Daily News chosen by Anchor Science
Updated: 05-January-2009, 17:54
News from 01-03-2009 :
Single Letter In Human Genome Points To Risk For High Cholesterol
Write out every letter in the human genome, one A, C, T or G per millimeter, and the text would be 1,800 miles long, roughly the distance from New York to Colorado. Now, in the search for genes that affect how humans synthesize, process and break down cholesterol, scientists have found a single letter among this expanse of code that is associated with elevated LDL cholesterol levels, one of the leading health concerns that has come to dominate the 21st century.
Scientists Pull Protein's Tail To Curtail Cancer
When researchers look inside human cancer cells for the whereabouts of an important tumor-suppressor, they often catch the protein playing hooky, lolling around in cellular broth instead of muscling its way out to the cells' membranes and foiling cancer growth.
Hope For Treating Kidney Cancer
Kidney cancer is typically without symptoms until it has spread to other organs, when it is also the most difficult to treat.
Making Digital Maps More Current And Accurate
European researchers have designed an innovative new system to help keep motorists on the right track by constantly updating their digital maps and fixing anomalies and errors. Now the partners are mapping the best route to market.
Impaired Energy Metabolism Linked With Initiation Of Plaques In Alzheimer's Brain
Scientists have identified an initiating molecular mechanism in sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD). The study provides new information about generation of damaging amyloid beta (A-beta) plaques within the AD brain and underscores the importance of developing new preventative and disease-modifying therapies for AD, especially those aimed at interrupting pathological A-beta-production.
Novel Pathway Involved In Therapy-resistant Cancers Discovered
Scientists have begun to unpick the complex mechanisms underpinning the development of drug resistant cancers. They have identified a novel target that may help to combat the growing problem of therapy resistant cancers and pave the way for innovative therapeutic approaches.
New Model For Nuclear Pore Complex Backed By Structural Study
In higher organisms, the genetic material is confined and protected in the cell nucleus. In order for a healthy cell to function, the DNA must send manufacturing orders through the double membrane of the nucleus and into the cell's cytoplasm, where the protein production factories are and where most cellular functions are carried out. The sole portals through which these instructions pass -- nuclear pore complexes -- have a say in what the orders are and how they are conveyed. But these conspicuously large structures have ironically proved all but inscrutable to researchers over the years.
Genetic Variation May Lead To Early Cardiovascular Disease
Scientists have identified a variation in a particular gene that increases susceptibility to early coronary artery disease. For years, scientists have known that the devastating, early-onset form of the disease was inherited, but they knew little about the gene(s) responsible until now.
Dormant Cancer Cells Rely On Cellular Self-cannibalization To Survive
A tumor-suppressing gene is a key to understanding, and perhaps killing, dormant ovarian cancer cells that persist after initial treatment only to reawaken later, researchers report. They found that expression of ARHI turns on autophagy, or self-eating, in ovarian cancer cells, which promotes their survival in a dormant state.
Cause Of Glacial Earthquakes In Greenland Clarified
Satellite observations during the past decade have shown dramatic changes in flow speed on year-to-year timescales at Greenland's outlet glaciers. Seismic events traced back to glaciers during the same time period have been interpreted to have resulted from calving events at the glacier terminus or surging events lubricated by subglacial meltwater.
Odd-looking Martian Craters Indicate Hidden Ice
Surface features common in the northern and southern midlatitudes of Mars and known as lobate debris aprons and lineated valley fill are believed to have formed either as debris flows mobilized by pore ice or as debris-covered glaciers.
Speediest Sand Dunes Clocked From Space
Monitoring the speeds of migrating dunes and the volumes of sand transported over time is important to understanding how arid landscapes respond to wind-driven changes.
Big Raindrops Favor Tornado Formation, Simulations Suggest
One of the largest sources of uncertainty in weather prediction involves how microscale structures influence larger-scale phenomena. For instance, previous studies have demonstrated that the structure, dynamics, and evolution of thunderstorms are very sensitive to cloud microphysical parameters.
Surprise Drop In Carbon Dioxide Absorbed By East/Japan Sea
The East/Japan Sea in the western North Pacific is ventilated from the surface to the bottom of the ocean over decades. Authors conclude that overturning circulation is weakening, slowing down the transport of anthropogenic carbon dioxide from the surface to the interior of the East/Japan Sea.
Family History Of Prostate Cancer Does Not Affect Some Treatment Outcomes
In a first of its kind study, a first-degree family history of prostate cancer has no impact on the treatment outcomes of prostate cancer patients treated with brachytherapy, also called seed implants, and patients with this type of family history have clinical and pathologic characteristics similar to men with no family history at all, according to a study in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics.
