Curated News: PNAS

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Released: 9-Dec-2016 4:05 PM EST
Cow Gene Study Shows Why Most Clones Fail
University of California, Davis

It has been 20 years since Dolly the sheep was successfully cloned in Scotland, but cloning mammals remains a challenge. A new study by researchers from the U.S. and France of gene expression in developing clones now shows why most cloned embryos likely fail.

Released: 9-Dec-2016 1:05 PM EST
Yale Linguists Explore the Evolution of Color in New Study
Yale University

The naming of colors has long been a topic of interest in the study of human culture and cognition — revealing the link between perception, language, and the categorization of the natural world. A major question in the study of both anthropology and cognitive science is why the world’s languages show recurrent similarities in color naming. Linguists at Yale tracked the evolution of color terms across a large language tree in Australia in order to trace the history of these systems.

Released: 8-Dec-2016 10:05 AM EST
How to Mix the Perfect (Drug) Cocktail
Weizmann Institute of Science

The fine art of mixing drug cocktails is incredibly complicated, with virtually infinite numbers of possible interactions and side effects. Now, a new model from the Weizmann Institute lab of Prof. Uri Alon lets scientists compare combinations of drugs to determine efficacy – a major step forward in personalized medicine.

Released: 5-Dec-2016 3:05 PM EST
BGSU Researcher: More Ancient Viruses Lurk in Our DNA Than We Thought
Bowling Green State University

In our recent study, we identified 19 “new” pieces of DNA — left by retroviruses that first infected our ancestors’ germlines hundreds of thousands of years ago –lurking between our own genes.

2-Dec-2016 3:05 PM EST
Designer Switches of Cell Fate Could Streamline Stem Cell Biology
University of Wisconsin–Madison

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a novel strategy to reprogram cells from one type to another in a more efficient and less biased manner than previous methods.

Released: 30-Nov-2016 5:05 PM EST
Suggestions for You: A Better, Faster Recommendation Algorithm
Santa Fe Institute

Researchers suggest a better algorithm for digital recommendation systems that suggest songs, movies, or romantic partners for you.

Released: 30-Nov-2016 1:45 PM EST
Imaging Technique Can See You Think
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering

NIBIB-funded researchers have used fast fMR Ito image rapidly fluctuating brain activity during human thought. fMRI measures changes in blood oxygenation, which were previously thought to be too slow to detect the subtle neuronal activity associated with higher order brain functions. The new discovery is a significant step towards realizing a central goal of neuroscience research: mapping the brain networks responsible for human cognitive functions such as perception, attention, and awareness.

Released: 30-Nov-2016 10:05 AM EST
Cloud in a Box: Mixing Aerosols and Turbulence
Michigan Technological University

In research conducted in Michigan Tech’s cloud chamber, Physics Professors Raymond Shaw, Will Cantrell and colleagues found that cleaner clouds also have a much wider variability in droplet size. And the way those droplets form could have serious implications for weather and climate change.

Released: 30-Nov-2016 10:05 AM EST
Iowa State University Researchers Detail What Makes Costly Ruminant Bacteria So Infectious
Iowa State University

An Iowa State University veterinary research team has discovered the specific genetic mutations that make Campylobacter jejuni such a virulent strain of bacteria in ruminant animals such as sheep and cattle. The research could lead to a vaccine or new ways to control the bacteria.

Released: 28-Nov-2016 2:00 PM EST
UT Southwestern Researchers’ International Study Zeros in on Gene That Limits Desire to Drink Alcohol
UT Southwestern Medical Center

In the largest study of its kind, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers and colleagues in Europe identified a gene variant that suppresses the desire to drink alcohol.

Released: 22-Nov-2016 5:05 PM EST
Single Enzyme Controls Two Plant Hormones
Washington University in St. Louis

Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis isolated an enzyme that controls the levels of two plant hormones simultaneously, linking the molecular pathways for growth and defense. Similar to animals, plants have evolved small molecules called hormones to control key events such as growth, reproduction and responses to infections.

21-Nov-2016 11:00 AM EST
Catching Molecular Dance Moves in Slow Motion by Adding White Noise
Georgia Institute of Technology

If you could watch a molecule of medicine attaching to a cell receptor in extreme slow motion, they would look something like a space ship docking with a space station -- some twists, turns, sputters then locking together tight. With a new improvement to atomic force microscopy by Georgia Tech engineers, seeing this kind of detail is more likely to become possible.

Released: 17-Nov-2016 1:05 PM EST
How Does the Brain of People Who Do Not Like Music Work?
IDIBELL-Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute

A new study explains brain mechanisms associated to the lack of sensitivity to music.

   
Released: 17-Nov-2016 12:05 PM EST
Men's Brains Are Found to Be More Greedy Than Women's
National Research University - Higher School of Economics (HSE)

It has long been known to science that women find it easier than men to multitask and switch between tasks. But identifying exactly which areas of male and female brains respond differently and why has so far been unclear.

   
Released: 17-Nov-2016 10:05 AM EST
New Records Set Up with 'Screws of Light'
University of Vienna

The research team around Anton Zeilinger has succeeded in breaking two novel records while experimenting with so-called twisted particles of light. In one experiment, the scientists could show that the twist of light itself, i.e. the screw-like structure, is maintained over a free-space propagation of 143 kilometers, which could revolutionize future data transmission.

Released: 17-Nov-2016 4:05 AM EST
Which Genes Are Crucial for the Energy Metabolism of Archaea?
University of Vienna

Microorganisms like bacteria and archaea play an indispensable ecological role in the global geochemical cycles. A research team led by ERC prizewinner Christa Schleper from the Department of Ecogenomics and Systems Biology at the University of Vienna succeeded in isolating the first ammonia-oxidizing archaeon from soil: "Nitrososphaera viennensis" - the "spherical ammonia oxidizer from Vienna". In the current issue of the renowned journal PNAS, the scientists present new results: They were able to detect all proteins that are active during ammonia oxidation – another important piece of the puzzle for the elucidation of the energy metabolism of Archaea.

3-Nov-2016 8:05 AM EDT
Mosquito-Borne Illness Spreads in and Around Homes, Disproportionately Hits Women
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Outbreaks of the mosquito-borne disease chikungunya appear to be driven by infections centered in and around the home, with women significantly more likely to become ill, suggests new research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Institut Pasteur in Paris and the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b).

3-Nov-2016 1:05 PM EDT
Could an Iron-Grabbing Molecule Help Prevent UTIs? New U-M Vaccine Shows Promise in Mice
Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan

For the first time, scientists have prevented urinary tract infections in mice by vaccinating them with tiny molecules that UTI bacteria usually use to grab iron from their host and fuel the growth of bacteria in the bladder.

Released: 7-Nov-2016 2:05 PM EST
Changing Cell Behavior Could Boost Biofuels, Medicine
Washington University in St. Louis

A computer scientist at Washington University in St. Louis has developed a way to coax cells to do natural things under unnatural circumstances, which could be useful for stem cell research, gene therapy and biofuel production.Michael Brent, the Henry Edwin Sever Professor of Engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science, has designed an algorithm, called NetSurgeon, that recommends genes to surgically remove from a cell’s genome to force it to perform a normal activity in a different environment or circumstance.

Released: 4-Nov-2016 11:05 AM EDT
Physicists Gain New Understanding of How Materials Break
University of Chicago

Scientists at the University of Chicago, New York University and Leiden University could eventually help create materials that resist breaking or crack in a predictable fashion. The findings, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Sept. 27, were the result of experiments and computer simulations in which researchers examined the effects of varying the rigidity of a material. Using both a simulation and artificial structures called metamaterials, they found material failure can be continuously tuned through changes in its underlying rigidity.



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