Berkeley Lab scientists have developed a computer model of a protein that helps cells interact with their surroundings. Like its biological counterpart, the virtual integrin snippet is about twenty nanometers long. It also responds to changes in energy and other stimuli just as integrins do in real life. The result is a new way to explore how the protein connects a cell's inner and outer environments.
Mar 24th, 2013
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Rapidly growing trees like poplars and willows are candidate "biofuel crops" from which it is expected that cellulosic ethanol and higher energy content fuels can be efficiently extracted. Domesticating these crops requires a deep understanding of tree physiology and genetics.
Mar 24th, 2013
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Research conducted in fruit flies at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine has pinpointed a specific DNA sequence that both triggers the formation of the "histone locus body" and turns on all the histone genes in the entire block.
Mar 24th, 2013
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Research results demonstrate that DNA sequences can be transcribed into a molecule known as TNA and reverse transcribed back into DNA, with the aid of commercially available enzymes.
Mar 22nd, 2013
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Researchers develop a method to identify weak points in viral proteins that could be exploited for vaccine development.
Mar 22nd, 2013
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National survey finds three out of four adults have heard little or nothing about the emerging technology.
Mar 20th, 2013
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The road signs that direct traffic on the highways - collectively known as the cytoskeleton - are a mystery, and now the subject of research for Lee Ligon, associate professor of biology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Mar 19th, 2013
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Illinois chemists have used DNA to do a protein's job, creating opportunities for DNA to find work in more areas of biology, chemistry and medicine than ever before.
Mar 19th, 2013
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Scientists have accurately calculated the sliding mechanism for deciphering the second genetic code written within the DNA base pair sequence.
Mar 19th, 2013
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New research describes an advance in efforts to develop a method to replace missing teeth with new bioengineered teeth generated from a person's own gum cells.
Mar 18th, 2013
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For the first time, scientists have transplanted neural cells derived from a monkey's skin into its brain and watched the cells develop into several types of mature brain cells, according to the authors of a new study in Cell Reports. After six months, the cells looked entirely normal, and were only detectable because they initially were tagged with a fluorescent protein.
Mar 17th, 2013
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The researchers will be able to work closely together on projects in the field of regenerative medicine, an area with a promising future. The aim is to use the strategy of marine animals to develop novel bio-inspired bone replacement materials and medications to ameliorate osteoporosis.
Mar 14th, 2013
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An unprecedented collaboration among academia, industry, government and civil society has resulted in the launch of a professional-grade collection of public domain DNA parts that greatly increases the reliability and precision by which biology can be engineered.
Mar 14th, 2013
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Predictability is often used synonymously with "boring", as in that story or that outcome was soooo predictable. For practioners of synthetic biology seeking to engineer valuable new microbes, however, predictability is the brass ring that must be captured. Researchers with the multi-institutional partnership known as BIOFAB have become the first to grab at least a portion of this ring by unveiling a package of public domain DNA sequences and statistical models that greatly increase the reliability and precision by which biological systems can be engineered.
Mar 13th, 2013
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AMSilk, a spin-off of the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM), has produced the world's first artificial silk fiber that is entirely made of recombinant spider silk proteins. The fiber's tensile strength is comparable to that of natural spider silk, which led to the name Biosteel.
Mar 13th, 2013
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A simple fermentation treatment can convert a by-product of biofuel production into a valuable chemical feedstock for a wide range of biomedical products
Mar 13th, 2013
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Fungi, with the exception of shitake and certain other mushrooms, tend to be something we associate with moldy bread or dank-smelling mildew. But they really deserve more respect. Fungi have fantastic capabilities and can be grown, under certain circumstances, in almost any shape and be totally biodegradable. And, if this weren't enough, they might have the potential to replace plastics one day. The secret is in the mycelia.
Mar 12th, 2013
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The grant will fund a collaborative project that will seek to use synthetic biology - the design and construction of biological devices and systems - to more effectively create proteins, such as those used in drug manufacture.
Mar 11th, 2013
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