Genetics & Molecular Biology

Plant U-Box 4 Protein Helps Plants Avoid Accumulation Of Damaged Chloroplasts

The identification of a protein that selectively clears damaged chloroplasts from plant cells reveals how plants maintain a "clean workshop" during the process of photosynthesis. Chloroplasts play an important role in transforming light into use ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 23 2015 - 9:40am

Epilepsy Switch Discovered

Approximately five percent of people suffers an epileptic attack, during which the nerve cells get out of their usual rhythm and fire in a very rapid frequency, over the course of their lives. This results in seizures and such synchronous discharges in the ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 27 2015 - 8:03am

'Natural' Mosquito Repellents- Do They Work As Well As DEET? The Science Answer

10 commercially available insect repellents were evaluated for their effectiveness at repelling mosquitoes. Three of the products (Repel 100® Insect Repellent, OFF® Deep Woods Insect Repellent VIII, and Cutter® Skinsations Insect Repellent) were mosquito ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 4 2015 - 7:30am

Embryonic Stem Cells And Artificial Stem Cells- What's The Difference?

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) technology has been around since the late 1990s and became a political football in the early 2000s when President George W. Bush made federal funding for it available for the first time, but limited it to existing lines, ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 2 2015 - 11:00am

What Algae And Brain Fluid Share In Common

The lipid ceramide, long known to help keep skin smooth, also helps algae swim toward the light and appears to enable one type of brain cell to keep cerebrospinal fluid moving, researchers report in a new paper.  Ceramide helps make and keep in motion hai ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 4 2015 - 7:13am

Why Are Some Genes Highly Expressed?

The DNA in our cells is folded into millions of small packets, like beads on a string, allowing two-meter linear DNA genomes to fit into a nucleus of only about 0.01 mm in diameter. However, these molecular beads, called nucleosomes, render DNA 'unre ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 6 2015 - 6:46am

Packaging And Unpacking Of The Genome

DNA represents a dynamic form of information, balancing efficient storage and access requirements. Packaging approximately 1.8m of DNA into something as small as a cell nucleus is no mean feat, but unpacking it again to access the required sections and ge ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 9 2015 - 6:53am

Speck Disease Hurts Tomato Fields- Luckily, Science Exists To Fix That

The 2015 growing season was tough on tomato plants at the Boyce Thompson Institute, as bacterial speck disease (Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato) descended on their field. But it was all done on purpose. Don't go crazy and start calling up donors for ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 9 2015 - 8:41am

Unpacking Embryonic Pluripotency

Researchers have identified factors that spark the formation of pluripotent cells. Their findings, published in Developmental Cell, shed light on human embryonic development and help research into cell reprogramming and assisted conception. ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 10 2015 - 8:48am

Browning In Apples Is A Defense Mechanism- But The Public Still Wants It To Go

Agriculturally rich nations are a little spoiled about food. A few years ago Europe even limited how 'ugly' fruit could be when it was being sold to the public, presumably because Europeans deserve pretty fruit. For that reason, it's little ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 11 2015 - 12:59pm