E-Mail
IMAGE: Infection of human intestinal epithelial cells by Salmonella Typhimurium during spaceflight aboard NASA Space Shuttle mission STS-131. view more
Credit: Graphic by Shireen Dooling for the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University
Astronauts face many challenges to their health, due to the exceptional conditions of spaceflight. Among these are a variety of infectious microbes that can attack their suppressed immune systems.
Now, in the first study of its kind, Cheryl Nickerson, lead author Jennifer Barrila and their colleagues describe the infection of human cells by the intestinal pathogen Salmonella Typhimurium during spaceflight. They show how the microgravity environment of spaceflight changes the molecular profile of human intestinal cells and how these expression patterns are further changed in response to infection. In another first, the researchers were also able to detect molecular changes in the bacterial pathogen while inside the infected
E-Mail
A team of scientists from the University of Cologne (Germany) and the University of Uppsala (Sweden) has created a model that can describe and predict the evolution of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. Resistance to antibiotics evolves through a variety of mechanisms. A central and still unresolved question is how resistance evolution affects cell growth at different drug concentrations. The new model predicts growth rates and resistance levels of common resistant bacterial mutants at different drug doses. These predictions are confirmed by empirical growth inhibition curves and genomic data from Escherichia coli populations. The study has been published in the journal
Credit: Dr Fan Wang
Much like the Jedis in Star Wars use the force to control objects from a distance, scientists can use light or optical force to move very small particles.
The inventors of this ground-breaking laser technology, known as optical tweezers , were awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in physics.
Optical tweezers are used in biology, medicine and materials science to assemble and manipulate nanoparticles such as gold atoms. However, the technology relies on a difference in the refractive properties of the trapped particle and the surrounding environment.
Now scientists have discovered a new technique that allows them to manipulate particles that have the same refractive properties as the background environment, overcoming a fundamental technical challenge.
E-Mail
IMAGE: A model produced by scientists at Rice University shows the conformational changes caused by a mutation in the cancer-fighting p53 protein. At top left, the red box highlights the aggregation-prone. view more
Credit: Kolomeisky Research Group/Rice University
HOUSTON - (March 4, 2021) - A mutation that replaces a single amino acid in a potent tumor-suppressing protein turns it from saint to sinister. A new study by a coalition of Texas institutions shows why that is more damaging than previously known.
The ubiquitous p53 protein in its natural state, sometimes called the guardian of the genome, is a front-line protector against cancer. But the mutant form appears in 50% or more of human cancers and actively blocks cancer suppressors.