ScienceDaily: Biotechnology News

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• Molecular mechanism links temperature with sex determination in some fish species
• New findings about the prion protein and its interaction with the immune system
• DNA mismatch repair happens only during a brief window of opportunity
• Plasma treatment zaps viruses before they can attack cells
• The mystery behind the building of muscle: Jamb and Jamc are essential proteins for the fusion of muscle cells

Molecular mechanism links temperature with sex determination in some fish species Posted: 29 Dec 2011 05:30 PM PST Researchers have found the epigenetic mechanism that links temperature and gonadal sex in fish. High temperature increases DNA methylation of the gonadal aromatase promoter in females.

New findings about the prion protein and its interaction with the immune system Posted: 29 Dec 2011 06:16 AM PST Scrapie is a neurodegenerative disease which can function as a model for other diseases caused by an accumulation of proteins resulting in tissue malformations (proteinpathies), such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Many questions regarding these diseases still remain unanswered. A new study has uncovered a number of factors relating to the uptake of the prion protein (PrPSc) associated with the development of this disease and how this protein interacts with the immune cells in the intestines.

DNA mismatch repair happens only during a brief window of opportunity Posted: 22 Dec 2011 11:24 AM PST In eukaryotes-the group of organisms that include humans –- a key to survival is the ability of certain proteins to quickly and accurately repair genetic errors that occur when DNA is replicated to make new cells. Researchers have solved part of the mystery of how these proteins do their job, a process called DNA mismatch repair.

Plasma treatment zaps viruses before they can attack cells Posted: 16 Dec 2011 08:28 AM PST Researchers have tested a pre-emptive anti-viral treatment on a common virus known to cause respiratory infections.

The mystery behind the building of muscle: Jamb and Jamc are essential proteins for the fusion of muscle cells Posted: 13 Dec 2011 03:51 PM PST Cell fusion, the union of precursor cells to form one large cell containing many nuclei, is crucial to the development and maintenance of several tissues; for example, the placenta, bone-reshaping osteoclasts and skeletal muscle. Finding out which genes are essential for this process has been of great interest for decades, but surprisingly little is known about the cell and molecular biology of the process in vertebrates. This research describes two vertebrate-specific cell surface receptors that are essential for fusion between muscle precursors in zebrafish: Jamb and Jamc. Loss-of-function of either of these proteins prevents fusion, resulting in an overabundance of muscle fibers with single nuclei.

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