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) -- A team of researchers led by University of California, Riverside (UCR) Professor of Chemical Engineering Wilfred Chen has constructed for the first time a synthetic cellulosome in yeast, which is much more ethanol-tolerant than the bacteria in which these structures are normally found. http://www.physorg.com/news176054068.html Biology Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:54:52 EST news176054068 Since the completion of the human genome sequence, a question has baffled researchers studying gene control: How is it that humans, being far more complex than the lowly yeast, do not proportionally contain in our genome significantly more gene-control proteins? http://www.physorg.com/news176043018.html Biology Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:51:56 EST news176043018 The skin of that pumpkin you carve into a Jack-o'-Lantern to scare away ghosts and goblins on Halloween contains a substance that could put a scare into microbes that cause millions of cases of yeast infections in adults and infants each year. That's the conclusion of a new study in the current issue of ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. http://www.physorg.com/news175953381.html Chemistry Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:00:02 EST news175953381 (PhysOrg.com) -- A strain of yeast that thrives on turning sugar cane into ethanol for biofuel has had its genome completely sequenced by researchers at Duke University Medical Center. http://www.physorg.com/news174073888.html Biology Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:52:08 EST news174073888 The Stowers Institute's Gerton Lab has provided new evidence to clarify the structure of nucleosomes containing Cse4, a centromere-specific histone protein required for proper kinetochore function, which plays a critical role in the process of mitosis. The work, conducted in yeast cells, was published in the most recent issue of Molecular Cell. http://www.physorg.com/news173366310.html Biology Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:19:39 EST news173366310 Using yeast genetics and a novel scheme to selectively remove a single protein from the cell division process called meiosis, a cell biologist at The Florida State University found that when a key molecular player known as Pds5 goes missing, chromosomes fail to segregate and pair up properly, and birth defects such as Down syndrome can result. http://www.physorg.com/news172334309.html Biology Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:30:01 EST news172334309 Some budding yeast species have the ability to silence genes using RNA interference (RNAi). Until now, most researchers thought that no budding yeasts possess the RNAi pathway because Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the protoypical model budding yeast does not. http://www.physorg.com/news171882202.html Chemistry Fri, 11 Sep 2009 10:05:12 EST news171882202 Until now, the mode of action of nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate (N-BP) cancer drugs, used to relieve bone pain and to prevent skeletal complications in bone metastasis, has been almost entirely unknown. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Biology have used 'barcoded' yeast mutants to identify new biological processes involved in the cellular response to N-BPs, opening up opportunities for the development of new anticancer drugs. http://www.physorg.com/news171743837.html Biology Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:38:01 EST news171743837 Turning grape juice into wine is a stressful business for yeasts. Dr Agustin Aranda from the University of Valencia, Spain has identified the genes in yeast that enable it to respond to stress and is investigating ways to improve yeast performance by modifying its stress response mechanism. http://www.physorg.com/news171700529.html Biology Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:00:02 EST news171700529 Unravelling a microbe's multilayer defence mechanisms could lead to effective new treatments for potentially lethal fungal infections in cancer patients and others whose natural immunity is weakened. http://www.physorg.com/news171608024.html Biology Tue, 08 Sep 2009 05:54:26 EST news171608024 (PhysOrg.com) -- If you want to know how a cell responds to a particular chemical, the experiment is simple: Inject it with that chemical. Micropipettes - tiny needles that can puncture a cell and deliver a compound directly into it - are used precisely for this purpose. But biologists who study yeast have not had this tool available to them. A yeast cell`s rigid outer wall is too strong to be penetrated. http://www.physorg.com/news171221032.html Biology Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:24:18 EST news171221032 Humans and chimpanzees are genetically very similar, yet it is not difficult to identify the many ways in which we are clearly distinct from chimps. In a study published online in Genome Research, scientists have made a crucial discovery of genes that have evolved in humans after branching off from other primates, opening new possibilities for understanding what makes us uniquely human. http://www.physorg.com/news171051139.html Medicine & Health Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:13:05 EST news171051139 Researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), a not-for-profit genomic research organization, published results today describing new methods in which the entire bacterial genome from Mycoplasma mycoides was cloned in a yeast cell by adding yeast centromeric plasmid sequence to the bacterial chromosome and modified it in yeast using yeast genetic systems. http://www.physorg.com/news170324638.html Biology Mon, 24 Aug 2009 09:24:33 EST news170324638 (PhysOrg.com) -- The secret to fighting often lethal drug resistant fungal infections is to knock out the bug's molecular chaperone, according to U of T researchers. http://www.physorg.com/news168263294.html Biology Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:49:04 EST news168263294 Researchers have devised a scheme for identifying genes in yeast that could lead to the identification of new cancer genes in humans. The study is published online this week in the open-access journal PLoS Biology. http://www.physorg.com/news167989074.html Biology Tue, 28 Jul 2009 09:00:04 EST news167989074 University of Utah researchers and their colleagues have identified the gene that is mutated in a hereditary form of a rare neuroendocrine tumor called paraganglioma (PGL). The gene, called hSDH5, is required for activation of an enzyme complex that plays a critical role in the chemical reactions that take place within cells to convert biochemical energy into usable energy. This study will be published in the journal Science, to be released online in Science Express on July 23, 2009. http://www.physorg.com/news167578591.html Medicine & Health Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:36:58 EST news167578591 Whitehead Institute scientists have developed a rapid, inexpensive drug-screening method that could be used to target diseases that until now have stymied drug developers, such as Parkinson's disease. This technique uses baker's yeast to synthesize and screen the molecules, cutting target discovery and preliminary testing time to a matter of weeks. http://www.physorg.com/news166712777.html Chemistry Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:06:47 EST news166712777 Researchers have found that the anti-malarial drug quinine can block a cell's ability to take up the essential amino acid tryptophan, a discovery that may explain many of the adverse side-effects associated with quinine. Once confirmed, these findings would suggest that dietary tryptophan supplements could be a simple and inexpensive way to improve the performance of this important drug. http://www.physorg.com/news165238691.html Chemistry Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:51:54 EST news165238691 (PhysOrg.com) -- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists' discovery of a cancer-causing gene - the first in its family to be linked to cancer - demonstrates how the panoramic view of genomics and the close-up perspective of molecular biology are needed to determine which genes are involved in cancer and which are mere bystanders. The findings are reported in the June 25 issue of the journal Nature. http://www.physorg.com/news165068004.html Medicine & Health Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:50:04 EST news165068004 Two years ago, Chuck Jones of Yardley, Pa., had high cholesterol, but his medicine caused severe leg cramps that routinely ruined his sleep. http://www.physorg.com/news164919092.html Medicine & Health Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:20:06 EST news164919092 A group of researchers led by Carnegie Mellon University Biological Sciences Professor Aaron Mitchell has identified a novel regulatory gene network that plays an important role in the spread of common, and sometimes deadly, fungal infections. The findings, which establish the role of Zap1 protein in the activation of genes that regulate the synthesis of biofilm matrix, will be published in the June issue of PLoS Biology. http://www.physorg.com/news164338262.html Biology Tue, 16 Jun 2009 04:10:01 EST news164338262 An emerging form of the pathogenic yeast Candida is able to complete a full sexual cycle in a test tube, even though it's missing the genes for reproduction. And it may also do so while infecting us, according to Duke University Medical Center researchers. http://www.physorg.com/news162395184.html Biology Sun, 24 May 2009 14:47:12 EST news162395184 A new species of yeast has been discovered deep in the Amazon jungle. In a paper published on-line in FEMS Yeast Research, IFR scientists and colleagues from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador describe the novel characteristics of Candida carvajalis sp. nov. http://www.physorg.com/news162129782.html Biology Thu, 21 May 2009 13:03:15 EST news162129782 The essential chromosomal protein complex cohesin has crucial roles in sister chromatid cohesion, DNA repair and transcriptional regulation. Despite its conserved function, cohesin's disparate association patterns in different organisms did not quite add up. New research published in the open access journal Genome Biology works towards completing the cohesin puzzle, reconciling some of these differences. http://www.physorg.com/news161933677.html Biology Tue, 19 May 2009 06:35:19 EST news161933677 Cell biologists have found a more filling substitute for caloric restriction in extending the life span of simple organisms. In a study published May 8 in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics, researchers from the University of Southern California Andrus Gerontology Center show that yeast cells maintained on a glycerol diet live twice as long as normal -- as long as yeast cells on a severe caloric-restriction diet. They are also more resistant to cell damage. http://www.physorg.com/news160985198.html Biology Fri, 08 May 2009 07:07:17 EST news160985198 Scientists in California are reporting use of a first-of-its-kind approach to craft genetically engineered microbes with the much-sought ability to transform switchgrass, corn cobs, and other organic materials into methyl halides - the raw material for making gasoline and a host of other commercially important products. http://www.physorg.com/news160936277.html Chemistry Thu, 07 May 2009 17:31:58 EST news160936277 (PhysOrg.com) -- NASA is preparing to fly a small satellite about the size of a loaf of bread that could help scientists better understand how effectively drugs work in space. The nanosatellite, known as PharmaSat, is a secondary payload aboard a U.S. Air Force four-stage Minotaur 1 rocket planned for launch the evening of May 5. http://www.physorg.com/news160161359.html Space & Earth Tue, 28 Apr 2009 18:16:29 EST news160161359 Phosphate chains store energy and have many more different functions in a cell. http://www.physorg.com/news159714807.html Biology Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:14:23 EST news159714807 (PhysOrg.com) -- One of the perplexing questions raised by evolutionary theory is how cooperative behavior, which benefits other members of a species at a cost to the individual, came to exist. http://www.physorg.com/news158245420.html Biology Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:04:11 EST news158245420 Special proteins known as prions, which are perhaps best known as the agents of mad cow and other neurodegenerative diseases, can also serve as an important source of beneficial variation in nature, confirms a new study in the April 3rd issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication. After an extensive search through the genome of yeast for proteins with prion-like character, the researchers found two dozen prion-forming proteins, most of which had never been seen before. http://www.physorg.com/news157897000.html Biology Thu, 02 Apr 2009 13:17:29 EST news157897000