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    Category Health/Medical

    Modern Alchemy creates Luminescent Iron Molecules

    March 30, 2017, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    iron complex [Fe(btz)3]3+

    iron complex [Fe(btz)3]3+

    A group of researchers have made the first iron-based molecule capable of emitting light. This could contribute to the development of affordable and environmentally friendly materials for e.g. solar cells, light sources and displays. For over 50 years, chemists have developed metal-based dye molecules for a wide range of different applications, such as displays and solar cells. This would ideally involve common and environmentally friendly metals like iron, but despite a number of attempts no one has been able to develop an iron-based dye molecule that can emit light until now. Researchers around the world have therefore instead largely had to resort to various rare and precious metals, such as ruthenium, which have more easily provided the desired properties.

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    A Molecular On/Off switch for CRISPR

    March 29, 2017, Categories  Biology/Biotechnology, Health/Medical

    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

    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...

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    Unraveling the functional diversity of Longevity gene SIRT1

    March 28, 2017, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    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

    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...

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    Vitamin D decreases risk of Cancer, new study suggests

    March 28, 2017, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    vit D pathway

    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...

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