saliva or a drop of blood to identify specific disease or infection — a feat that could be accomplished anywhere in the world, within minutes and without laboratory support, just by using a pocket–sized paper diagnostic ...

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — Volatile rainstorms drive complex landscape changes in deserts, particularly in dryland channels, which are shaped by flash flooding. Paradoxically, such desert streams have surprisingly simple topography with smooth, straight and symmetrical form that until now has defied explanation. That paradox has been resolved in newly published research conducted by Michael Singer and Katerina Michaelides, associate researchers at UC Santa Barbara's Earth Research Institute. The pair show that simple topography in dryland channels is maintained ...

DALLAS – Oct. 23, 2014 – A hormone seen as a popular target to develop weight-loss drugs works by directly targeting the brain and triggering previously unknown activity in the nervous system, UT Southwestern Medical Center obesity researchers have found. The fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) hormone has been a key target for developing weight-loss drugs because the protein increases energy expenditure, causing the body to burn calories. But how the hormone worked wasn't known until now. UT Southwestern researchers tracking the hormone discovered that ...

DENVER – Sixteen institutions across Europe collaborated together to show for the first time that a semi-quantitative anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) protein expression test, immunohistochemistry (IHC), is reliable amongst several laboratories and reviewers when test methodology and result interpretation are strictly standardized and the scoring pathologists are appropriately trained on the test. ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) shrink tumors and increase progression-free survival in late-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients positive for ALK as ...

DENVER –CANARY, Computer-Aided Nodule Assessment and Risk Yield, is a novel software tool developed at Mayo Clinic that can automatically quantitate adenocarcinoma pulmonary nodule characteristics from non-invasive high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) images and stratify non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients into risk groups that have significantly different disease-free survival outcomes. The majority of NSCLC patients are diagnosed with advanced-stage disease which is concomitant with an exceptionally poor prognosis, 5-year survival rate of 4%. In ...

In individuals living in the Arctic, researchers have discovered a genetic variant that arose thousands of years ago and most likely provided an evolutionary advantage for processing high-fat diets or for surviving in a cold environment; however, the variant also seems to increase the risk of hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, and infant mortality in today's northern populations. The findings, published online October 23 in Cell Press's American Journal of Human Genetics, provide an example of how an initially beneficial genetic change could be detrimental to future generations. ...

People may have been making their way from Easter Island to the Americas well before the Dutch commander Jakob Roggeveen arrived with his ships in 1722, according to new genomic evidence showing that the Rapanui people living on that most isolated of islands had significant contact with Native American populations hundreds of years earlier. The findings reported in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on October 23 lend the first genetic support for such an early trans-Pacific route between Polynesia and the Americas, an impressive trek of more than 4,000 kilometers (nearly ...

Synthetic gene networks hold great potential for broad biotechnology and medical applications, but so far they have been limited to the lab. A study published by Cell Press October 23rd in the journal Cell reveals a new method for using engineered gene circuits beyond the lab, allowing researchers to safely activate the cell-free, paper-based system by simply adding water. The low-cost, easy-to-use platform could enable the rapid detection of different strains of deadly viruses such as Ebola. "Our paper-based system could not only make tools currently only available ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A new comprehensive analysis of thyroid cancer from The Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network has identified markers of aggressive tumors, which could allow for better targeting of appropriate treatments to individual patients. The finding suggests the potential to reclassify the disease based on genetic markers and moves thyroid cancer into a position to benefit more from precision medicine. "This understanding of the genomic landscape of thyroid cancer will refine how it's classified and improve molecular diagnosis. This will help us separate ...

LA JOLLA, CA – October 23, 2014 - Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have discovered a way to decrease deadly protein deposits in the heart, kidney and other organs associated with a group of human diseases called the systemic amyloid diseases. "If we can develop a strategy to reduce the load that's coming from these proteins, then we can open up treatment options that could be broadly applied to treat multiple systemic amyloid diseases," said Luke Wiseman, assistant professor at TSRI and a senior author of the new research. In related studies ...

California's position as a leader in tobacco control is under threat, according to a new report from the UC San Francisco Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education. Once a highly successful program and international model, the state's anti-tobacco efforts now appear to be waning due to the decreased spending power of the California Tobacco Control Program, a resurgence of the tobacco industry in state politics, and the emergence of new unregulated tobacco products. "The combination of weak leadership at the state level, willingness of political leaders to accept ...