News: February 2008 Archives
ScienceDaily (Feb. 19, 2008) — University College London scientists have taken a significant step in understanding how retroviruses such as HIV can move between species and the biological mechanisms behind the 'jumping genes' which make some monkeys immune. They will now use this knowledge to develop a gene therapy treatment for HIV/AIDS in humans.
The international team of researchers, coordinated by Professor Greg Towers, UCL Infection and Immunity, and funded by the Wellcome Trust, have identified a combination of genes in a species of monkey that protects against retroviruses -- a particularly opportunistic family of viruses that can integrate into the host's genome and replicate as part of the cell's DNA.
The international team of researchers, coordinated by Professor Greg Towers, UCL Infection and Immunity, and funded by the Wellcome Trust, have identified a combination of genes in a species of monkey that protects against retroviruses -- a particularly opportunistic family of viruses that can integrate into the host's genome and replicate as part of the cell's DNA.
Continue reading Imitating Monkey's 'Jumping Genes' Could Lead To New Treatments For HIV.
Turritopsis nutricula is a hydrozoan (jellyfish) with a life cycle in which it reverts back to the polyp stage after becoming sexually mature. It is the first case in which a metazoan (animal) is capable of reverting completely to a sexually immature, colonial stage after having reached sexual maturity as a solitary stage (Piraino et al. 1996, p. 302). It does this through the cell development process of transdifferentiation. This cycle then repeats, rendering it effectively immortal.
"Anthomedusae" from Ernst Haeckel's Kunstformen der Natur, pubilshed 1904.
And pictured below, Jelly yesterday outside Wild Orka nightclub.
"Anthomedusae" from Ernst Haeckel's Kunstformen der Natur, pubilshed 1904. And pictured below, Jelly yesterday outside Wild Orka nightclub.
ScienceDaily (Feb. 4, 2008) — When the world's most powerful particle accelerator starts up later this year, exotic new particles may offer a glimpse of the existence and shapes of extra dimensions.
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of California-Berkeley say that the telltale signatures left by a new class of particles could distinguish between possible shapes of the extra spatial dimensions predicted by string theory.
String theory, which describes the fundamental particles of the universe as tiny vibrating strings of energy, suggests the existence of six or seven unseen spatial dimensions in addition to the time and three space dimensions that we normally see.
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of California-Berkeley say that the telltale signatures left by a new class of particles could distinguish between possible shapes of the extra spatial dimensions predicted by string theory.
String theory, which describes the fundamental particles of the universe as tiny vibrating strings of energy, suggests the existence of six or seven unseen spatial dimensions in addition to the time and three space dimensions that we normally see.
Continue reading Particle Accelerator May Reveal Shape Of Alternate Dimensions.
ScienceDaily (Feb. 1, 2008) — Consumption of sugar sweetened soft drinks and fructose is strongly associated with an increased risk of gout in men, finds a study published by the British Medical Journal.
Gout is a joint disease which causes extreme pain and swelling. It is most common in men aged 40 and older. It is caused by excess uric acid in the blood (hyperuricaemia) which leads to uric acid crystals collecting around the joints.
In the United States, levels of gout have doubled over the last few decades, which coincided with a substantial increase in the consumption of soft drinks and fructose (a simple sugar and the only carbohydrate known to increase uric acid levels).
Continue reading Living Like Kings.
