Geneticists have developed a tool for efficiently mapping disease genes in dogs. This genomic tool may accelerate studies of dog diseases, many of which also affect humans. While dogs and humans often share the same living spaces, they are also susceptible to many of the same illnesses, including cancer, epilepsy, and diabetes.
Scientists are now one step closer to improved treatment of Type 2 diabetes following significant findings made by scientists at Australia's Garvan Institute of Medical Research. The team from Garvan's Diabetes Signalling Unit, has identified an enzyme known as "PKCepsilon"(PKCe) that is active during diabetes and blocks the availability of insulin.
There are two aspects to creating an effective drug: finding a chemical compound that has the desired biological effect and minimal side-effects and then delivering it to the right place in the body for it to do its job. One Vanderbilt researcher is tackling the second part of this problem. She is creating a modular, multi-functional drug delivery system that promises simultaneously to enhance the effectiveness and reduce undesirable side-effects of a number of different drugs.
Researchers have developed a new way of detecting the abnormal presence of complexes of sugars and proteins in the blood of cancer patients, thus providing a new tool for cancer diagnosis. Many proteins on the surface of cells have sugars attached to them, which helps the cells bind with one another and communicate among one another. But in cancer, these cell surface proteins can have an abnormally high number of sugar molecules attached to them.
Researchers have shown for the first time that fossils can be used as effectively as living species in understanding the complex branching in the evolutionary tree of life. While many scientists feel that fossils can offer insights from the ancient past, others have been reluctant to use extinct species because the data they offer is often less complete.
Adolescents who do well in school are less likely to smoke, drink or do drugs. But which comes first: drug use or school failure? Patterns of educational success or failure are well established for most adolescents by the time they reach the end of eighth grade, while drug use has only begun to emerge by that time.
When chemists originally developed SoyScreen, they envisioned outdoor enthusiasts and other consumers using their invention as an environmentally friendly alternative to petroleum-based sunscreens. Instead, SoyScreen became the technological platform from which iSoy Technologies Corporation, began launching a novel class of cosmetic ingredients called "skincare bio-lipid actives."
Shrubs far outgrew native grasses in Colorado rangeland when exposed to elevated levels of carbon dioxide. The results suggest that rising CO2 levels in the Earth's atmosphere may be contributing to shifts in plant community dynamics, in which woody vegetation is favored over perennial forage grasses.
Elevated levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere could seriously impact air, weather and vegetation. Now scientists are taking a closer look at what could happen underground. If atmospheric CO2 levels double within this century, as many climate models predict, some areas could experience large increases in the rate of groundwater recharge, the process by which water filters through the soil and enters aquifers.
When it comes to obesity, all fat deposits are not alike. Scientists found that individuals who were born with a particular gene variant had a significantly greater buildup of plaque in their arteries than those who were not carriers.
Americans love their spuds, consuming 130 pounds per person annually. Now that culinary love affair could grow even more passionate with new findings that some potato varieties are packed with health-promoting compounds called phytochemicals. Using a new analytical method, plant geneticists have identified 60 different kinds of phytochemicals and vitamins in the skins and flesh of 100 wild and commercially grown potatoes.
Biofuel research isn't just a matter of finding the right type of biomass--corn grain, soybean oil, animal fat, wood or other material--and converting it into fuel. Scientists must also find environmentally and economically sound uses for the by-products of biofuel production. Current biodiesel supplies are often made from the triglycerides, or fat, found in soybean oil.
An important part of the answer to the country's energy woes could be blowing in the prairie wind, according to a plant geneticist. He has spent the past 10 years breeding switchgrass, an eight-foot-plus native plant that was an integral part of the tall grass prairies that once dominated America's Midwest. As a breeder, he is mostly concerned with the plant's bioenergy-friendly attributes, including its ability to accumulate large amounts of biomass and tolerate environmental stress.
Consuming large amounts of raw garlic may be good for your heart, but not necessarily your social life. So, how do we best enjoy these pungent little bulbs, without missing out on their impressive health benefits? Crush them. Then bake them slightly.
