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) -- The 2009 H1N1 influenza virus used a new strategy to cross from birds into humans, a warning that it has more than one trick up its sleeve to jump the species barrier and become virulent. http://www.physorg.com/news179511901.html Biology Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:25:30 EST news179511901 (PhysOrg.com) -- A protein that plays a key role in copying DNA also plays a vital role in repairing breaks in it, UC Davis scientists have found. The work is helping researchers understand how cancer cells can resist radiation and chemotherapy, as well as how cells become cancerous in the first place. http://www.physorg.com/news179082814.html Biology Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:30:01 EST news179082814 The ultimate goal in cancer research, a treatment that kills cancer cells whilst leaving healthy cells untouched, is brought nearer by the success of a new therapeutic approach. The potential therapy, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Breast Cancer Research, targets proliferation of cancer, but not normal, cells. http://www.physorg.com/news176623112.html Medicine & Health Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:30:02 EST news176623112 (PhysOrg.com) -- With their pleasing flavor, cheerful color, and health-imparting dose of vitamin C, it's not surprising that oranges are one of America's Top 10 favorite fruits. But some of the nation's citrus groves are threatened by a microbe that causes citrus greening disease, and by a tiny insect that carries this microbe. http://www.physorg.com/news175788613.html Biology Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:40:03 EST news175788613 (PhysOrg.com) -- Data published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, offers new insights into the biology of urothelial carcinoma of the bladder. Specifically, microRNA profiles differ according to clinical disease phenotype, therefore, scientists may be able to use these profiles to identify gene-regulatory and biological differences between tumors. http://www.physorg.com/news175447611.html Medicine & Health Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:30:01 EST news175447611 Rice University scientists have won a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to scrutinize the influenza A virus for clues that could lead to more effective antiviral drugs. Strains of influenza A include this year's pandemic H1N1 variety, some seasonal varieties and the much-feared H5N1 bird flu. http://www.physorg.com/news175258753.html Biology Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:10:04 EST news175258753 A workshop at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama has dramatically improved the ability of conservationists and regulatory agencies to monitor the spread of chytridiomycosis -one of the deadliest frog diseases on Earth. http://www.physorg.com/news175180017.html Biology Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:20:02 EST news175180017 (PhysOrg.com) -- The oyster lover`s axiom of edibility -- that this shellfish is safest to eat in any month with an 'r' in it -- may soon become somewhat of a culinary anachronism, thanks to a new food-safety test developed with help from the University of Florida. http://www.physorg.com/news174760044.html Chemistry Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:40:02 EST news174760044 All cells perform certain basic functions. Each must selectively transcribe parts of the DNA that makes up its genome into RNAs that specify the structure of proteins. The set of proteins synthesized by a cell in turn determines its structure and behaviour, and enables it to survive and reproduce. So it is crucial that the appropriate stretches of DNA are transcribed in each cell type. http://www.physorg.com/news174302430.html Biology Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:30:02 EST news174302430 The polyclonality of BRAF mutations in melanocytic nevi suggests that mutation of BRAF may not be an initial event in melanocyte transformation, according to a new brief communication published online September 14 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. http://www.physorg.com/news172166610.html Medicine & Health Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:10:02 EST news172166610 When the first cases of H1N1 Influenza (swine flu) were reported in Mexico in April, UQ researchers got to work developing a test to diagnose the virus. http://www.physorg.com/news171193543.html Medicine & Health Thu, 03 Sep 2009 11:20:03 EST news171193543 Research, discovery and publishing in a prestigious journal are not as easy as 1-2-3. However, an outstanding mentor and a well-equipped lab made this feat possible for doctoral student Fei Jiang. http://www.physorg.com/news170619661.html Biology Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:00:01 EST news170619661 Current research suggests that viral polymerase may provide a new therapeutic target for host-adapted avian influenza. The related report by Gabriel et al, "Spread of Infection and Lymphocyte Depletion in Mice Depends on Polymerase of Influenza Virus" appears in the September 2009 issue of the American Journal of Pathology. http://www.physorg.com/news170502763.html Medicine & Health Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:10:02 EST news170502763 Researchers in Singapore are reporting development of a new electronic sensor that shows promise as a faster, less expensive, and more practical alternative than tests now used to detect DNA. Such tests are done for criminal investigation, disease diagnosis, and other purposes. The new lab-on-a-chip test could lead to wider, more convenient use of DNA testing, the researchers say. Their study is scheduled for the Sept. 2 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. http://www.physorg.com/news170502528.html Chemistry Wed, 26 Aug 2009 10:49:15 EST news170502528 (PhysOrg.com) -- The body's nanomachines that read our genes don't run as smoothly as previously thought, according to a new study by University of California, Berkeley, scientists. http://www.physorg.com/news168182853.html Chemistry Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:29:22 EST news168182853 One of the earliest events that changes a normal cell into a malignant one is known as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) hypermethylation, a biochemical alteration that inactivates critical tumor-suppressor genes. A team of investigators at Johns Hopkins University has developed a quantum dot-based method that can quantify DNA methylation in premalignant cells harvested from human patients. http://www.physorg.com/news167412363.html Nanotechnology Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:30:02 EST news167412363 The "sloppier copier" discovered by USC biologists is also the best sixth man in the DNA repair game, an article in the journal Nature shows. http://www.physorg.com/news166885099.html Biology Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:50:02 EST news166885099 Mycobacterium tuberculosis is arguably the world's most successful infectious agent because it knows how to avoid elimination by slowing its own growth to a crawl. Now, a report in the July 10 issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, offers new insight into the bugs' talent for meager living. http://www.physorg.com/news166360612.html Biology Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:17:56 EST news166360612 Scientists in Japan are reporting development of a faster, less expensive version of the fabled polymerase chain reaction (PCR) a DNA test widely used in criminal investigations, disease diagnosis, biological research and other applications. The new method could lead to expanded use of PCR in medicine, the criminal justice system and elsewhere, the researchers say. Their study is scheduled for the July 15 issue of Analytical Chemistry, a semi-monthly journal. http://www.physorg.com/news166267753.html Chemistry Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:40:01 EST news166267753 (PhysOrg.com) -- A Vanderbilt chemist and a biomedical engineer have teamed up to develop a respiratory virus detector that is sensitive enough to detect an infection at an early stage, takes only a few minutes to return a result and is simple enough to be performed in a pediatrician's office. http://www.physorg.com/news165489614.html Chemistry Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:21:01 EST news165489614 Researchers at the Universities of Leeds and Bristol (UK) have developed a model of how errors are corrected whilst proteins are being built. http://www.physorg.com/news164974671.html Biology Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:18:21 EST news164974671 For many years scientists have known that the numerous biological functions of an organism are not regulated solely by the DNA sequence of its genes: Superordinate regulatory mechanisms exist that contribute to determining the fate of genes. Although they are not anchored in the DNA, they can even be passed on to subsequent generations to a certain extent. Intensive research in recent years has shown that these mechanisms - bundled under the term epigenetics, are very multifaceted and complex. http://www.physorg.com/news164376644.html Biology Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:11:00 EST news164376644 DNA might be the blueprint for living things, but proteins are the builders. Researchers trying to understand how and which proteins work together have developed a new crosslinking tool that is small and unobtrusive enough to use in live cells. Using the new tool, the scientists have discovered new details about a well-studied complex of proteins known as RNA polymerase. The results suggest the method might uncover collaborations between proteins that are too brief for other techniques to pinpoint. http://www.physorg.com/news164294615.html Biology Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:24:30 EST news164294615 (PhysOrg.com) -- Nature might abhor a vacuum, but it loves a backup plan. In living organisms, physiological systems are kept under tight control by hierarchies of organic safety catches and emergency releases, helping to make sure that things run as smoothly as possible. http://www.physorg.com/news163430546.html Chemistry Fri, 05 Jun 2009 14:22:58 EST news163430546 Genome Institute of Singapore scientists, led by Christopher Wong, Ph.D., have developed a novel approach to uncover the complete sequence of any influenza A virus, including H1NI, with just a quick nasal swab or nasal pharyngeal wash from patients. http://www.physorg.com/news162730865.html Medicine & Health Thu, 28 May 2009 13:00:54 EST news162730865 InDevR, a small biotech company in Boulder, CO, announced today that they have licensed the FluChip technology from the University of Colorado. The FluChip was invented by a joint team of scientists at the University of Colorado and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in an NIH sponsored effort led by Professor Kathy Rowlen. http://www.physorg.com/news160146203.html Medicine & Health Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:03:55 EST news160146203 The bacterium Escherichia coli, one of the best-studied single-celled organisms around, is a master of industrial efficiency. This bacterium can be thought of as a factory with just one product: itself. It exists to make copies of itself, and its business plan is to make them at the lowest possible cost, with the greatest possible efficiency. Efficiency, in the case of a bacterium, can be defined by the energy and resources it uses to maintain its plant and produce new cells, versus the time it expends on the task. http://www.physorg.com/news152966446.html Biology Wed, 04 Feb 2009 10:42:12 EST news152966446 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team of researchers from Penn State University and the University of Chicago has uncovered clues that may explain how and why a particular virus, called N4, injects an unusual substance -- an RNA polymerase protein -- into an E. coli bacterial cell. The results, which are published in the current issue of the journal Molecular Cell, contribute to improved understanding of the infection strategies used by viruses that attack bacterial cells. Such viruses are known as bacteriophages, or phages. The results also may help other researchers to come up with new ideas about ways to kill E. coli bacteria, which can be dangerous to humans. http://www.physorg.com/news147968299.html Biology Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:18:19 EST news147968299 How 'molecular machines' inside cells swing into action to activate genes at different times in a cell's life is revealed today in new research published in Molecular Cell. http://www.physorg.com/news145197379.html Biology Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:36:19 EST news145197379 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have taken a critical step toward the development of new and more effective antibacterial drugs by identifying exactly how a specific antibiotic sets up a road block that halts bacterial growth. http://www.physorg.com/news143987676.html Chemistry Thu, 23 Oct 2008 13:34:36 EST news143987676