A newly released set of images, taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope before the recent Servicing Mission, highlight the ongoing drama in two galaxies in the Virgo Cluster affected by a process known as "ram pressure stripping", which can result in peculiar-looking galaxies. An extremely hot X-ray emitting gas known as the intra-cluster medium lurks between galaxies within cluster...

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Scripps Research Institute have uncovered the role played by the least-understood part of a first-responder molecule that rushes in to bind and repair breaks in DNA strands, a process that helps people avoid cancer. With this final piece of the puzzle in place, scientists can better understand how t...

Good news for procrastinating students: a nasal spray developed by a team of German scientists promises to give late night cram sessions a major boost, if a good night`s sleep follows. In a research report featured as the cover story of the October 2009 print issue of The FASEB Journal, these scientists show that a molecule from the body`s immune system (interleukin-6) when administered through th...

A research team led by Lucas Pelkmans at ETH Zürich has managed to decipher a well-known phenomenon that had, until now, remained unexplained: why cells of the same type can react differently, and what the reason for this is. The properties of a cell population determine the different cell activities observed in cells of the same type. This is the conclusion drawn by a research team lead by L...

It`s been cultivated for at least 7,000 years and spread from South America to grow on every continent except Antarctica. Now the humble potato has had its genome sequenced. "The potato is the most important vegetable worldwide," said Robin Buell, an MSU associate professor of plant biology. She was part of the consortium that released the first draft sequence of the potato genome. "...

Scientists at Queen Mary, University of London have made an important discovery in understanding what causes arteries to clog up. They have discovered that an enzyme called matrix metalloproteinase-8 plays a crucial role in raising blood pressure and causing abnormal build-up of cells in the arteries – both of which increase the risk of heart disease. Heart disease is the number one cause of...

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)-funded research, published recently in Chemical Communication, describes how scientists have discovered molecules that could confuse insects’ ability to detect plants by interfering with their sense of smell. This could reduce damage to crops by insect pests and contribute to food security. Lead researcher Dr Antony Hooper of Rot...

In a paper titled "The Boundless Carbon Cycle," published in the September issue of Nature Geoscience, scientists from the University of Vienna, Uppsala University in Sweden, University of Antwerp, and the U.S. based Stroud™ Water Research Center argue that current international strategies to mitigate manmade carbon emissions and address climate change have overlooked a critical pl...

NASA`s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed frozen water hiding just below the surface of mid-latitude Mars. The spacecraft`s observations were obtained from orbit after meteorites excavated fresh craters on the Red Planet. Scientists controlling instruments on the orbiter found bright ice exposed at five Martian sites with new craters that range in depth from approximately half a meter to 2.5...

A protein found present in all cells in the body could help scientists better understand how we store fat. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have found that the protein invadolysin, which is essential for healthy cell division, is present in lipid droplets – the parts of cells used to store fat. The study also found that lower levels of invadolysin were linked to reduced amounts of ...