Life Sciences and Chemistry

A molecule found in nearly all cells plays a vital role in kick-starting the production of key biological molecules involved in inflammation, a group of Salk Institute scientists has discovered. The finding, published in the June 25 issue of Science, may lead to new strategies for blocking the devastating inflammation that lies at the heart of autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis, arthritis, lupus as well as some cancers.

When the cells of the body are confronted with toxic che

The African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis, begins development as a compact ball of cells that undergoes a dramatic transformation through cell migrations and positional rearrangements that result in the separation of the embryo into three distinct germ layers, which go on to give rise to all of the tissues and structures in the adult animal’s body. During this transformation, known as gastrulation, the embryo changes from a roughly spherical shape to an elongated, streamlined form through a proces

The journal Endocrine-Related Cancer today publishes work showing that scientists from the Clinical Proteomics Program of the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) have discovered a test that was 100% effective for detecting early ovarian cancer in their study.

The study describes the use of a high-resolution mass spectrometer to measure patterns of protein markers in a small sample of blood. The mass spectrometer measured slight differences in the weights between normal and cancerous protein

Burr chervil is a new weed exploding across northern Idaho’s landscape. The weed may offer important clues to the biology of invasive species in general, a University of Idaho scientist says.

A decade ago, burr chervil seemed like it didn’t pose much of a threat, said Tim Prather, a UI weed scientist at Moscow. “We knew of a few plants that grew under hawthorn trees near Lewiston. It just seemed to be sitting there and not doing much.”

That was when Prather was doing graduat

Invasive species such as white pine blister rust, spotted knapweed and whirling disease in trout, as well as declining populations of plants and animals, are the focus of a new research center at the University of Idaho.

Officials announced the new Center for Research on Invasive Species and Small Populations July 14. UI scientists recently won a nearly $1 million grant from the Idaho Board of Education’s Higher Education Research Council to fund the new center.

“CRISSP bri

Less than 1 percent of the original Palouse Prairie remains. Split into patches of a few acres or less, the remnants tell an interesting story about insect communities, a UI researcher says.

Sanford Eigenbrode, interim Entomology Division chairman, is overseeing a study of insect communities in the prairie remnants that occupy small patches of hillsides across the Palouse.

The rich soils of the Palouse and modern agriculture meant that most of the original prairie was put to work g