Researchers have identified the mechanism for why hair goes gray with age and stress -- and in the process discovered a novel response to DNA damage in stem cells, they report in the June 12 issue of __Cell.__ It's generally thought that accumulated DNA damage is a likely culprit in aging phenotypes such as graying hair, but researchers have been unable to show a direct link, said linkurl:David Fisher;http://www2.massgeneral.org/cancer-research/profiles.aspx?id=156 chairman of the department of

New findings overturn a major model of where immune memory is stored. Rather than circulating throughout the body, as researchers had thought, memory T-cells actually reside in a comfortable niche in the bone marrow waiting for the next chance to fight infection, according to a linkurl:new article;http://www.cell.com/immunity/abstract/S1074-7613(09)00187-3 published online in __Immunity__ today (May 7th). "It's very exciting data," said Antonio Lanzaveccia from the Institute for Research in B

Relocating immune receptors By Edyta Zielinska Daniel Schwen / commons.wikimedia.org The paper: Q.H. Shen et al., "Nuclear activity of MLA immune receptors links isolate-specific and basal disease–resistance responses," Science, 315:1098–1103, 2007. (Cited in 76 papers) The finding: After staining the nuclei of barley cells, Paul Schulze-Lefert and his colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologn

A new study overthrows a long-held theory on how HIV finds its way into host cells. Rather than fusing directly with the host cell membrane, the virus is first engulfed by it to form a vesicle that releases its contents into the cytoplasm, a study published tomorrow (May 1) in __Cell__ reports. linkurl:The findings;http://www.cell.com/abstract/S0092-8674(09)00268-2 may suggest other therapeutic avenues for targeting HIV, the researchers say. A single virus (yellow) co-labeled with amembrane (r

DNA sequences that don't code for proteins and are repeated thousands or millions of times in the genome are more than just genomic deadwood: These regions contain promoter sequences that can instigate not only their own transcription, but the transcription of protein-coding genes as well, a study published online in Nature on Sunday (April 19th) reports. The paper is likely to spur a slew of new research into repetitive elements in the genome, said Philip Kapranov, principal genomicist at lin

After a couple years of discussion, NIH and NASA are teaming up to send your biomedical experiments into space. The two agencies are accepting proposals for a two-phased linkurl:5-year grants;http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-09-120.html that would first give investigators $150,000 to make their lab experiments feasible in space, and then provide a follow-on $300,000 for the "flight phase." Nine NIH institutes will be participating in the grant. Experiments in space have already

Credit: Photo by Bob Skalkowski / Photography" /> Credit: Photo by Bob Skalkowski / Photography As a postdoc at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, MA, Mike Axtell would often come into the lab carrying bits of plants he had clipped from bushes by the sides of the busy roads. He would dump them on his desk and begin to prepare them for microRNA sequencing, hoping to determine wh

Will Exelixis's novel approach pay off in the current economic climate?

Researchers have identified a novel mechanism by which immune cells wiggle their way across the blood-brain barrier in diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). A type of T-cell involved in autoimmune disease leads the way, entering the brain and perhaps priming the blood-brain barrier's membrane to attract other immune cells -- opening the door for those cells to do their inflammatory damage, according to a study published online yesterday (Mar 22) in Nature Immunology. The choroid plexus is

Research rockers, real rock royalty and some scantily clad women assembled for a night of love and music

The popular press was a-buzz this week with reports of a technique that could allow an amputee to move her prosthetic arm with linkurl:her mind.;http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/11/health/research/11arm.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=todd%20kuiken&st=cse But in fact, the technology, developed by Todd Kuiken and his group at Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, doesn't attempt to read a patient's thoughts -- at least not directly. The type of control Kuiken's group is working on is one step removed. In a w

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) has chosen nine students from disadvantaged backgrounds to receive a fellowship covering $44,000 per year to cover the cost of graduate school. The Gilliam fellowship, named after after James H. Gilliam, a former HHMI trustee who fostered diversity in science education, covers up to five years of a student's graduate training. HHMI draws applicants from former participants of its Exceptional Research Opportunities Program, in which undergrads spend a su