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Researchers at MIT and Rice University have discovered that microRNAs, an emerging class of non-protein gene regulators thus far only identified in animals, also exist in plants. By extending the known phylogenetic range of miRNAs to plants, this work points to an ancient evolutionary origin for microRNAs. The report is published in the July 1 issue of the scientific journal Genes & Development.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) compose a class of short, noncoding RNAs, 20-24-nucleotides in length, that h
Artificial “Sugazyme” catalyzes synthesis of novel proteins with special features
University at Buffalo chemists have developed a remarkably simple and effective biotechnological method for synthesis of novel proteins using amino acids that do not occur in nature by using unique, programmable ribozymes (enzymes made of RNA, or ribonucleic acid) that they evolved in the lab.
The technology, described in the July issue of Nature Biotechnology, provides a potentially important
Scientists from Imperial College London have suggested why the human genome may possess far fewer genes than previously estimated before the human genome project was begun.
Research published in the July issue of Trends in Immunology, shows how a more advanced immune system in humans could explain why the human genome may have only a slightly greater number of genes than the plant Arabidopsis thaliana , and probably less than rice, Oryza sativa .
Dr Andrew George, from I
Self-repairing fenders and intelligent implants – shape-memory polymers as materials of the future
With a bang, the fender is dented and has to be replaced. Wouldn`t it be nice if the dent could simply – presto! – disappear? Such “intelligent” materials are already being developed, relate Andreas Lendlein and Steffen Kelch in an overview of the field in Angewandte Chemie.
Shape-memory polymers, that`s the magic words: after an undesired deformation, such as a dent in the fend
Scientists at the University of Virginia Health System have identified another step in the mysterious process of gene regulation — what turns genes on or off, making them cause or suppress disease and other physical developments in humans. As reported in this week’s issue of the scientific journal Nature, a chemical group called ubiquitin has been shown to lie upstream of a switch that seems to control whether a gene is on or off. “Ubiquitin was first discovered on histones long ago, but before thi
A newly developed polymer surface could improve the interface between electronic implants and living tissue, helping to advance a technology that may one day enable the blind to see and the paralyzed to walk. The findings were described today at the 34th Central Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, the worlds largest scientific society. The meeting is being held at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti.
David C. Martin, Director of the Macromolecular Science and Engin