Category Biology/Biotechnology

Legumes such as beans, soy or lentils are good sources of iron. (Image: www.colourbox.com)

Therapeutic iron supplements may be less effective when given in brief intervals: A peptide molecule blocks iron absorption in the intestine even 24 hours after the iron administation. Anemia is often the result of an iron deficiency. In such cases the patients, who are typically female, will be prescribed iron supplements to be taken daily.

As soon as iron enters the body, hepcidin production begins in the liver. This tiny protein, which is composed of just 25 amino acid building blocks, then is released into the bloodstream and reaches the intestine, where one of its functions is to regulate the amount of iron absorbed into the body through the cells of the gastrointestinal tract...

Map of thousands of genes suggests new targets for diabetes. The scientists demonstrated knocking out clock genes led to obesity and type 2 diabetes, but they still had much to learn if they wanted to manipulate clock action to treat the conditions.”We knew that the pancreas didn’t work if we removed these clock genes, but we didn’t know how the genes were affecting the normal function of the pancreas,” said Dr. Joe Bass.

Clock genes are responsible for producing transcription factors, which help tell a cell how to function. In the new study Bass’s laboratory revealed thousands of genes in the pancreas that the clock’s transcription factors control in rhythm with the planet’s daily rotation from light to dark...

The sea slug Tritonia in mid-escape, forms a memory of the attack it just experienced from the seastar below. Credit: William Frost, PhD

Neuroscientists have discovered a novel mechanism for memory formation. Voltage-sensitive dye imaging of the swim motor program of the sea slug Tritonia reveals that some neurons possess characteristics that predispose them to join neural networks in which learning is taking place. The findings represent a shift from the field’s long-term focus on synaptic plasticity.

“In a prior study, we discovered neurons, whose participation in networks varies on a moment-to-moment basis, displaying a surprising ambivalence about their commitment to the network’s function,” said Prof William Frost...

A newly identified compound is the first that is soluble enough to potentially form the basis of a practical eye-drop medication for cataracts. Credit: © BillionPhotos.com / Fotolia

Cataracts affect >20 million people worldwide. The affected proteins are crystallins, the major component of fiber cells, which form the eyes’ lenses, and they are susceptible to damage.”Shortly after you’re born, all the fiber cells in the eye lose the ability to make new proteins, or to discard old proteins,” said Gestwicki, who has continued his work on cataracts at UCSF, where he joined the faculty about two years ago. “So the crystallins you have in your eye as an adult are the same as those you’re born with.”

Thus your finite reservoir of crystallins must maintain both the transparency of fiber cells and...