| |
|
Why do cells age? Discovery of extremely long-lived proteins may provide insight into cell aging and neurodegenerative diseases |
One of the big mysteries in biology is why cells age. Now scientists report that they have discovered a weakness in a component of brain cells that may explain how the aging process occurs in the brain.
|
| 02/03/2012 04:09 PM |
| |
|
A battle of the vampires, 20 million years ago? |
They are tiny, ugly, disease-carrying little blood-suckers that most people have never seen or heard of, but a new discovery in a one-of-a-kind fossil shows that "bat flies" have been doing their noxious business with bats for at least 20 million years.
|
| 02/03/2012 08:24 AM |
| |
|
New procedure repairs severed nerves in minutes, restoring limb use in days or weeks |
Scientists believe a new procedure to repair severed nerves could result in patients recovering in days or weeks, rather than months or years. The team used a cellular mechanism similar to that used by many invertebrates to repair damage to nerve axons.
|
| 02/03/2012 07:24 AM |
| |
|
Collective action: Occupied genetic switches hold clues to cells' history |
If you wanted to draw your family tree, you could start by searching for people who share your surname. Cells, of course, don’t have surnames, but scientists have found that genetic switches called enhancers, and the molecules that activate those switches – transcription factors – can be used in a similar way, as clues to a cell’s developmental history. The study also unveils a new model for how enhancers function.
|
| 02/03/2012 07:20 AM |
| |
|
Parasites or not? Transposable elements in DNA of fruit flies may be beneficial |
Many living organisms suffer from parasites, which use the hosts’ resources for their own purposes. The problem of parasitism occurs at all levels right down to the DNA scale. Genomes may contain up to 80% “foreign” DNA but details of the mechanisms by which this enters the host genome and how hosts attempt to combat its spread are still the subject of conjecture. Nearly all organisms contain pieces of DNA that do not really belong to them.
|
| 02/03/2012 07:18 AM |