Health News

New biologically derived metal-organic framework mimics DNA

The field of materials science has become abuzz with “metal-organic frameworks” (MOFs), versatile compounds made up of metal ions connected to organic ligands, thus forming one-, two-, or three-dimensional structures. There is now an ever-growing list of applications for MOF, including separating petrochemicals, detoxing water from heavy metals and fluoride anions, and recovering hydrogen or […]

Health News

Tiny DNA reader to advance development of anticancer drugs: Researchers use tiny probes and an electrical current to locate anticancer drug molecules incorporated into single strands of DNA

DNA is small. Really, really, small. So, when researchers want to study the structure of a single-stranded DNA, they can’t just pull out their microscopes: they have to get creative. In a study published this week in Scientific Reports, researchers from Japan’s Osaka University explain how they came up with a really small solution to […]

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Supercomputing enables sound prediction model for controlling noise: Method could simplify process of designing Helmholtz resonators

Noise-cancelling headphones have become a popular accessory for frequent flyers. By analyzing the background frequencies produced by an airplane in flight and generating an “anti-noise” sound wave that is perfectly out of phase, such headphones eliminate disturbing background sounds. Although the headphones can’t do anything about the cramped seating, they can make watching a film […]

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Lipoproteins behave ‘almost like a tiny Velcro ball’: Genetics determines some proteins in HDL, but others are picked up by chance

Cholesterol carried in high-density lipoprotein particles, or HDL cholesterol, has been dubbed the good cholesterol, because people whose HDL levels are high have a lower risk of developing heart disease. That link was first established in 1977 and has been confirmed over and over in epidemiological studies. But in the past 15 years, a string […]

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Cancer: A mutation that breaks gene interplay in 3D

Inside the cell, DNA is tightly wrapped around proteins and packed in a complex, 3D structure that we call “chromatin.” Chromatin not only protects our genetic material from damage, but also organizes the entire genome by regulating the expression of genes in three dimensions, unwinding them to be presented to the cell’s gene-expression machinery and […]

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A new way to transfer energy between cells

Researchers from the Catalonian Institute of Bioengineering (Instituto de Bioingeniería de Cataluña) and the Seville Chemical Research Institute (Instituto de Investigaciones Químicas de Sevilla) have described a new method for the transmission of electrons between proteins that refutes the evidence from experiments until now. This process, involved in the generation of energy in both animal […]

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When less is more: A promising approach for low-cell-number epigenomic profiling

Scientists at Kyushu University and Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan have developed a technique that enables analysis of DNA-protein interactions using very small numbers of cells, ranging from 100 to 1,000. Their method could capture previously unexamined epigenomic information, facilitate biomarker discovery and open new avenues for precision medicine. A collaborative study by researchers […]

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Ant-Man and The Wasp: Helping Marvel superheroes breathe

Marvel comics superheroes Ant-Man and the Wasp — nom de guerre stars of the eponymous 2018 film — possess the ability to temporarily shrink down to the size of insects, while retaining the mass and strength of their normal human bodies. But a new study suggests that, when bug-sized, Ant-Man and the Wasp would face […]