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Scientists discover how to make human collagen in the lab

It is the most important structural protein in the body, reinforcing connective tissue, bones and teeth, and forming long, fibrous cables to strengthen tendons. Collagen forms sheets of tissue that support the skin and every internal organ.

16 Feb 2006

Scientists investigate sugar coating that surrounds bacteria

Scientists at The University of Texas at Austin have developed a quick and simple way to investigate the sugar coating that surrounds bacteria and plays a role in infection and immunity.

16 Feb 2006

Discovery of a novel system for on-demand drug delivery

A University of Illinois scientist studying how membranes wrinkle has discovered a novel system for on-demand drug delivery.

16 Feb 2006

Duke University biologists evolve complex trait in the laboratory

Duke University biologists have evolved a complex trait in the laboratory -- using the pressure of selection to induce tobacco hornworms to evolve the dual trait of turning black or green depending on the temperature during their development.

12 Feb 2006

Biochemists detect subtle new gyration that protein molecules undergo

Biochemists have detected a surprising, subtle new gyration that protein molecules undergo in the intricate, squirming dance that influences their activity in the cell.

7 Feb 2006

Myosin VI can act as molecular transporter

Myosin VI has been thought to be a monomer, but Park et al. show that full-length myosin VI can be a dimer, and can walk processively on actin. By increasing the concentration, a greater and greater fraction dimerizes in vitro, and walks processively on actin.

7 Feb 2006

Ice-templated fabrication shows promise for artificial bone

The next generation of artificial bone may rely on a few secrets from the sea. Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have harnessed the way seawater freezes to develop a porous, scaffolding-like material that is four times stronger than material currently used in synthetic bone.

7 Feb 2006

Engineered heart tissue offers insights into irregular heartbeats

Engineers who have induced heart cells in culture to mimic the properties of the heart have used the tissue to gain new insight into the mechanisms that spawn irregular heart rhythms.

7 Feb 2006

Scientists have determined the detailed structure of an essential piece of the telomerase enzyme

Scientists have determined the detailed structure of an essential piece of the telomerase enzyme, an important contributor to the vast majority of human cancers. Understanding the physical shape of the protein has led to a better understanding of how it acts to immortalize cells - and should help scientists design broadly effective cancer drugs.

5 Feb 2006

Discovery puts scientists closer to understanding how visual awareness is generated

How do you know when you see something? Researchers at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix have made a breakthrough discovery that puts scientists closer to understanding how visual awareness is generated.

23 Jan 2006

New insights into tube size morphogenesis

The function of tubular organs like the kidneys, lungs, and vessels of the vascular system is critically dependent on the length and diameter of the tubular branches of which they are composed.

23 Jan 2006

New method to find new metabolites

Ever since penicillin, a byproduct of a fungal mold, was discovered in 1929, scientists have scrutinized fungi for other breakthrough drugs. As reported Jan. 20 in the Journal of Chemistry and Biology, a team led by a University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher has developed a new method that may speed the ongoing quest for medically useful compounds in fungi.

23 Jan 2006

Scientists discover method to multiply an adult stem cell 30-fold

Adult stem cells may be free of the ethical concerns that hamper embryonic stem cell research, but they still pose formidable scientific challenges.

23 Jan 2006

First genome-wide screen for protein complexes is completed

Researchers in Germany have finished the first complete analysis of the "molecular machines" in one of biology's most important model organisms: S. cerevisiae (baker's yeast). The study from the biotechnology company Cellzome, in collaboration with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), appears in this week's online edition of Nature.

23 Jan 2006

Nanocontainers show drug delivery potential

Tiny chemical cages created by researchers at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, show potential for delivering drugs to organs or tissues where they're needed without causing harm elsewhere.

18 Jan 2006

Cloned stem cells are perfectly normal

Scientists generally agree that all cloned animals are biologically flawed. But they don't agree about what that means for stem cells derived from cloned embryos, the basis for therapeutic cloning.

18 Jan 2006

Scientists design a fluorescent sensor capable of measuring intracellular acidity

The colouring agents traditionally used to stain organic tissues are no longer sufficient to meet today’s needs. The study of cell metabolism can only advance with better tools than those currently available.

16 Jan 2006

Genetic fingerprint unmasks microbial vandals

For the first time DNA analysis can identify paper-degrading microorganisms.

16 Jan 2006

Sickle cell corrected with gene copy

Scientists in the U.S. say they have found a way to use embryonic stem cells to correct the mutation that causes sickle cell disease in mice.

16 Jan 2006

Giant protein titin helps build muscles

Imagine grabbing two snakes by the tail so that they can't wriggle off in opposite directions. Scientists at the Hamburg Outstation of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and collaborators from King's College in London have now discovered that something similar happens to a protein that is crucial in the formation of muscle tissue.

11 Jan 2006