ScienceDaily: Biotechnology News

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• Evolution provides clue to blood clotting
• Gene required to maintain male sex throughout life discovered: Loss of gene Dmrt1 leads to male cells becoming female
• First artificial neural network created out of DNA: Molecular soup exhibits brainlike behavior
• Controlling movements with light

Evolution provides clue to blood clotting Posted: 20 Jul 2011 12:15 PM PDT A simple cut to the skin unleashes a complex cascade of chemistry to stem the flow of blood. Now, scientists at have used evolutionary clues to reveal how a key clotting protein self-assembles. The finding sheds new light on common bleeding disorders.

Gene required to maintain male sex throughout life discovered: Loss of gene Dmrt1 leads to male cells becoming female Posted: 20 Jul 2011 11:25 AM PDT Researchers have made a key discovery showing that male sex must be maintained throughout life. Removing an important male development gene, called Dmrt1, causes male cells in mouse testis to become female cells.

First artificial neural network created out of DNA: Molecular soup exhibits brainlike behavior Posted: 20 Jul 2011 11:25 AM PDT Researchers have now taken a major step toward creating artificial intelligence -- not in a robot or a silicon chip, but in a test tube. The researchers are the first to have made an artificial neural network out of DNA, creating a circuit of interacting molecules that can recall memories based on incomplete patterns, just as a brain can.

Controlling movements with light Posted: 20 Jul 2011 06:15 AM PDT Researchers have succeeded in controlling the activity of certain nerve cells using light, thus influencing the movements of mice. By changing special receptors in nerve cells of the cerebellum such that they can be activated and deactivated by light, the researchers have shown that the signaling pathways, which are activated by the receptors play a crucial role in controlling movement.

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