Since the discovery of the structure of DNA, the paradigm for DNA replication has stated that the DNA itself codes for replication. In other words, if a guanine base is on the original strand of DNA then its partner, a cytosine base, will pair to it on the replicated strand. Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine report on the first instance in which a protein provides the coding information.
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Current immunization policies recommend universal flu vaccination for children aged 6-23 months, but shots are advised for older children only if they have high-risk medical conditions. Now, biosurveillance data compiled by researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School, reported in October 1 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology, suggest that otherwise healthy 3- and 4-year-olds drive flu epidemics, a pattern that may warrant consideration when formulating immunization policy.
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Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Goettingen, Germany have uncovered the molecular mechanism of switchable fluorescent proteins, able to switch themselves reversibly back-and-forth between an “on” and “off” state. The discovery could be of importance for, among other purposes, optical data storage in protein crystals.
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A new weapon in the battle against HIV may come from an unusual source — a small tropical frog. Investigators at Vanderbilt University Medical Center reported this month in the Journal of Virology that compounds secreted by frog skin are potent blockers of HIV infection. The findings could lead to topical treatments for preventing HIV transmission, and they reinforce the value of preserving the Earth’s biodiversity.
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A physician-scientist at UT Southwestern Medical Center and his research team have identified mechanisms causing a potentially deadly type of hypertension that results from liver damage — findings that could lead to its prevention. This particular type of hypertension, called portal hypertension, affects the blood flow into the portal vein, which feeds blood to the liver.
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Only one-third of childbearing age women are taking a multivitamin containing the B vitamin folic acid daily to prevent serious birth defects of the brain and spine in their future babies, according to survey results, published in the September 30 issue of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR.). The results highlight the need to increase folic acid fortification of the grain supply, the March of Dimes says.
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Virginia Commonwealth University chemists have created a new molecular receptor for a fluorescent dye used to track a drug candidate’s activity inside cell membranes.
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HHMI researchers have found that bacteria of different species can talk to each other using a common language — and also that some species can manipulate the conversation to confuse other bacteria.
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Are there planets like Earth around other “suns” that might harbor life? Thanks to a recent technology breakthrough on a key NASA planet-finding project, the dream of answering those questions is no longer light-years away. On a crystal clear, star-filled night at Hawaii’s Keck Observatory in Mauna Kea, NASA engineers successfully suppressed the blinding light of three stars, including the well-known Vega, by 100 times. This breakthrough will enable scientists to detect the dim dust disks around stars, where planets might be forming. Normally the disks are obscured by the glare of the starlight.
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Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers have linked alterations in a gene, called Rsf-1, to the most deadly ovarian cancers. The scientists say the discovery is the first to establish a role for the gene in ovarian cancer and may lead to a test that can predict, early on, which patients will develop aggressive disease.
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