science newsletter: Science News SciGuru.com

Παρασκευή 10 Ιανουαρίου 2014

Science News SciGuru.com

New clues to how bacteria evade antibiotics
Scientists Discover Extracellular Vesicles Produced by Ocean Microbes
Scientists uncover new target for brain cancer treatment
A powerful technique to further understanding of RNA
Surgery brings relief for chronic migraines
New imaging technique signals a breakthrough in the treatment of IBS

New clues to how bacteria evade antibiotics

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 11:00 AM PST

Scientists have made an important advance in understanding how a subset of bacterial cells escape being killed by many antibiotics.

Cells become "persisters" by entering a state in which they stop replicating and are able to tolerate antibiotics. Unlike antibiotic resistance, which arises because of genetic mutations and is passed on to later generations, this tolerant phase is only temporary, but it may contribute to the later development of resistance.

Scientists Discover Extracellular Vesicles Produced by Ocean Microbes

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 10:00 AM PST

Marine cyanobacteria — tiny ocean plants that produce oxygen and make organic carbon using sunlight and CO2 — are primary engines of Earth’s biogeochemical and nutrient cycles. They nourish other organisms through the provision of oxygen and with their own body mass, which forms the base of the ocean food chain.

Scientists uncover new target for brain cancer treatment

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 09:22 AM PST

A new study is giving researchers hope that novel targeted therapies can be developed for glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most common and most aggressive form of brain cancer, after demonstrating for the first time that a gene known as melanoma differentiation associated gene-9/syntenin (mda-9/syntenin) is a driving force behind the disease's aggressive and invasive nature.

A powerful technique to further understanding of RNA

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 08:35 AM PST

In a paper published by the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Qi Zhang, an assistant professor of biochemistry and biophysics and member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and his team have revealed his newest weapon – a powerful technique to visualize the shape and motion of RNA at the atomic level using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR).

Surgery brings relief for chronic migraines

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 08:26 AM PST

Meredith Messerli’s dream of attending college seemed out of reach a year ago. Debilitating migraine headaches forced her to miss two years of high school and retreat to the shutter-darkened confines of her Flower Mound home as her family searched frantically for a therapy that would work.

“Once I got a headache, it never went away. Having a headache for that long changes your personality,” Meredith said tearfully. “You don’t want to talk to anyone. You don’t want to do anything.”

New imaging technique signals a breakthrough in the treatment of IBS

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 07:55 AM PST

Scientists at The University of Nottingham are leading the world in exploiting MRI technology to assist in the treatment and diagnosis of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), a condition that causes serious inconvenience and discomfort to sufferers.

In three separate studies, researchers examined the condition in detail and uncovered a novel way of investigating the illness, which could have major implications in how it is both diagnosed and treated in the future.