CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Plants are good at doing what scientists and engineers have been struggling to do for decades: converting sunlight into stored energy, and doing so reliably day after day, year after year. Now some MIT scientists have succe…
AMES, Iowa — Iowa State University researchers have found a way to produce high-value chemicals such as ethylene glycol and propylene glycol from biomass rather than petroleum sources.
Walter Trahanovsky, an Iowa State professor of chemistr…
New Rochelle, NY, September 1, 2010 — Biopharmaceutical firms and other life science organizations are taking definitive steps toward creating greener working environments and developing more sustainable operations, reports Genetic Engineering …
Production of new nerve cells in the human brain is linked to learning and memory, according to a new study from the University of Florida. The research is the first to show such a link in humans. The findings, published online and in an upcoming pr…
PHILADELPHIA – Male infertility is a common medical problem, affecting millions of men in the United States annually. Its causes include an inability to make productive sperm. Now, using yeast as a model organism, researchers at the University of Pe…
One of the hottest nutritional supplements, currently manufactured by fermentation only in Japan, may eventually be synthesized in the United States thanks to research at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Bruce H. Lipshutz, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UCSB, has developed a way to prepare coenzyme Q 10 (CoQ10 ) that he calls “short and sweet.” His method is patented and he is already talking to U.S. companies regarding potential commercialization. The process is economically competitive, using transition metal catalysts along the way, such as inexpensive nickel and cobalt complexes.
Scientists are using new imaging technology to help them perform “virtual biopsies,” ? biological profiles of specific tumors that may help predict a patient’s response to treatment and probability of long-term survival. This whole new realm of imaging is called functional MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), a process that offers insight into a tumor’s character, not just its superficial structure.
Mice lacking only one copy of the gene for CD2-associated protein (CD2AP) appear to be significantly more susceptible to kidney disease and failure than normal mice. Moreover, the mutation appears to impair the elimination of proteins that accumulate in the kidney, a previously unidentified process.
Scientists may have discovered why the brain’s higher information-processing center slows down in old age, affecting everything from language, to vision, to motor skills. The findings may also point toward drugs for reversing the process.
A brain chemical called GABA helps neurons stay finicky about which signals they respond to – a must for the brain to function at its peak. Certain neurons in very old macaque monkeys lose their pickiness, researchers have found, seemingly because they don’t get enough GABA. These results appear in the journal Science, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
The method that Staphylococcus aureus (staph) infection uses to inactivate the body’s immune response and cause previously healthy B cells to commit suicide, is described for the first time by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine. Normally, B cells mount an early defense against invading bacteria. From this immunologic experience, memory B cells are developed with the ability to quickly recognize these antigens and destroy the bacteria if they return in the future. When staph infections occur, however, this important process for immune defense can be corrupted.
Research into the health-promoting properties of green tea is yielding information that may lead to new treatments for skin diseases and wounds.
Dr. Stephen Hsu, a cell biologist in the Medical College of Georgia Department of Oral Biology, has uncovered a wealth of information about green tea in the last few years. Most importantly, he helped determine that compounds in green tea called polyphenols help eliminate free radicals, which can cause cancer by altering DNA. He also found that polyphenols safeguard healthy cells while ushering cancer cells to their death.
The most critical networks in any organization are not necessarily those carrying Internet traffic, but the social networks among persons and groups that define an organization’s process and knowledge flow. Kathleen Carley’s goal is to estimate the size, shape and weaknesses of those social networks to help managers predict how an organization is likely to respond to anticipated and unanticipated changes. Ray Levitt wants to design, from the ground up, organizations without any weaknesses at all.