ScienceDaily: Biotechnology News |
- Intestinal stem cells respond to food by supersizing the gut
- Progeria: Promising results from new gene therapy on animals
- 'New paradigm' in the way drugs can be manufactured: New method to build important heparin drug
- Researchers build largest protein interaction map to date
- Natural intestinal flora involved in the emergence of multiple sclerosis, study finds
- Quantum dots cast light on biomedical processes
| Intestinal stem cells respond to food by supersizing the gut Posted: 27 Oct 2011 12:02 PM PDT Many organs, from muscles and intestines to the liver, change size during adulthood. A new study shows that adult stem cells are key to these changes. Working with fruit flies, biologists discovered that after eating, the gut secretes insulin that activates stem cells into overdrive to grow the gut. In flies, the midgut can quadruple in size within four days. The finding could have implications for diabetes and obesity in humans.  |
| Progeria: Promising results from new gene therapy on animals Posted: 27 Oct 2011 12:02 PM PDT Huge progress has been made over the last few years in scientific research into progeria, a disease that leads to premature aging in children. In 2003, a team directed by Nicolas Lévy discovered the gene, and, in 2008, 12 children were able to begin clinical trials in which two molecules were combined to slow down the characteristic effects of the disease: premature aging. Researchers are continuing their efforts in an attempt to counter the consequences of the genetic defect that causes progeria.  |
| 'New paradigm' in the way drugs can be manufactured: New method to build important heparin drug Posted: 27 Oct 2011 11:59 AM PDT Researchers working to change forever the way some of the most widely used drugs in the world are manufactured have announced an important step toward making this a reality.  |
| Researchers build largest protein interaction map to date Posted: 27 Oct 2011 09:51 AM PDT Researchers have built a map that shows how thousands of proteins in a fruit fly cell communicate with each other. This is the largest and most detailed protein interaction map of a multicellular organism, demonstrating how approximately one third of the proteins cooperate to keep life going.  |
| Natural intestinal flora involved in the emergence of multiple sclerosis, study finds Posted: 27 Oct 2011 08:25 AM PDT Multiple sclerosis is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. For a long time, pathogens were believed to be such external influences. According to scientists from Germany, however, it is apparently not harmful bacteria that trigger multiple sclerosis, but beneficial ones -- specifically, the natural intestinal flora, which every human being needs for digestion. The researchers discovered that genetically modified mice develop an inflammation in the brain similar to the human disease if they have normal bacterial intestinal flora. The microorganisms begin by activating the immune system's T cells and, in a further step, the B immune cells.  |
| Quantum dots cast light on biomedical processes Posted: 26 Oct 2011 06:10 AM PDT The light emitted by quantum dots is both more intense and longer lasting than that produced by the fluorescent markers commonly used in medical and biological applications. Yet these nano-scale light sources still suffer from one major drawback: they do not dissolve in water. Researchers in the Netherlands and Singapore have found a way to remedy this. They have developed a coating which allows quantum dots to be used inside the human body, even inside living cells.  |
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