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Thu, 23 May 2013 14:37:37 EDT
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Scientists offer first definitive proof of bacteria-feeding behavior in green algae
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Researchers have captured images of green alga consuming bacteria, offering a glimpse at how early organisms dating back more than 1 billion years may have acquired free-living photosynthetic cells. This acquisition is thought to be a critical first step in the evolution of photosynthetic algae and land plants, which, in turn, contributed to the increase in oxygen levels in Earth's atmosphere and ocean and provided one of the conditions necessary for animal evolution.
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Thu, 23 May 2013 14:37:37 EDT
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Ferrets, pigs susceptible to H7N9 avian influenza virus
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Chinese and US scientists have used a virus isolated from a person who died from H7N9 avian influenza infection to determine whether the virus could infect and be transmitted between ferrets. Ferrets are often used as a mammalian model in influenza research, and efficient transmission of influenza virus between ferrets can provide clues as to how well the same process might occur in people.
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Thu, 23 May 2013 14:37:37 EDT
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Cinnamon compound has potential ability to prevent Alzheimer's
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Cinnamon: Can the red-brown spice with the unmistakable fragrance and variety of uses offer an important benefit? The common baking spice might hold the key to delaying the onset of -- or warding off -- the effects of Alzheimer's disease.
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Thu, 23 May 2013 14:37:37 EDT
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Biophysicists measure mechanism that determines fate of living cells
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For the first time, biophysicists have measured the molecular force required to mechanically transmit function-regulating signals within a cell. A new laboratory method, named the tension gauge tether approach, has made it possible to detect and measure the mechanics of the single-molecule interaction by which human cell receptors are activated.
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Thu, 23 May 2013 09:33:33 EDT
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Chemists find new compounds to curb staph infection
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In an age when microbial pathogens are growing increasingly resistant to the conventional antibiotics used to tamp down infection, scientists have synthesized a potent new class of compounds capable of curbing the bacteria that cause staph infections.
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Thu, 23 May 2013 08:30:30 EDT
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Biochemistry: Unspooling DNA from nucleosomal disks
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The tight wrapping of genomic DNA around nucleosomes in the cell nucleus makes it unavailable for gene expression. This study describes a mechanism that allows chromosomal DNA to be locally displaced from nucleosomes for transcription.
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Thu, 23 May 2013 08:30:30 EDT
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Boosting body's natural flu killers as way to offset virus mutation problem
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The known difficulty in fighting influenza (flu) is the ability of the flu viruses to mutate and thus evade various medications that were previously found to be effective. Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have shown recently that another, more promising, approach is to focus on improving drugs that boost the body’s natural flu killer system.
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Thu, 23 May 2013 00:46:46 EDT
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What the smallest infectious agents reveal about evolution
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Radically different viruses share genes and are likely to share ancestry, according to new research. The comprehensive phylogenomic analysis compares giant viruses that infect amoeba with tiny viruses known as virophages and to several groups of transposable elements. The complex network of evolutionary relationships the authors describe suggests that viruses evolved from non-viral mobile genetic elements and vice versa, on more than one occasion.
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