http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) have brought together UCSD theoretical modeling and Caltech experimental data to show just how amino-acid chains might fold up into unique, three-dimensional functional proteins. http://www.physorg.com/news154633865.html Chemistry Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:51:40 EST news154633865 (PhysOrg.com) -- As the world marks the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, there is much focus on evolution in animals and plants. But new research shows that for the countless billions of tiniest creatures - microbes - large-scale evolution was completed 2.5 billion years ago. http://www.physorg.com/news154275830.html Biology Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:24:24 EST news154275830 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at North Carolina State University have discovered that the good bacteria found in dairy products and linked to positive health benefits in the human body might also be an effective vehicle for an oral vaccine that can provide immunity to anthrax exposure. The approach could possibly be used to deliver any number of specific vaccines that could block other types of viruses and pathogens. http://www.physorg.com/news154117517.html Medicine & Health Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:26:22 EST news154117517 (PhysOrg.com) -- Castoreum, the dried scent glands of the Canadian beaver, was once one of the most valuable scent components derived from animals. Castoreum contains a complex mixture of substances, including a number of compounds known as nupharamine alkaloids. Many of these have been structurally characterized. Researchers working with Horst Kunz at the University of Mainz (Germany) have now, as they report in the journal Angewandte Chemie, determined the stereochemistry (precise spatial structure) of another castoreum component by using a total synthesis. A total synthesis is the complete chemical synthesis of a complex organic natural substance from simple, easily attainable starting materials. http://www.physorg.com/news154009419.html Chemistry Mon, 16 Feb 2009 12:24:13 EST news154009419 A groundbreaking study has revealed in great detail how enzymes in the cell cooperate to make fat. These enzymes are integrated into a single molecular complex known as fatty acid synthase. This complex is regarded as a potential target for developing new anti-obesity and anti-cancer drugs. http://www.physorg.com/news153600180.html Biology Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:52:16 EST news153600180 (PhysOrg.com) -- An elaborate statistical analysis of genes from more than 7,000 individuals has identified an amino acid that appears to be a major risk factor for multiple sclerosis, a devastating autoimmune disorder that afflicts 2.5 million people worldwide. In research published this month in BMC Medical Genetics, scientists from The Rockefeller University and colleagues from the University of Oxford in England and the University of British Columbia in Canada report a binding pocket in a previously implicated gene that may be an attractive research prospect as a potential drug target. http://www.physorg.com/news153592039.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:27:55 EST news153592039 Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center have demonstrated that it might be possible to treat genetic diseases, including some forms of cancer, by "rescuing" the misshapen, useless proteins produced by some mutant genes. http://www.physorg.com/news153589365.html Chemistry Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:44:26 EST news153589365 Mucin, a protein extracted from Nomura's jellyfish, has proved highly effective in regrowing cartilage in joints, scientists in Japan claim. http://www.physorg.com/news153241355.html Medicine & Health Sat, 07 Feb 2009 15:03:04 EST news153241355 (PhysOrg.com) -- Bacteria naturally present in the human gut could produce substances that help to protect against colon cancer and provide therapy for inflammatory bowel disease. http://www.physorg.com/news153145784.html Biology Fri, 06 Feb 2009 12:30:09 EST news153145784 A Texas AgriLife Research scientist and fellow researchers have discovered that arginine, an amino acid, reduces fat mass in diet-induced obese rats and could help fight human obesity. http://www.physorg.com/news152981332.html Medicine & Health Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:50:58 EST news152981332 (PhysOrg.com) -- Some of the secrets behind the emergence of new species have been uncovered in a genetic study, conducted in collaboration with bioscientists at The University of Nottingham. http://www.physorg.com/news152543787.html Biology Fri, 30 Jan 2009 13:17:59 EST news152543787 (PhysOrg.com) -- Three billion years ago, a "new" amino acid was added to the alphabet of 20 that commonly make up proteins in organisms today. Now researchers at Yale and the University of Tokyo have demonstrated how this rare amino acid - and, by example, other amino acids - made its way into the menu for protein synthesis. The study appeared in the December 31 advance online publication of the journal Nature. http://www.physorg.com/news152278905.html Biology Tue, 27 Jan 2009 11:42:35 EST news152278905 Individual nerve cells in the front part of the brain can hold traces of memories on their own for as long as a minute and possibly longer, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found. http://www.physorg.com/news152114323.html Medicine & Health Sun, 25 Jan 2009 14:00:24 EST news152114323 (PhysOrg.com) -- Adelaide researchers have made a world breakthrough in treating premature babies at risk of developmental disorders. http://www.physorg.com/news151152865.html Medicine & Health Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:54:25 EST news151152865 Nanotubes, the tiny honeycomb cylinders of carbon atoms only a few nanometers wide, are perhaps the signature material of modern engineering research, but actually trying to organize the atomic scale rods is notoriously like herding cats. A new study* from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and Rice University, however, offers an inexpensive process that gets nanotubes to obediently line themselves up -- that is, self-assemble -- in neat rows, more like ducks. http://www.physorg.com/news151090330.html Nanotechnology Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:32:10 EST news151090330 Scientists in the United Kingdom are reporting new evidence that humans can make their own salicylic acid (SA) - the material formed when aspirin breaks down in the body. SA, which is responsible for aspirin's renowned effects in relieving pain and inflammation, may be the first in a new class of bioregulators, according to a study in the December 24, 2008 issue of ACS' biweekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. http://www.physorg.com/news151004405.html Chemistry Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:40:05 EST news151004405 Researchers have uncovered why some dietary fats, specifically long-chain fats, such as oleic acid (found in olive oil), are more prone to induce inflammation. Long-chain fats, it turns out, promote increased intestinal absorption of pro-inflammatory bacterial molecules called lipopolysaccharides (LPS). This study appears in the January issue of JLR. http://www.physorg.com/news150652159.html Medicine & Health Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:49:19 EST news150652159 Researchers from the University of Granada and the University of Barcelona have shown that treatment with maslinic acid, a triterpenoid compound isolated from olive-skin pomace, results in a significant inhibition of cell proliferation and causes apoptotic death in colon-cancer cells. Maslinic acid is a novel natural compound and it is able to induce apoptosis or programmed death in human HT29 colon-cancer cells via the intrinsic mitochondrial pathway. Scientifics suggest this could be a useful new therapeutic strategy for the treatment of colon carcinoma. http://www.physorg.com/news150636441.html Medicine & Health Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:27:21 EST news150636441 University of Michigan researchers have discovered that a key protein in cells plays a critical role in not one, but two processes affecting the development of cancer. http://www.physorg.com/news150460962.html Biology Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:42:42 EST news150460962 Only 17 percent of Spanish-speaking women of childbearing age in the United States are taking a multivitamin containing folic acid daily, according to the first- nationally representative folic acid awareness survey to focus on this population. http://www.physorg.com/news150388862.html Medicine & Health Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:41:02 EST news150388862 (PhysOrg.com) -- Children of mothers who took acid-suppressive drugs during pregnancy had a 1.5 times higher incidence of asthma when compared with children who were not exposed to the drugs in utero, finds a large population-based study by researchers at Children`s Hospital Boston. http://www.physorg.com/news150121295.html Medicine & Health Fri, 02 Jan 2009 12:21:35 EST news150121295 Rice University and Roquette Frères have signed a licensing deal to enable bio-based production of succinic acid, a substance used in plastics, textiles, drugs and solvents and as a food additive. http://www.physorg.com/news148918106.html Chemistry Fri, 19 Dec 2008 14:08:26 EST news148918106 Climate change is hampering the long-term recovery of rivers from the effects of acid rain, as wet weather counteracts improvements, according to a new study by Cardiff University. http://www.physorg.com/news148316585.html Space & Earth Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:03:05 EST news148316585 (PhysOrg.com) -- Alzheimer's disease is the primary cause of age-related dementia. About 15 million people are affected by this neurodegenerative disease worldwide. It has so far not been possible to combat the causes of Alzheimer`s disease. Israeli researchers have now developed a novel approach for treatment. As they report in the journal Angewandte Chemie, the new drug, a molecule made from two nonphysiological amino acids, improves the cognitive abilities of mice with Alzheimer`s and reduces the amyloid plaques in their brains. http://www.physorg.com/news147616157.html Chemistry Thu, 04 Dec 2008 12:29:17 EST news147616157 Climate change is hampering the long-term recovery of rivers from the effects of acid rain, with wet weather offsetting improvements, according to a new study by Cardiff University. http://www.physorg.com/news147505680.html Space & Earth Wed, 03 Dec 2008 05:48:00 EST news147505680 Scientists around the world may benefit from a powerful new database, available for free online, that will help them to home in on the parts of proteins most necessary for their function. http://www.physorg.com/news147373474.html Medicine & Health Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:04:34 EST news147373474 Exposure to folic acid antagonists during pregnancy is associated with a higher risk of placenta-mediated adverse outcomes such as preeclampsia, placental abruption, fetal growth restriction or fetal death reports a retrospective cohort study published in CMAJ http://www.cmaj.ca/press/pg1263.pdf. http://www.physorg.com/news147372951.html Medicine & Health Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:55:51 EST news147372951 Women who are exposed to hairspray in the workplace during pregnancy have more than double the risk of having a son with the genital birth defect hypospadias, according to a new study published today in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. http://www.physorg.com/news146489261.html Medicine & Health Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:27:41 EST news146489261 A team of researchers at Duke University Medical Center and the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL) has found that lactic acid is an important energy source for tumor cells. In further experiments, they discovered a new way to destroy the most hard-to-kill, dangerous tumor cells by preventing them from delivering lactic acid. http://www.physorg.com/news146421554.html Medicine & Health Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:39:14 EST news146421554 New research has traced elevated levels of a specific compound in the brain to problem-solving deficits in patients with schizophrenia. http://www.physorg.com/news146248012.html Medicine & Health Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:26:52 EST news146248012