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There’s a 3-D world in our brains. It’s a landscape that mimics the outside world, where the objects we see exist as collections of neural circuits and electrical impulses. Now, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies are using new tools they developed to chart that world, a key step in revolutionizing research into [...]
Princeton researchers have created a Rosetta Stone for the human body, a website that offers clues to the role DNA plays in aging and disease by helping scientists make sense of the vast jumble of information emerging from genetics research. By mashing up genetic data from disparate sources and interpreting it with the help of [...]
An international team of researchers has taken a crucial step in mimicking the photosynthetic capabilities of plants, algae, and bacteria, raising the possibility of gathering energy from the Sun to create solar fuels (P Natl Acad Sci USA, 29 Jun 2009). The researchers modified algal chlorophyll to create a molecular structure similar to chlorosomes, the [...]
Researchers have uncovered a broad genetic diversity among members of a bacterial genus, using a cutting-edge “systems” approach that might one day help scientists choose the right microbe for environmental cleanups. Employing modern genomics and proteomics techniques, the researchers found that Shewanella, an adaptable genus of bacteria found both in the oceans and on land, [...]
Princeton engineers have developed a sensor that may revolutionize how drugs and medical devices are tested for contamination, and in the process also help ensure the survival of two species of threatened animals. To be fair, some of the credit goes to an African frog. In the wild, the African clawed frog produces antibacterial peptides [...]
Using mathematical concepts, Princeton researchers have developed a method of discovering new drugs for a range of diseases by calculating which physical properties of biological molecules may predict their effectiveness as medicines. The technique already has identified several potential new drugs that were shown to be effective for fighting strains of HIV by researchers at [...]
Andrea Meredith’s mice have a terrible sense of timing. “It’s as if they can’t tell the difference between day and night,” said Meredith, a neuroscientist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Usually, rodents roam at night and sleep all day, even if kept in total darkness. But keep Meredith’s mice in the dark, [...]
Scientists hope that someday stem cells will cure diseases. Pamela Joseph fears that cancer stem cells will kill her first. As her doctors explain it, stem cells are the source of multiple myeloma, a blood cancer the 56-year-old Clarksville woman has been fighting since 2005. Stem cells might also be the reason that the cancer [...]