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IN THIS ISSUE . . .
December 20, 2005
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The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS),
one of the National Institutes of Health, supports all research
featured in this digest. Although only the lead scientists
are named, coworkers and other collaborators also contributed
to the findings. To read additional news items, visit NIGMS
News.
Cool Image: Snow World
Glide across an icy canyon, where you see smiling snowmen
and waddling penguins. Toss a snowball, hear it smash against
an igloo, and then watch it explode in bright colors. Psychologists
David Patterson and Hunter Hoffman of the University of
Washington in Seattle developed this virtual “Snow
World” to test whether immersing someone in a pretend
reality could ease pain during burn treatment and other
medical procedures. They found that people fully engaged
in the virtual reality experience reported 60 percent less
pain. The technology offers a promising new way to manage
pain.
Full
story (from Findings)
Patterson
home page
Hoffman
home page
New Microscope Tracks a Protein in Real Time
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Caption: RNA polymerase (green) and one end of a DNA
molecule (blue) are attached to clear beads pinned
down in two optical traps. As RNA polymerase moves
along the DNA, it creates an RNA copy of a gene, shown
as a red strand. Courtesy of Steven Block.
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One of the great technological challenges in biology has
been viewing and following molecules in action. For the better
part of a decade, biophysicist Steven Block of Stanford University
has worked to develop a microscope sensitive enough to track
proteins in great structural detail and in real time. Now,
his lab has created the first device that can do just that.
The instrument uses infrared light to trap molecules and lasers
to monitor their movements. The high-resolution technique
helped Block and his team answer some longstanding questions
about the enzyme that copies genes from DNA in a process essential
to life. Among other findings, the group learned exactly how
the enzyme, called RNA polymerase, climbs the DNA ladder.
Full
story
Block
lab home page
Article
abstract (from the November 24, 2005 issue of Nature)
Timekeeping: How Fruit Flies Reset Cellular Clocks
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Caption: Fruit flies are an excellent model system
for investigating circadian rhythms. Courtesy of Jay
Hirsh.
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Did you know that some drugs work best at certain times of
the day or that heart attacks usually strike in the morning?
Our bodies control daily, or circadian, rhythms through a
tiny sliver of brain tissue that communicates with clusters
of cells spread throughout the body. Researchers know that
nearly all living things keep time using similar clock networks.
Fruit flies, for example, have both a.m. and p.m. cellular
clocks. To figure out what makes these clocks tick, so to
speak, biologist Michael Rosbash of Brandeis University made
them run faster or slower. He discovered that the flies’
morning clock sets the rules, acting as the waking alarm each
day and resetting the evening clock. The findings may shed
light on how natural biological rhythms are controlled in
people.
| "We’ve known for years that
people, flies, and other species have lots of different
circadian clocks. But figuring out what each clock does
is hard because the clocks are normally synchronized
with each other. Dr. Rosbash used clever genetic tricks
to make the two major clocks in the fly brain run independently,
which enabled him to figure out which one was the master
clock."
—Laurie
Tompkins, NIGMS program director in the Division of
Genetics and Developmental Biology |
Full
story
Rosbash
lab
Article
abstract (from the November 10, 2005, issue of Nature)
Viral Infections Could Spur Cancer
Cancer cells often have the wrong number or structure of
chromosomes, usually arising from genetic mutations that
have disrupted cell division in some way. But viruses can
lead to the same types of chromosomal abnormalities by causing
cells to fuse. Yuri Lazebnik, biologist at the Cold Spring
Harbor Laboratory, has uncovered evidence for a link between
viral infection, cell fusion, and cancer. When he fused
laboratory-grown human cells with a virus, he found that
some of the hybrid cells had the potential to rapidly grow
and increase in number—but only if one of the fusion
partners had a genetic mutation that predisposed it to cancer.
These findings suggest that viral infection can contribute
to the runaway cell division that typifies cancer and raises
concerns about the use of viruses for clinical applications,
such as gene therapy.
Full
story
Lazebnik
home page
Article
abstract (from the November 2005 issue of the Journal
of Cell Biology)
Adventures Inside the Cell
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Caption: Cover, Inside the Cell
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At this very moment, electricity zaps in your brain, voracious
killers course through your veins, and corrosive chemicals
sizzle in bubbles from your head to your toes. Learn how
and why in the newly revised booklet Inside the Cell,
a free NIGMS publication about cell biology that vividly
describes the structures and functions shared by virtually
all cells. Through easy-to-understand writing and illustrative
examples, the booklet explains how cells specialize, reproduce,
age, and die. It also features cutting-edge cell biology
research and techniques.
Order
or view
Inside the Cell
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