News: NIGMS Research Around the Nation

NIGMS-funded researchers have found that H1N1 spreads inefficiently because it doesn't bind strongly to human respiratory tract receptors.

An NIGMS-funded study has found novel neurochemical receptors in C. elegans.

An NIGMS-funded study sheds light on the processes that lead to insertion and deletion mutations, which cause many inherited diseases.

NIGMS-funded researchres have devised a microscale tool to help understand the mechanical behavior of biofilms, the collective form of bacteria involved in most infectious diseases.

An NIGMS-funded study reveals a site within a protein that interacts with alcohol, possibly leading to changes in brain cell function.

A team of NIGMS-supported scientists has revealed how the BAM protein affects germline stem cell differentiation.

In a landmark technical achievement, NIGMS-supported investigators have determined the structure of the largest membrane-spanning protein to date.

NIGMS-supported researchers have devised a strategy that allows many thousands of DNA samples to be combined during sequencing.

In a new NIGMS-supported study, researchers investigated a trio of cell-signaling pathways that work to direct pancreas and liver progenitor cells to mature into their final state.

Three University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty members receive grants to fund a UMass chapter of the Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP).

A team of NIGMS-funded scientists has created a genetically modified fruit fly that mimics key features of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.

A team of NIGMS-supported bioengineers has created a tiny device that measures forces exerted by individual cells during tissue development.

NIGMS-supported researchers have found that a bacterial protein thought to exist in a single three-dimensional structure can twist itself into a second form.

MBRS doctoral student Magaly Salinas was selected to attend an annual gathering of Nobel laureates and students in Lindau, Germany.

Nanoparticles specially engineered by a team of NIGMS-supported researchers could someday target and destroy tumors, sparing patients from toxic, whole-body chemotherapies.

Gene regulatory networks keep working despite the failure of individual components, according to a new NIGMS-funded study.

An NIGMS-funded study has provided a close-up look at the hexagonal protein building blocks that make up the HIV capsid.

NIGMS-funded molecular biologists have discovered that transposons jump not during the formation of sperm and egg cells but during embryonic development.

An NIGMS-funded study has clarified the role that retinoic acid plays in limb development.

NIGMS-funded researchers have atomic resolution of a detail of the pili, which bacteria use to attach to host intestinal epithelia.

NIGMS-funded researchers are using Neurospora fungus to study the biochemistry and genetics of circadian rhythms.

NIGMS-funded researchers find that targeting insects' immune systems, thereby making them more susceptible to infection, could offer a sustainable method of pest control.

An NIGMS-funded study disproves a longstanding theory about why cancer cells often have too many or too few chromosomes.

An NIGMS-supported study reports the building of a new type of nanomotor made from a molecule of DNA and driven only by particles of light.

NIGMS-funded researchers have developed small molecules that mimic the behavior and function of large natural regulators of gene expression.

NIGMS-funded biologists have discovered that a burst of hydrogen peroxide could serve as a chemical signal marshalling healing cells to wounded tissue.

NIGMS-funded researchers used laser pulses to slice off pieces of chromosomes to better understand the forces that move them during mitosis.

NIGMS-funded researchers have linked a protein found in human muscles, but not found in mice, to type 2 diabetes.

An NIGMS-supported study suggests that normally functioning genes, not just mutated ones, could be important targets for cancer drugs.

NIGMS-funded researchers found that sections of a protein previously thought to be disordered may in fact have a biological role.

Three new members were appointed to the National Advisory General Medical Sciences Council. They are: Michael D. Caldwell, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.S., director of the Wound Healing Program at the Marshfield Clinic in Wisconsin; John E. Johnson, Jr., Ph.D., professor of molecular biology at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif.; and Robert F. Murphy, Ph.D., the Ray and Stephanie Lane professor of computational biology at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pa.

An NIGMS-funded study has found that transposon sequences thought of as "junk DNA" spur useful rearrangement of the genome.

NIGMS-funded researchers have discovered a new class of mutations linked to cases of childhood leukemia with a high risk of relapse and death.

NIGMS-funded researchers have discovered that a substance secreted by damaged skin in mice with eczema triggers asthmatic symptoms.

NIGMS-funded researchers have created a method for quickly identifying large numbers of short hairpin RNA sequences in human genes.

NIGMS-supported chemists have discovered a catalyst that acts like nature's most pervasive hydrogen processor.

Two studies by NIGMS-funded researchers make new inroads into understanding the regulatory circuitry of cells' biological clock.

NIGMS-funded researchers examined 650,000 variable sites in the genome among a broad group of the world's population.

NIGMS-funded researchers are exploring the complex network of interactions between drugs and proteins to explain adverse drug effects.

MARC undergraduate student Omozusi Andrews wins the Richard Bernstein Achievement Award for Excellence at the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore graduation ceremony.

NIGMS-funded biologists have found that a microRNA is critical to the robustness of the molecular network that helps regulate uniformity.

NIGMS-funded researchers have shown that phytochromes from bacteria can be engineered into infrared-emitting tags for whole-body imaging.

An NIGMS-funded laboratory has provided new insight on how chromosomal translocations in a gene lead to leukemia.

NIGMS-funded researchers are working to create molecules that selectively interfere with the production of mutant proteins that cause Huntington's disease.

By literally turning up the heat, a team of NIGMS-supported scientists has uncovered an RNA editing enzyme in an ancient heat-loving organism.

 NIGMS-supported researchers have found that small stockpiles of a secondary flu medication—if used early in local outbreaks—could extend the effectiveness of primary drug stockpiles during a global influenza pandemic.

A 10-year study funded in part by NIGMS has produced an unprecedented amount of genetic data about Africans, demonstrating the great diversity on the continent.

NIGMS-funded researchers have discovered that HIV primarily enters cells via endosomes, suggesting that new drugs could inhibit that process.

NIGMS-funded researchers have found a mutation that may help an organism that grows in thermal vents survive.

NIGMS-funded researchers have shown that artificial mimics of a plant hormone could help crops survive drought.

MIDAS-supported researcher Ira Longini talks about his efforts to simulate hypothetical influenzas and study how they might spread.

An NIGMS-supported study explored how a protein called SUMO alters the structure of chromatin to regulate genetic activity.

An NIGMS-funded study has found that a type of vitamin B1 could treat the inflammation that is a common cause of blindness.

NIGMS IMSD grant could give up to 24 minority students a boost toward a doctorate in biomedical research.

NIGMS-funded research has discovered widespread convergent molecular evolution across mitochondrial proteins.

NIGMS-funded biochemists have determined the structure of a key genetic mechanism in bacteria that could lead to a new class of antibiotics.

NIGMS-funded researchers have found hints that copper regulation is disrupted in prion disease.

NIGMS-funded biologists have discovered that a protein called Mcl-1 plays a critical role in melanoma cells' resistance to death.

Chemists funded by NIGMS have created an efficient way to make a complex alkaloid found in club moss that has medical potential.

NIGMS-funded researchers have developed a slow-release, injectable anesthetic that has no apparent toxic effects.

An NIGMS-funded study draws parallels between a DNA repair factor and a ubiquitin-like modifier that are both essential for genome stability.

NIGMS-funded researchers have studied how genetically identical cells have different amounts of proteins that can affect their response to drugs.

NIGMS-funded biologists have solved the structure of a plant protein that is similar to proteins that control the master clock in mammals.

NIGMS-funded biologists report that a protein plays a critical role in helping cells decide to repair DNA damage instead of committing suicide.

NIGMS-funded molecular biologists have found that the assembly of silent heterochromatin domains in DNA depends on the strength with which a protein binds to histones.

NIGMS-funded investigators have deciphered a large proportion of the total protein complement in a species of yeast.

NIGMS-funded physicists have used game theory and yeast genetics to understand how cooperative behavior is compatible with evolutionary forces.

NIGMS-funded biochemists have discovered mechanisms behind two key checkpoints in cell development that are related to tumor growth.

With support from MBRS RISE Award, Elizabeth City State University prepares undergraduate students for research careers.

NIGMS-funded research suggests that nicotine may interfere with more processes in the body than previously thought.

NIGMS-funded biological engineers have used a "fuzzy logic" approach to model information networks in cells.

NIGMS-funded researchers have identified a fluorescent anesthetic that should help in future research to discover and understand anesthetics.

MARC U-STAR helps St. Augustine undergraduate pursue dream of becoming a cancer researcher.

NIGMS-funded researchers have found many new prions in yeast to better address whether they have a beneficial role in nature.

An NIGMS-funded study suggests that sleep refreshes the brain by lowering levels of proteins that build up in the synapses.

NIGMS-funded researchers have created a bipedal, autonomous DNA "walker" to better understand molecular motor systems.

NIGMS-funded researchers suspect that a protein called Muc4 may promote metastasis and inhibit cancer cells' death.

NIGMS-funded researchers have used magnetic particles like molecular sheep dogs, a strategy that could be used to build human tissues.

NIGMS grantee Lucy Shapiro has won the 2009 Gairdner International Award for her insights on cell differentiation.

NIGMS-funded researchers say that scientists who examine human evolution have used faulty statistical methods.

NIGMS-funded chemists have designed a lock-like molecule that clasps or unclasps based on exposure to light.

A study funded partly by NIGMS has produced a test that could help doctors identify which breast cancer patients should receive aggressive therapy.

NIGMS-funded researchers have solved the structure of a protein that keeps many drugs out of cells and can make cancer cells resistant to chemotherapy.

NIGMS-funded researchers report that they have created induced human pluripotent stem cells free of viral vectors and exotic genes.

A team of scientists has advanced stem cell research by finding a way to endow human skin cells with embryonic stem cell-like properties without inserting potentially problematic new genes into their DNA.

NIGMS-funded researchers have discovered an effective new anti-cancer agent related to drugs previously used to treat bone diseases.

Researchers partially funded by NIGMS have created a switch that allows the monitoring of muscle regeneration in mammals.

NIGMS-funded biochemists built a functioning protein from scratch, that is, without working from an existing scaffold from nature.

NIGMS-funded study of the motor protein kinesin-2 sheds light on the important process of cell transport and how it could be recruited to fight disease.

NIGMS-funded biologists used temporal network analysis to explore the factors that promote or reduce scientific productivity.

NIGMS-funded researchers have been able to follow the changing shape of individual alpha-synuclein proteins, which are linked to Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.

NIGMS-funded researchers who discovered a prion in yeast are testing whether it could have a natural role in gene regulation.

NIGMS-funded researchers are designing antibiotics that disrupt quorum sensing instead of killing bacteria.

NIGMS-funded researchers have identified a key protein that links the morning and evening components of the daily biological clock of plants.

NIGMS-funded researchers have discovered an additional proofreading step in the protein-making process.

NIGMS-funded researchers have discovered how circadian rhythms regulate energy levels in cells.

NIGMS-funded researchers have discovered that a species of algae that grows in hot, acidic environments chemically modifies arsenic to make it less toxic.

An NIGMS-funded study has shed light on how kinetochores, which control chromosome movement during cell division, can be both strong and dynamic.

NIGMS-funded researchers have discovered that a gene remnant was resurrected during human evolution.