Life Sciences and Chemistry

It’s a wonder cells make it through the day with the barrage of cues and messages they receive and transmit to direct the most basic and necessary functions of life. Such cell communication, or signal transduction, was at least thought to be an “automatic” cascade of biochemical events.

Now, however, a study reported in a recent issue of Nature by Johns Hopkins and Harvard scientists has found that even before a message makes it through the outer cell membrane to the inner nucleus, the

University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center researchers have found that the aging of the human retina is accompanied by distinct changes in gene expression.

Using commercially available DNA slides, a team of researchers directed by Anand Swaroop, Ph.D., have established the first-ever gene profile of the aging human retina, an important step in understanding the mechanisms of aging and its impact on vision disorders.

In the August issue of Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Scie

The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) launched a totally redesigned Web site today with a new Internet address – genome.gov . The streamlined Web site address makes it easy for users to access a comprehensive and authoritative government site focused on genomic research, including the international Human Genome Project slated for completion in April 2003. The new Web site supports ongoing scientific studies by researchers inside and outside

You may feel different at the dreary hour of 4 a.m. than you do mid-afternoon at 4 p.m. Now, researchers might understand why. A study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis helps explain how genes dictate our biological clock.

Nearly all living things have a natural rhythm that influences their behavior and physiology. This rhythm typically is “circadian”, following a near 24-hour cycle. Driven by an internal clock, a creature’s natural rhythm is synchronized to th

“I would like Europe to become a centre of excellence and a focus for pharmaceutical research once again”, stated EU Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin today at the annual assembly of the European pharmaceutical industry (EFPIA) in Bruges. “We need to nurture our research-based industries by reinforcing science and technology in Europe. Europe needs to invest more and in a better, more consistent way: it has to cut red tape and be bold.” From 1999 to 2002 the Commission invested around € 1 billio

According to fellow phycologists, algae expert Stefan Draisma from the Leiden University has turned brown algae phylogeny completely upside down. His research shows that few of the currently assumed relationships between the orders are correct. Furthermore, it transpires that some simple species arose not earlier but later than more complex species.

Brown algae are multicellular algae. Brown pigments mask the green colour of the chlorophyll. Most of the species occur in temperate regions. Th