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. Though they remain a leading killer, heart attacks can be effectively treated provided they can be rapidly diagnosed following initial onset of symptoms. In a study appearing in this month's Molecular and Cellular Proteomics, researchers have identified cardiac myosin-binding protein C (cMyBP-C) as a potential new diagnostic biomarker for heart attacks, one that may be particularly valuable for mild attacks in which traditional diagnostic proteins may not be abundant enough. http://www.physorg.com/news179669113.html Medicine & Health Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:06:44 EST news179669113 Drugs sometimes have beneficial side effects. A glaucoma treatment causes luscious eyelashes. A blood pressure drug also aids those with a rare genetic disease. The newest surprise discovered by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is a gonorrhea medication that might help battle cancer. http://www.physorg.com/news176727215.html Medicine & Health Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:55:03 EST news176727215 (PhysOrg.com) -- In the binding pockets of enzymes their natural binding partners fit exactly. The principle by which many pharmacological agents work also relies on the fact that these substances fit exactly into the pockets of specific enzymes. Not only the chemical properties but also the shape of the pocket determines if a molecule fits or not. http://www.physorg.com/news176020509.html Chemistry Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:35:59 EST news176020509 Researchers report that a single-stranded DNA-binding protein (SSB), once thought to be a static player among the many molecules that interact with DNA, actually moves back and forth along single-stranded DNA, gradually allowing other proteins to repair, recombine or replicate the strands. http://www.physorg.com/news175347555.html Chemistry Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:40:17 EST news175347555 Bacteria in drinks such as Vifit stop pathogens by using grabber-like arms to cling onto intestinal walls. This discovery is made by a group of Finnish, Belgium and Dutch researchers, under the coordination of Prof. Willem de Vos of the Laboratory of Microbiology (Wageningen University, The Netherlands). The results were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences late last week. http://www.physorg.com/news174918448.html Biology Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:27:50 EST news174918448 Scientists label cells with coloured or glowing chemicals to observe how basic cellular activities differ between healthy and cancerous cells. Existing techniques for labelling cells are either too slow or too toxic to perform on live cells. Now, a study reviewed by Philip Dawson, a member of Faculty of 1000 Biology and leading authority in chemistry and cell biology, describes a novel labelling technique that uses a chemical reaction to make live cancer cells light up quickly and safely. http://www.physorg.com/news173008489.html Medicine & Health Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:20:01 EST news173008489 The tools of biochemistry have finally caught up with lactose repressor protein. Biologists from Rice University in Houston and the University of Florence in Italy this week published new results about "lac repressor," which was the first known genetic regulatory protein when discovered in 1966. http://www.physorg.com/news172849016.html Chemistry Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:38:47 EST news172849016 (PhysOrg.com) -- It`s surprising how much havoc the tiny termite can wreak. Each year infestations of these insects cause an estimated $30 billion in damage to buildings and crops nationwide. Historically, homeowners and plantation farmers have resorted to using harmful chemical pesticides to kill off the pests, but new research out of Northeastern University may soon change that. http://www.physorg.com/news170618505.html Biology Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:10:04 EST news170618505 A group of University of Oklahoma researchers led by Dr. James P. Shaffer, Homer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy, have discovered giant Rydberg molecules with a bond as large as a red blood cell. Determining how Rydberg molecules interact is important because Rydberg atoms are a key ingredient in atom based quantum computation schemes. http://www.physorg.com/news165059097.html Physics Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:45:28 EST news165059097 Testing people for heart disease might be just a finger prick away thanks to a new credit card-sized device created by a team of researchers from Harvard and Northeastern universities in Boston. In a research report published online in The FASEB Journal, they describe how this device can measure and collect a type of cells needed to build vascular tissue, called endothelial progenitor cells, using only 200 microliters of blood. The development is also significant because it allows scientists to collect these cells much more easily than current techniques allow, bringing laboratory-created tissue for vascular bypass surgeries another step closer to reality. http://www.physorg.com/news163070402.html Medicine & Health Mon, 01 Jun 2009 10:20:32 EST news163070402 (PhysOrg.com) -- University of Missouri researchers recently showed how carbon nanostructures can be engineered to become excellent media for hydrogen storage, work that may be important for the advancement of hydrogen-energy technologies for vehicles and other applications, which have been slow to develop due to the lack of suitable storage materials. http://www.physorg.com/news162195986.html Nanotechnology Fri, 22 May 2009 07:27:40 EST news162195986 Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have discovered how a gene crucial in triggering the spread of breast cancer is turned on and off. The findings could help predict whether breast tumors will metastasize and also reveal potential drug targets for preventing metastasis. The study will appear in the May 20th online edition of the Journal of Cell Science. http://www.physorg.com/news161355941.html Medicine & Health Tue, 12 May 2009 14:06:16 EST news161355941 Photosynthesis is a remarkable biological process that supports life on earth. Plants and photosynthetic microbes do so by harvesting light to produce their food, and in the process, also provide vital oxygen for animals and people. http://www.physorg.com/news161280872.html Biology Mon, 11 May 2009 17:15:20 EST news161280872 Obesity and gallstones often go hand in hand. But not in mice developed at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Even when these mice eat high-fat diets, they don't get fat, but they do develop gallstones. Researchers say the findings offer clues about genetic factors related to gallstones, and they believe better understanding of those factors may one day allow physicians to monitor people at risk and even, perhaps, to intervene before gallstones become a serious problem. http://www.physorg.com/news160910670.html Medicine & Health Thu, 07 May 2009 10:25:00 EST news160910670 By combining nanoparticles with a scorpion venom compound already being investigated for treating brain cancer, University of Washington researchers found they could cut the spread of cancerous cells by 98 percent, compared to 45 percent for the scorpion venom alone. http://www.physorg.com/news159108900.html Nanotechnology Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:56:10 EST news159108900 Biomedical engineers have developed a new type of probe that allows them to visualize single ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules within live cells more easily than existing methods. The tool will help scientists learn more about how RNA operates within living cells. http://www.physorg.com/news158245779.html Chemistry Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:10:04 EST news158245779 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Uppsala University and Harvard University have collaboratively developed a new theoretical model to explain how proteins can rapidly find specific DNA sequences, even though there are many obstacles in the way on the chromosomes. The findings are being published today in the scientific journal Nature Physics. http://www.physorg.com/news156426603.html Physics Mon, 16 Mar 2009 12:50:34 EST news156426603 (PhysOrg.com) -- The way in which bacteria that cause bacterial meningitis mimic human cells to evade the body's innate immune system has been revealed by researchers at the University of Oxford and Imperial College London. http://www.physorg.com/news154186118.html Medicine & Health Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:29:23 EST news154186118 A new study published this week in the open-access journal PLoS Medicine identifies molecular pathways associated with outcomes in ovarian cancer. Currently, outcomes following diagnosis of ovarian cancer are very poor, with up to 65-70% of women dying within five years of diagnosis. http://www.physorg.com/news152857862.html Medicine & Health Tue, 03 Feb 2009 04:31:45 EST news152857862 A transcription factor known to drive the formation of fibroblasts during development also promotes their ability to invade and remodel surrounding tissues, report Rowe et al. in the February 9, 2009 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology. http://www.physorg.com/news152791634.html Biology Mon, 02 Feb 2009 10:07:47 EST news152791634 Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified in mice a compound that liberates cholesterol that has inappropriately accumulated to excessive levels inside cells. http://www.physorg.com/news152213314.html Medicine & Health Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:29:08 EST news152213314 When picking through a basket of fruit, it doesn't seem very difficult to recognize a green pear from a green apple. This is easy, thanks to "feature binding" - a process by which our brain combines all of the specific features of an object and gives us a complete and unified picture of it. http://www.physorg.com/news146229156.html Medicine & Health Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:12:36 EST news146229156 (PhysOrg.com) -- Chemists can learn from some shellfish. Mussels, for example, produce an adhesive that sticks strongly to metal and stone, even under water. Chemists have reproduced the protein responsible for this in a synthetic material that contains the same adhesive elements. Irrespective of whether the adhesive is completely made up of these elements or whether they represent just a tenth of its make-up, adhesion is equally good. These findings were made by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research and at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz. It might be possible to use the 90% of the polymers that are not necessary to create a good bond for other functions by providing them with chemical adjuncts which will allow them to adhere to surfaces other than metal or stone. (Advanced Materials, October 2008) http://www.physorg.com/news146140452.html Chemistry Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:34:12 EST news146140452 A team of Rutgers University scientists led by Richard H. Ebright and Eddy Arnold has identified a new antibiotic target and a new antibiotic mechanism that may enable the development of broad-spectrum antibacterial agents effective against bacterial pathogens resistant to current antibiotics. In particular, the results could lead the way to new treatments for tuberculosis (TB) that involve shorter courses of therapy and are effective against drug-resistant TB. http://www.physorg.com/news143380183.html Medicine & Health Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:49:43 EST news143380183 Brain scans taken at different times of year suggest that the actions of the serotonin transporter -involved in regulating the mood-altering neurotransmitter serotonin -vary by season, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of General Psychiatry. These fluctuations may potentially explain seasonal affective disorder and related mood changes. http://www.physorg.com/news139570561.html Medicine & Health Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:36:01 EST news139570561 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, in collaboration with colleagues at Cornell University, Tokyo University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Colorado, have uncovered the first experimental evidence for why the transition temperature of high-temperature superconductors -- the temperature at which these materials carry electrical current with no resistance -- cannot simply be elevated by increasing the electrons' binding energy. The research -- to be published in the August 28, 2008, issue of Nature -- demonstrates how, as electron-pair binding energy increases, the electrons' tendency to get caught in a quantum mechanical "traffic jam" overwhelms the interactions needed for the material to act as a superconductor -- a freely flowing fluid of electron pairs. http://www.physorg.com/news139060424.html Physics Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:53:44 EST news139060424 Researchers at Rutgers University and The University of Texas at Austin have reported a discovery that could help scientists develop drugs to fight the much-feared bird flu and other virulent strains of influenza. http://www.physorg.com/news138885789.html Medicine & Health Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:23:09 EST news138885789 University of Utah School of Medicine researchers have developed a new tool that facilitates diagnosis of anemia related to chronic illness, as well as diseases of iron overload. The results of a study detailing the new tool are published in the August 2008 issue of the journal Cell Metabolism, a publication of Cell Press. http://www.physorg.com/news137164774.html Medicine & Health Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:19:34 EST news137164774 Northeastern University scientists have discovered a new and unique DNA binding property of a protein in E. coli. Penny J. Beuning, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, spent the last two years researching double and single-stranded DNA binding of E. coli DNA polymerase III alpha protein and notes that her findings have potential for developing a new antibacterial target. http://www.physorg.com/news136566772.html Chemistry Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:12:52 EST news136566772