News tagged with building blocks

Identical twins reveal mechanisms behind aging

In a recent study led by Uppsala University, the researchers compared the DNA of identical (monozygotic) twins of different age. They could show that structural modifications of the DNA, where large or small DNA segments ...

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Feb 02, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (15) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Moonlighting enzyme works double shift 24/7

A team of researchers led by Michigan State University has discovered an overachieving plant enzyme that works both the day and night shifts.

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Jan 31, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Metabolic errors can spell doom for DNA

Many critical cell functions depend on a class of molecules called purines, which form half of the building blocks of DNA and RNA, and are a major component of the chemicals that store a cell’s energy. ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Jan 31, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

'Worm speak' uses chemicals to communicate

(PhysOrg.com) -- A species of small, transparent roundworms have a highly evolved language in which they combine chemical fragments to create precise molecular messages that control social behavior, reports ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Jan 26, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (13) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Scientists discover new clue to the chemical origins of life

Organic chemists at the University of York have made a significant advance towards establishing the origin of the carbohydrates (sugars) that form the building blocks of life.

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Jan 24, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (25) | comments 284 | with audio podcast

Chemists devise a way to create a five point knotted molecule

(PhysOrg.com) -- Chemists have for a long time been interested in a type of molecule that is literally tied up into a knot. This is where atoms are bonded together to form strands, which are then twisted around ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Dec 30, 2011 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (11) | comments 0 | with audio podcast report

Scientists excited over hints of finding an elusive particle

Scientists are quivering with anticipation - flying halfway around the world for a close-up view of the action and devouring the latest updates from the blogosphere the way some girls track the doings of Justin Bieber.

Physics / General Physics

created Dec 12, 2011 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (13) | comments 33

Study of switching behavior in differential dual spin valves reveals the role of interlayer couplings

Spin valves are essential building blocks in the magnetic sensors of read heads in hard disk drives. They consist of two magnetic layers separated by a non-magnetic layer and act as valves for electrons depending ...

Physics / General Physics

created Dec 12, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1

Researchers link patterns seen in spider silk, melodies

Using a new mathematical methodology, researchers at MIT have created a scientifically rigorous analogy that shows the similarities between the physical structure of spider silk and the sonic structure of ...

Other Sciences / Mathematics

created Dec 08, 2011 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 13 | with audio podcast

Chemists become molecular sculptors, synthesizing tiny, molecular traps

(PhysOrg.com) -- Using clever but elegant design, University at Buffalo chemists have synthesized tiny, molecular cages that can be used to capture and purify nanomaterials.

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Dec 05, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Chromosome centromeres are inherited epigenetically

Centromeres are specialised regions of the genome, which can be identified under the microscope as the primary constriction in X-shaped chromosomes. The cell skeleton, which distributes the chromosomes to ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 03, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Cold chemistry: Icy dust specks could provide interstellar staging ground for complex organic chemical reactions

The creation of the Universe was a messy business, and billions of years after the Big Bang, material still litters the dark space between stars. In these cold interstellar regions, gas and dust specks swirl together, sometimes ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Oct 31, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Researchers fabricate DNA strands on a reusable chip, fold them into novel nanostructures

In the emerging field of synthetic biology, engineers use biological building blocks, such as snippets of DNA, to construct novel technologies. One of the key challenges in the field is finding a way to quickly and economically ...

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Oct 31, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

The architects of the brain: Scientists decipher the role of calcium signals

German neurobiologists have found that certain receptors for the neurotransmitter glutamate determine the architecture of nerve cells in the developing brain. Individual receptor variants lead to especially long and branched ...

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Oct 26, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

New technique unravels transport in living brain cells

A new technique has made it possible to study the functioning of motor proteins in living brain cells. Previously, this could previously only be done under artificial conditions outside the cell. Motor proteins transport ...

Medicine & Health / Research

created Oct 20, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0