Category Biology/Biotechnology

This image shows how the CRISPR surveillance complex is disabled by two copies of anti-CRISPR protein AcrF1 (red) and one AcrF2 (light green). These anti-CRISPRs block access to the CRISPR RNA (green tube) preventing the surveillance complex from scanning and targeting invading viral DNA for destruction. Credit: Image from Lander Lab/The Scripps Research Institute

Scientists now reveal how viruses disable bacterial immune systems. For many bacteria, one line of defense against viral infection is a sophisticated RNA-guided “immune system” called CRISPR-Cas. At the center of this system is a surveillance complex that recognizes viral DNA and triggers its destruction...

How can long DNA filaments, which have convoluted and highly knotted structure, manage to pass through the tiny pores of various biological systems? This is the fascinating question addressed by Antonio Suma and Cristian Micheletti, researchers at the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) in Trieste who used computer simulations to investigate the options available to the genetic material in such situations. The study has just been published in PNAS, the journal of the National Academy of Sciences of the Unites States. Credit: Antonio Suma, SISSA

How can long DNA filaments, which have convoluted and highly knotted structure, manage to pass through the tiny pores of various biological systems? This is the fascinating question addressed by Antonio Suma and Cristian Micheletti, re...

Highlights •SIRT1-ΔE2 is a tissue-restricted splice variant of SIRT1 •SIRT1-FL/SIRT1-ΔE2 are indistinguishable vis-à-vis intrinsic catalytic activities •The conserved exon 2 (E2) domain may act to tether substrates •E2 encodes molecular specificity of interactions and functions

Two alternate forms of SIRT1 leads to the discovery of how molecular specificity is encoded. While the search for elixir of life has captivated human imagination for millennia, researchers around the world have put in efforts to extend healthy lifespan and reduce the burden of morbid diseases in an increasingly aging population...

vit D pathway

Increasing vitamin D levels may lower risk for developing cancer, according to a study conducted by Creighton University with cooperation from the University of California San Diego. The results of the study were released today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, is a randomized clinical trial of the effects of vitamin D supplementation on all types of cancer combined.

en 55 years and older from 31 counties in Nebraska. Participants were randomly assigned to take either 2000 international units (IU) of vitamin D3 and 1500 mg. of calcium or identical placebos daily for 4 years...