In an interesting bit of scientific serendipity, researchers at North Carolina State University have found that a chemical compound useful for studying the origins of intestinal birth defects may also inhibit the growth and spread of cancerous tumor…
TEMPE, Ariz. — Despite decades of research and billions of dollars, cancer remains a major killer, with an uncanny ability to evade both the body’s defenses and medical intervention. Now an Arizona State University scientist believes he has an exp…
Everybody knows that if you’re physically fit, you’re less likely to get a wide range of diseases. What most people don’t know is that some people are “naturally” in better shape than others, and this variation in conditioning makes it difficult to …
CHAPEL HILL — Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have uncovered the genetic architecture controlling the growth of the collateral circulation — the “back-up” blood vessels that can provide oxyge…
Biochemists have developed a computational method to design proteins that can specifically detect a wide array of chemicals from TNT to brain chemicals involved in neurological disorders. In a paper in the May 8, 2003, issue of the journal Nature, they demonstrate the breadth of their design method, and also that such sensor proteins can be re-incorporated into cells to activate cellular signaling and genetic pathways.
Researchers are gaining new insight into the molecular players involved in the process of vertebral column formation in the embryo.
A research team has found evidence for an oscillator called the segmentation clock, a timing mechanism responsible for the periodic production of the somites (the precursors of the vertebrae) in the embryo. This group now reports that the Notch signaling pathway provides the backbone of the segmentation clock in the chick embryo. These findings are reported in the Jan. 12 Advance Online Publication of the journal Nature in a paper titled “Periodic Notch inhibition by lunatic fringe underlies the chick segmentation clock.”