Word: molecular
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Friedman picked up the challenge, applying new tools developed by the field of molecular genetics. The secret factor, he reasoned, must be produced by a gene that was defective in the obese mice. So he began to hunt for such a gene, the ob, or obese, gene. Sure enough, late last year, after eight years of effort, Friedman and his colleagues pinpointed the ob gene in both average-weight and obese mice. They then inserted the normal gene into bacterial cells, providing at long last detectable quantities of the protein they called leptin...
...genes carries instructions for assembling proteins out of chemical building blocks called amino acids. What sets the proteins made by Hox genes apart is the biochemical motif known as a homeobox, a stylized string of 60 amino acids that enables Hox proteins to stick to DNA like strips of molecular Velcro and, in the process, activate still other genes. Hundreds of genes belong to the extended homeobox family, but those that are also homoeotic -- associated with changes in body parts -- are the most important. Though they are few in number (38 out of an estimated...
...cutbacks will affect new and competinggrants," says Richard M. Losick, incoming chair ofthe Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology."The people affected most will be the new andstarting out researchers, not the ones thatalready have at least some grants...
...right, the secret may be amber. This semiprecious substance, observes Ward Wheeler, a molecular evolutionist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, provides a unique window on the history of life. Down through the ages, sudden flows of sticky, honey-colored tree resin have ensnared all manner of small life forms, including beetles, spiders, and even lizards and frogs. Moreover, as this natural polymer hardens, it becomes virtually airtight and waterproof. Not only are extinct organisms like Cano's bee preserved in exquisite anatomical detail, but biological molecules such as dna appear to be largely protected...
Funding problems have also hit at least one of the group's members. The Crimson was told that Peter Duesberg, a professor of molecular biology at the University of California at Berkeley and a leading member of the group, recently lost grant money for his research...