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How proteins read meta DNA code

Scientists have accurately calculated the sliding mechanism for deciphering the second genetic code written within the DNA base pair sequence.

Mar 19th, 2013

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Scientists watch skin-derived neural cells develop into brain cells

For the first time, scientists have transplanted neural cells derived from a monkey's skin into its brain and watched the cells develop into several types of mature brain cells, according to the authors of a new study in Cell Reports. After six months, the cells looked entirely normal, and were only detectable because they initially were tagged with a fluorescent protein.

Mar 17th, 2013

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Launch of the Chinese-German Center for Bio-Inspired Materials

The researchers will be able to work closely together on projects in the field of regenerative medicine, an area with a promising future. The aim is to use the strategy of marine animals to develop novel bio-inspired bone replacement materials and medications to ameliorate osteoporosis.

Mar 14th, 2013

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Predictability: The brass ring for synthetic biology

Predictability is often used synonymously with "boring", as in that story or that outcome was soooo predictable. For practioners of synthetic biology seeking to engineer valuable new microbes, however, predictability is the brass ring that must be captured. Researchers with the multi-institutional partnership known as BIOFAB have become the first to grab at least a portion of this ring by unveiling a package of public domain DNA sequences and statistical models that greatly increase the reliability and precision by which biological systems can be engineered.

Mar 13th, 2013

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Fungi may be able to replace plastics one day (w/video)

Fungi, with the exception of shitake and certain other mushrooms, tend to be something we associate with moldy bread or dank-smelling mildew. But they really deserve more respect. Fungi have fantastic capabilities and can be grown, under certain circumstances, in almost any shape and be totally biodegradable. And, if this weren't enough, they might have the potential to replace plastics one day. The secret is in the mycelia.

Mar 12th, 2013

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Synthetic biology project takes flight

The grant will fund a collaborative project that will seek to use synthetic biology - the design and construction of biological devices and systems - to more effectively create proteins, such as those used in drug manufacture.

Mar 11th, 2013

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Selectively manipulating protein modifications

Protein activity is strictly regulated. Incorrect or poor protein regulation can lead to uncontrolled growth and thus cancer or chronic inflammation. Researchers have identified enzymes that can regulate the activity of medically important proteins. Their discovery enables these proteins to be manipulated very selectively, opening up new treatment methods for inflammations and cancer.

Mar 11th, 2013

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Biologists produce rainbow-colored algae

What can green algae do for science if they weren't, well, green? That's the question biologists at UC San Diego sought to answer when they engineered a green alga used commonly in laboratories, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, into a rainbow of different colors by producing six different colored fluorescent proteins in the algae cells.

Mar 7th, 2013

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New insight into double-protected dance of cell division

Biochemists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently gained new insight into how protein synthesis and degradation help to regulate the delicate ballet of cell division. In particular, they reveal how two proteins shelter each other in "mutually assured cleanup" to insure that division goes smoothly and safely.

Mar 6th, 2013

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The movement of proteins

Cristian Micheletti, a scientist of the International School for Advanced Studies of Trieste (SISSA), has published in Physics of Life Reviews a review on an innovative instrument for protein analysis, a method for which Micheletti and his research team are a reference point for the international scientific community.

Mar 5th, 2013

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