molecular biology

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Mechanism underlying alt. splicing of premessenger RNA into messenger RNA

An international research team led by Tim Nilsen, Ph.D., a professor of medicine and biochemistry and the director of the School of Medicine's Center for RNA Molecular Biology, has discovered an unexpected mechanism governing alternative splicing, the process by which single genes produce different proteins in different situations.

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Argonne scientists develop techniques for creating molecular movies

They may never win an Oscar, but scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have developed techniques for creating accurate movies of biological and chemical molecules, a feat only theorized up until now.

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Molecular biology of sleep apnea could lead to new treatments

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have provided, for the first time, a detailed look at the molecular pathways underlying sleep apnea, which affects more than twelve million Americans, according to the National Institutes of Health.

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Using mass spectrometer to weigh virus particle, von Willebrand factor

With unprecedented sensitivity, Carnegie Mellon University’s Mark Bier has characterized large viral particles and bulky von Willebrand factors using a novel mass spectrometer. These exciting results may lead to new biological discoveries and represent a step closer to rapid disease diagnosis using mass spectrometry.

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Fruit fly research may clean up conventional impressions of biology

The metamorphosis of biology into a science offering numerically precise descriptions of nature has taken a leap forward with a Princeton team's elucidation of a key step in the development of fruit fly embryos - discoveries that could change how scientists think not just about flies, but about life in general.

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Jefferson Scientist’s Patent Dramatically Improves DNA Analysis

A basic scientist in the Department of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College and the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson has shared a patent on what may someday be a ubiquitous tool in DNA analysis. The discovery could have a range of applications, from forensics to cloning to bioterrorism.

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How the Biotech Revolution Is Changing the Way We Fight Disease

From heart disease to AIDS and cancer, Biochemist Frank H. Stephenson helps you understand how the tools of biotechnology are being used to combat our most common afflictions. This book is an approachable look at how the human genome project will eventually benefit humanity in ways we haven't yet contemplated.

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Scientists call for global push to advance research in synthetic biology

With research backgrounds ranging from materials engineering to molecular biophysics, seventeen leading scientists issued a statement today announcing that, much as the discovery of DNA and creation of the transistor revolutionized science, there is a new scientific field on the brink of revolutionizing our approach to problems ranging from eco-safe energy to outbreaks of malaria.

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Researchers help find 'master switch' in plant communication

Scientists have puzzled for years in understanding how plants pass signals of stress, due to lack of water or salinity, from chloroplast to nuclei. They know that chloroplasts -- the cellular organelles that give plants their green color - have at least three different signals that can indicate a plant is under stress.

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Lymphoma cases susceptible to molecular targeted therapy

Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have discovered a genetic signature identifying cases of lymphoma that are uniquely susceptible to a newly developed molecular targeted therapy. As a result, physicians organizing clinical trials of the new therapy will be able to enroll patients who'll be most likely to benefit from it.

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Together, biological membranes prevail

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a novel method to visualize the fusion of biological membranes at the single-event resolution. Observing the individual fusion events revealed an unprecedented detailed picture of membrane fusion, which was chronicled in one of the cover stories in the December 2006 issue of the journal Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

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Roadworks on the motorways of the cell

Researchers discover how a protein stabilises microtubules by binding to their weakest point

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