A comprehensive analysis of changes in the intestinal microbial population during the first three years of life hasrevealed some of the impacts of factors such as mode of birth -- vaginal versus cesarean section -- and antibiotic exposure, including the effects of multiple antibiotic treatments. In the June 15 issue of Science Translational Medicine,the team led by investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)and the Broad Institute describes findings that may help understand howthe gut microbiome is established and how the combination of microbes in individual children may contribut...
Date:
2016
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Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis have discovered a previously unknown strategy photosynthetic organisms use to protect themselves from the dangers of excessive light,providing further insight into photosynthesis and opening up new avenues for engineering this process, which underlies the global food chain.The photosynthetic bacterium Chlorobaculum tepidum thrives in the oxygen-free depths or sediments of lakes. In fact, oxygen can poison it by damaging its sensitive reaction center, which converts the energy of light into chemical energy. To survive, the bacterium must have a f...
Date:
2016
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07
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04
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A new study is a "major step forward" in the understanding of water-protein interactions. It answers aquestion that's been dogging research into protein dynamics for decades.Credit: Jo McCultyScientists are getting closer to directly observing how and why water is essential to life as we know it.A study in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences provides the strongest evidenceyet that proteins--the large and complex molecules that fold into particular shapes to enable biological reactions--can't fold themselves.Rather, the work of folding is done by mu...
Date:
2016
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06
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Rice University scientists simulated a nucleosome coiled in DNA to discover the interactions that control its unwinding. The DNA double helix binds tightly to proteins (in red, blue, orange and green) that make up the histone core, which exerts control over the exposure (center and right) of genes for binding.Credit: Wolynes Lab/Rice UniversityThe protein complex that holds strands of DNA in compact spools partially disassembles itself to help genes reveal themselves to specialized proteins and enzymes for activation, according to Rice University researchers and their colleagues.The team's...
Date:
2016
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06
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07
Views：79
Human lung cells were infected with influenza A virus. In unmodified cells (left) and cells expressing an irrelevant VHH control (middle), influenza A virus genome segments decorated with nucleoprotein NP (green) accumulate in the nucleus (blue), where virus replciation takes place. If expressed in cells, the antiviral VHH 508 (right) prevents nuclear import of viral genomes. Cells expressing VHH are stained in red.Credit: Courtesy of Florian Schmidt/Whitehead InstituteWhitehead Institute scientists have determined how to use alpaca-derived, single-domain antibody fragments (also called VHHs o...
Date:
2016
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06
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07
Views：70