science newsletter: Science News SciGuru.com

Τετάρτη 23 Ιανουαρίου 2013

Science News SciGuru.com

Neuroscientists Find That Starry Brain Cells, Astrocytes Can Be Used to Mimic Sleep Deprivation
Putting the squeeze on cells: By deforming cells to deliver RNA, proteins and nanoparticles
Researchers Show How Cells' DNA Repair Machinery Can Destroy Viruses
Researchers Create Self-Healing, Stretchable Wires Using Liquid Metal
Measuring distress in people with Types 1 and 2 diabetes
Study Sheds Light on the Complexity of Gene Therapy for Congenital Blindness
Just Add Water: How Scientists Are Using Silicon to Produce Hydrogen on Demand
Genomic sequencing identifies mutant 'drivers' of common brain tumor

Neuroscientists Find That Starry Brain Cells, Astrocytes Can Be Used to Mimic Sleep Deprivation

Posted: 23 Jan 2013 07:01 AM PST

Neuroscience researchers from Tufts University have found that our star-shaped brain cells, called astrocytes, may be responsible for the rapid improvement in mood in depressed patients after acute sleep deprivation. This in vivo study, published in the current issue of Translational Psychiatry, identified how astrocytes regulate a neurotransmitter involved in sleep. The researchers report that the findings may help lead to the development of effective and fast-acting drugs to treat depression, particularly in psychiatric emergencies.

Putting the squeeze on cells: By deforming cells to deliver RNA, proteins and nanoparticles

Posted: 23 Jan 2013 06:48 AM PST

Living cells are surrounded by a membrane that tightly regulates what gets in and out of the cell. This barrier is necessary for cells to control their internal environment, but it makes it more difficult for scientists to deliver large molecules such as nanoparticles for imaging, or proteins that can reprogram them into pluripotent stem cells.

Researchers Show How Cells' DNA Repair Machinery Can Destroy Viruses

Posted: 23 Jan 2013 06:35 AM PST

A team of researchers based at Johns Hopkins has decoded a system that makes certain types of immune cells impervious to HIV infection.

Researchers Create Self-Healing, Stretchable Wires Using Liquid Metal

Posted: 23 Jan 2013 06:26 AM PST

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed elastic, self-healing wires in which both the liquid-metal core and the polymer sheath reconnect at the molecular level after being severed.

Measuring distress in people with Types 1 and 2 diabetes

Posted: 22 Jan 2013 02:25 PM PST

Australian diabetes experts, psychiatrists and neuroscientists have reported the benefits of measuring depression and disease-related distress in patients with diabetes. They have also shown that distress is influenced by heritable genetic changes in the way patients’ bodies handle serotonin, a neurotransmitter that regulates mood.

Their aim is to help clinicians quickly identify those people who need psychiatric guidance or counseling to manage their diabetes and to provide practical ways of helping.

Study Sheds Light on the Complexity of Gene Therapy for Congenital Blindness

Posted: 22 Jan 2013 11:52 AM PST

Independent clinical trials, including one conducted at the Scheie Eye Institute at the Perelman School of Medicine, have reported safety and efficacy for Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), a congenital form of blindness caused by mutations in a gene (RPE65) required for recycling vitamin A in the retina. Inherited retinal degenerative diseases were previously considered untreatable and incurable. There were early improvements in vision observed in the trials, but a key question about the long-term efficacy of gene therapy for curing the retinal degeneration in LCA has remained unanswered.

Just Add Water: How Scientists Are Using Silicon to Produce Hydrogen on Demand

Posted: 22 Jan 2013 11:38 AM PST

Super-small particles of silicon react with water to produce hydrogen almost instantaneously, according to University at Buffalo researchers.

In a series of experiments, the scientists created spherical silicon particles about 10 nanometers in diameter. When combined with water, these particles reacted to form silicic acid (a nontoxic byproduct) and hydrogen — a potential source of energy for fuel cells.

Genomic sequencing identifies mutant 'drivers' of common brain tumor

Posted: 22 Jan 2013 11:28 AM PST

Large-scale genomic sequencing has revealed two DNA mutations that appear to drive about 15 percent of brain tumors known as meningiomas, a finding that could lead to the first effective drug treatments for the tumors, report scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute.