Studies and Analyses

Randomized strategies versus evolutionary branching

This new study, which will appear in the June 2005 issue of The American Naturalist, asserts that an individual could use his/her genotype as an informative cue when “deciding” which phenotype to develop. This is a new way of looking at certain kinds of genetic polymorphism. Some species have alternative phenotypes, which are different categories of adult individuals specialized for particular circumstances. For instance, if p

Research could lead to new drugs for HIV

The increased frequency of drug resistance in isolates of the AIDS virus, HIV, makes identification of new antiviral targets an urgent necessity. Host genes required to support the replication of HIV are a potential source of such novel targets, but relatively few appropriate target genes have been identified in animal cells thus far. A new study, conducted by Dr. Suzanne Sandmeyer and colleagues at the University of California, reports t

Smad7 protein levels may predict therapy response

Levels of the Smad7 protein may predict therapeutic response in patients with prostate cancer according to research published today by investigators at the Uppsala Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR).

“Although the 2-ME compound is in early clinical trials, no-one has fully understood the molecular mechanisms of how it causes the death of cancer cells, but not normal cells,” says Dr. Maréne Landst

Scientists have discovered how the performance of a quantum computer can be affected by its surrounding environment. The study, published in the latest issue of the journal Science, will help engineers to better understand how to integrate quantum components into a standard office computer – moving us one step closer to a future of quantum computing.

The collaborative team from the London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London (UCL), the Paul Scherrer Institute/ETH i

New findings from researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center help explain how the 20,000 to 25,000 genes in the human genome can make the hundreds of thousands of different proteins in our bodies.

Genes are segments of DNA that carry instructions for making proteins, which in turn carry out all of life’s functions. Through a natural process called “alternative splicing,” information contained in genes is modified so that one gene is capable of making several different p

A six-year study of a special type of brain aneurysm — the thrombotic aneurysm — has led to a treatment “roadmap” that should mean better outcomes for patients with this unusual medical problem.

UCSF Medical Center neurosurgeon Michael Lawton, MD, headed the clinical research team. The findings are reported in the March 2005 issue of Neurosurgery.

Approximately 5 percent of the U.S. population develops a brain aneurysm at some time, and an even smaller percentage — abo