Biosingularity

For years, the open science movement has sought to light a fire about the “closed” journal-publication system. In the last few weeks their efforts seemed to have ignited a broader flame, driven mainly, it seems, by the revelation that one of the most resented publishers, Elsevier, was backing the Research Works Act — some tomfoolery [...]

Memories in our brains are maintained by connections between neurons called “synapses”. But how do these synapses stay strong and keep memories alive for decades? Neuroscientists at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research have discovered a major clue from a study in fruit flies: Hardy, self-copying clusters or oligomers of a synapse protein are an [...]

Stressed yeast cells frantically reshuffle their chromosomes in a desperate last bid to find a combination that survives. This “panic” response enables them to rapidly evolve resistance to drugs. The discovery might also apply to cancer, because cancer cells often have abnormal numbers and arrangements of chromosomes. Understanding one of the mechanisms by which cancers [...]

Mice don’t have tails on their backs, and their ribs don’t grow from lumbar vertebrae. And for a good reason. EPFL scientists have discovered the mechanism that determines the shape that many animals take – including humans, blue whales, and insects. Why don’t our arms grow from the middle of our bodies? The question isn’t [...]

Scientists working at the Medical Research Council have identified changes in the patterns of sugar molecules that line pre-cancerous cells in the esophagus, a condition called Barrett’s dysplasia, making it much easier to detect and remove these cells before they develop into esophageal cancer. These findings, reported in the journal Nature Medicine, have important implications [...]

Researchers Find Unique Protein Organization In Arteries Associated with Cardiovascular Disease. Knowledge could assist in tissue replacements, treatments for high blood pressure and diabetes. ..Human arteries – some smaller than a strand of hair – stiffen as a person ages. This stiffening is a factor in cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the [...]

Have you ever wondered what a virus sounds like? Or what noise a bacterium makes when it moves between hosts? If the answer is yes, you may soon get your chance to find out, thanks to the development of the world’s tiniest ear. The “nano-ear,” a microscopic particle of gold trapped by a laser beam, [...]

The compound—delta-12-protaglandin J3, or D12-PGJ3—targeted and killed the stem cells of chronic myelogenous leukemia, or CML, in mice, says Sandeep Prabhu, associate professor of immunology and molecular toxicology at Penn State. The compound is produced from EPA—Eicosapentaenoic Acid—an omega-3 fatty acid found in fish and in fish oil. “Research in the past on fatty acids [...]