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. Australian and Canadian competition authorities have approved the Internet search and advertising partnership between Yahoo! and Microsoft, the companies said Tuesday. http://www.physorg.com/news178314674.html Technology Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:51:39 EST news178314674 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have documented that the brain hormone serotonin is made in human breast cancer cells and functions abnormally, contributing to malignant growth. http://www.physorg.com/news178308579.html Medicine & Health Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:20:02 EST news178308579 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team led by Penn State's Ross Hardison, T. Ming Chu Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, has taken a large step toward unraveling how regulatory proteins control the production of gene products during development and growth. Working with collaborators including Drs. Mitchell Weiss and Gerd Blobel at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, they focused specifically on the complex process of producing red blood cells (erythrocytes). These cells contain large amounts of hemoglobin, a molecule essential for transporting oxygen throughout the body. Abnormalities in hemoglobin figure in many serious diseases, such as sickle-cell disease, and abnormalities in producing blood cells can lead to leukemias. The work will be published in the December 2009 issue of the journal Genome Research. http://www.physorg.com/news177865776.html Medicine & Health Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:40:21 EST news177865776 A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered a direct link between insulin -a hormone long associated with metabolism and metabolic disorders such as diabetes -and core body temperature. While much research has been conducted on insulin since its discovery in the 1920s, this is the first time the hormone has been connected to the fundamental process of temperature regulation. http://www.physorg.com/news177861868.html Medicine & Health Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:20:01 EST news177861868 A new statistical technique developed by researchers at the University of Illinois allows scientists to scan a genome for specific gene-regulatory regions without requiring prior knowledge of the relevant transcription factors. The technique has been experimentally validated in both the mouse genome and the fruit fly genome. http://www.physorg.com/news177859128.html Biology Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:19:22 EST news177859128 Removing the PKCI/HINT1 gene from mice has an anti-depressant-like and anxiolytic-like effect. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Neuroscience applied a battery of behavioral tests to the PKCI/HINT1 knockout animals, concluding that the deleted gene may have an important role in mood regulation. http://www.physorg.com/news177276531.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:30:03 EST news177276531 Embryonic development is like a well-organised building project, with the embryo's DNA serving as the blueprint from which all construction details are derived. Cells carry out different functions according to a developmental plan, by expressing, i.e. turning on, different combinations of genes. These patterns of gene expression are controlled by transcription factors: molecules which bind to stretches of DNA called cis-regulatory modules (CRMs), and, once bound, switch the relevant genes on or off. http://www.physorg.com/news176574396.html Biology Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:27:12 EST news176574396 Brain tumors in childhood cast a long shadow on survivors. The first study of the lasting impact of these tumors -- the most common solid malignancies in childhood -- shows that survivors have ongoing cognitive problems. They also have lower levels of education, employment and income than their siblings and survivors of other types of cancer, according to a report published by the American Psychological Association. http://www.physorg.com/news176353211.html Medicine & Health Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:10:01 EST news176353211 (PhysOrg.com) -- It`s the age-old psychological conundrum: nature versus nurture. Are children more, less or equally affected by their genetics and the environment in which they grow up? Professor of Psychology Leslie Atkinson is working to advance one aspect of this often-perplexing question. http://www.physorg.com/news176124645.html Medicine & Health Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:34:44 EST news176124645 Our body's activity levels fall and rise to the beat of our internal drums -the 24-hour cycles that govern fundamental physiological functions, from sleeping and feeding patterns to the energy available to our cells. Whereas the master clock in the brain is set by light, the pacemakers in peripheral organs are set by food availability. The underlying molecular mechanism was unknown. http://www.physorg.com/news174834182.html Medicine & Health Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:04:23 EST news174834182 (PhysOrg.com) -- A Florida State University College of Medicine researcher has solved a century-old mystery about proteins that play a vital role in the transfer of the human genetic code from one cell to another. The discovery could lead to finding new ways to help the body fight a variety of diseases, including cancer. http://www.physorg.com/news174138276.html Biology Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:45:08 EST news174138276 A French multicenter study headed by Jean Cottraux (Lyon) has investigated the role of psychotherapy in borderline personality disorder. http://www.physorg.com/news172914867.html Medicine & Health Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:01:35 EST news172914867 Discovery by Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers of an additional role for a key molecule in our bodies provides a further step in world-wide efforts to develop genetic regulation aimed at controlling many diseases, including AIDS and various types of cancers. http://www.physorg.com/news172401540.html Chemistry Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:20:43 EST news172401540 A new study published in the September 11, 2009 issue of Science by researchers at the NYU School of Medicine reveals a conceptually novel mechanism that plays an important role in making human pathogens like Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus anthracis resistant to numerous antibiotics. http://www.physorg.com/news171811284.html Medicine & Health Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:21:55 EST news171811284 Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine assistant professor in the Center for RNA Molecular Biology, Jeff Coller, Ph.D., and his team discovered that messenger RNA (mRNA) predominately degrade on ribosomes, fundamentally altering a common understanding of how gene expression is controlled within the cell. The study, "Co-translational mRNA decay in Saccharomyces cerevisiae", is published in the latest issue of Nature. http://www.physorg.com/news170256361.html Biology Sun, 23 Aug 2009 14:26:29 EST news170256361 Scientists at Stanford University have identified a gene that may play a role in the development of type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the body's insulin-producing cells. Insulin, a hormone produced by cells of the pancreas, helps the body to absorb sugars found in food and to maintain blood sugar at appropriate levels. http://www.physorg.com/news169121256.html Medicine & Health Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:08:15 EST news169121256 The findings, published in this week's issue of Science, conclude that food-web stability is enhanced when many diverse predator-prey links connect high and intermediate trophic levels. The computations also reveal that small ecosystems follow other rules than large ecosystems: differences in the strength of predator-prey links increase the stability of small webs, but destabilize larger webs. http://www.physorg.com/news168787660.html Biology Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:20:01 EST news168787660 (PhysOrg.com) -- A group of nanoengineers, biologists and physicists have used innovative approaches to deduce the internal structure of chromatin, a key player in DNA regulation, to reconcile a longstanding controversy in this field. This new finding could unlock the mystery behind the origin of many diseases such as cancer. http://www.physorg.com/news168270003.html Chemistry Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:40:36 EST news168270003 Distinctive patterns of genes turned off - or left on - in healthy versus cancerous cells could enable early screening for many common cancers and maybe help avoid them, Medical College of Georgia scientists say. http://www.physorg.com/news167912666.html Medicine & Health Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:40:01 EST news167912666 The cytokine IL-9 promotes a multiple sclerosis-like disease in mice, according to a new study by Nowak et al. published online on July 13th in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. In a related Commentary, Richard Locksley discusses the molecular and genetic regulation of cytokine production by CD4+ T helper (Th) cells and the plasticity among different Th subsets. The Commentary will be published online in the Journal of Experimental Medicine on Monday, July 27th. http://www.physorg.com/news167907415.html Medicine & Health Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:00:02 EST news167907415 Finnish Academy Professors Lauri Aaltonen and Jussi Taipale have identified and described a mechanism whereby a single-base change in the human genome increases the risk of colorectal cancer. http://www.physorg.com/news165490050.html Medicine & Health Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:20:04 EST news165490050 Scientists in Michigan and California are reporting an advance toward development of a new generation of drugs that treat disease by orchestrating how genes in the body produce proteins involved in arthritis, cancer and a range of other disorders. Acting like an `on-off switch,` the medications might ratchet up the production of proteins in genes working at abnormally low levels or shut off genes producing an abnormal protein linked to disease. http://www.physorg.com/news163362257.html Chemistry Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:24:52 EST news163362257 (PhysOrg.com) -- In the quest for new approaches to treating and preventing disease, one appealing route involves turning genes on or off at will, directly intervening in ailments such as cancer and diabetes, which result when genes fail to turn on and off as they should. http://www.physorg.com/news163249974.html Chemistry Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:13:59 EST news163249974 Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, along with an international team of collaborators, have identified common genetic changes associated with blood pressure and hypertension. The study, reporting online next week in Nature Genetics, breaks new ground in understanding blood pressure regulation and may lead to advances in hypertension therapy. http://www.physorg.com/news161182734.html Medicine & Health Sun, 10 May 2009 14:01:16 EST news161182734 An in-depth proteomic analysis of the sera of 50 participants from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) hormone replacement therapy trial provides some explanations for the trial's clinical results. The study, published in Biomed Central's open access journal Genome Medicine, shows that estrogen upregulates proteins involved in several major body processes. http://www.physorg.com/news160213500.html Medicine & Health Wed, 29 Apr 2009 08:47:37 EST news160213500 Overexpression of PEA-15, which binds and drags an oncoprotein out of the cell nucleus where it fuels cancer growth, steeply reduced breast cancer tumors in a preclinical experiment, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reported at the 100th annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. http://www.physorg.com/news159464002.html Medicine & Health Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:33:44 EST news159464002 A study of gene expression in chickens, frogs, pufferfish, mice and people has revealed surprising similarities in several key tissues. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access Journal of Biology have shown that expression in tissues with a limited number of specialized cell types is strongly conserved, even between the mammalian and non-mammalian vertebrates. http://www.physorg.com/news159081834.html Biology Thu, 16 Apr 2009 06:31:33 EST news159081834 (AP) -- The federal government would for the first time have regulatory powers over the tobacco industry under a bill the House approved Thursday after years of campaigning by anti-smoking forces. http://www.physorg.com/news157887776.html Medicine & Health Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:44:51 EST news157887776 A new study has identified a potential strategy for removing the abnormal protein that causes Huntington's disease (HD) from brain cells, which could slow the progression of the devastating neurological disorder. In the April 3 issue of Cell, a team of researchers from the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease (MGH-MIND) describes how an alteration to the mutated form of the huntingtin protein appears to accelerate its breakdown and removal through normal cellular processes. http://www.physorg.com/news157895508.html Medicine & Health Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:52:15 EST news157895508 Older adults who worry about their health engage in less physical activity, and those who participate in less activity are more likely to report having difficulty walking, according to a new study. http://www.physorg.com/news157136899.html Medicine & Health Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:09:07 EST news157136899