News

The first blue roses will be available in 2009

Oral sex leads to cancer in men

Scientists suggest that the human papillomavirus (HPV) affects the oral cavity and throat as a result of oral sex.

Children of three parents: change the batteries in the cells of the child!

The authors of the new technique hope that the combination of in vitro fertilization and cell surgery will allow many couples to avoid having children with mitochondrial pathologies or the need to raise a child conceived with the help of a donor egg.

Preventive vaccine against prostate cancer – "mouse version"

Only 2 out of 20 mice in the experimental group developed prostate cancer. At the same time, the tumors were tiny, non-increasing nodules surrounded by a huge number of immune cells. Thus, vaccination has turned prostate cancer into a chronic, treatable disease.

The herpes virus will help in the creation of antiviral vaccines

Smoking during pregnancy is fraught with sudden death of infants

If an infant, for example, turns face down in the crib, he should feel the lack of oxygen and move his head, but in children exposed to nicotine in the womb, this mechanism does not function properly.

Grapefruit against hepatitis C

The hepatitis C virus does not integrate its genetic material into the chromosomes of the host cells, so theoretically it can be completely removed from the body if the infection of healthy cells is stopped.

Now the runny nose can be studied on mice

Specialists from Imperial College London have bred mice capable of suffering from rhinovirus infection. Previously, the study of the pathogenesis and the search for methods of treating the "contagious cold" were difficult, since the virus could only affect humans and higher primates.

Diet against cardiovascular diseases

The authors identified many dietary factors that affect the likelihood of developing cardiovascular diseases. At the same time, to optimize the state of the cardiovascular system, they recommend the selection of an individual diet for each patient.

What makes us scratch, where does it itch?

Scratching increases activity in the secondary somatosensory cortex, the pain center and the prefrontal cortex associated with manifestations of compulsive behavior (obsessive actions), which explains the irresistible desire to continue scratching the itchy place.

Nanotubes: no harm to health detected

A three-month experiment on mice demonstrated that the nanotubes accumulating in the body do not have a toxic effect.

The patient carried a prosthetic jaw in his stomach for 9 months

Finnish scientists have transplanted the man's upper jaw, obtained from his own stem cells. For nine months, the graft was grown in the patient's stomach.

Educated people live six years longer than the ignorant

In particular, a 35-year-old employee with a higher education has better health indicators compared to his coeval worker. As a result, representatives of the first category live on average six years longer.

The first seed samples were laid in the "Doomsday Vault"

Recently, the first 330 kilograms (7 thousand samples) of seeds from 36 African countries from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), based in Nigeria, were shipped to Norway. At the same time, national seed banks, including Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines and Syria, began sending their collections.

The gold-plated virus will deliver both genes and nanoparticles to cells

The combination of nanotechnology and gene therapy can provide a number of advantages in the treatment of various diseases, and for this it is necessary to learn how to deliver both genes and nanoparticles to cells simultaneously.

Getting ready to grow "female spermatozoa"

In the future, "female" spermatozoa grown in the laboratory can be used for artificial insemination of eggs. In this case, the biological "father" of the resulting child will be a donor woman, from whose cells spermatozoa were obtained.

All blue-eyed people have a common ancestor

The mutation that resulted in blue-eyed people occurred in a gene adjacent to the OCA2 gene, which led to selective suppression of melanin synthesis in the iris of the descendants of the first carrier of this mutation.

Bacteriophages as a matrix for self-assembly of stable nanostructures

Scientists working with the bacteriophage M13 decided to study the possibility of using biologically inert proteins, which make up most of the virus particle, as a matrix for creating nanoconstructions.

Gene therapy against opiate addiction

The authors created genetically modified mice in which endorphin receptors, after meeting with opiates, could enter into endocytosis in the same way as it happens in the presence of endorphins. For these animals, morphine continued to be an excellent analgesic, not causing the development of tolerance and dependence.

Two new letters in the DNA alphabet

Artificial bases, although they are not able to encode amino acids, can be used as markers in the chromosomes of genetically modified organisms. They can be used both in theoretical research and in applied research, including in nanotechnology.