Opposite effect: Protein widely known to Fight Tumors also Boosts Cancer Growth

UC San Diego researchers found that the PUMA protein works inside the cell’s mitochondria to switch energy production processes and stimulate cancer growth.
Credit: Xu Lab, UC San Diego

Researchers find evidence that genome ‘guardian’ can stimulate cancer. Researchers studying p53, the heralded cancer-fighting ‘guardian of the genome,’ found that the human protein also plays a role in promoting tumors, in addition to suppressing them. They found that the PUMA protein works inside the cell’s mitochondria to switch energy production processes and stimulate cancer growth. Search for a description of “p53” and it becomes clear that this human protein is widely known for its cancer-fighting benefits, leading to its renown as “the guardian of the genome.”

Scientists at the University of Ca...

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Invisible Tags: Physicists Write, Read and Erase using Light

A luminescent tag, contactless printed onto a plastic foil. The light emitting layer is thinner than a human hair. The imprint can be erased and replaced by another pattern.
Credit: M. Gmelch and H. Thomas, TU Dresden

A team of physicists has developed a new method of storing information in fully transparent plastic foils. Prof. Reineke and his LEXOS team work with simple plastic foils with a thickness of less than 50 micrometer, which is thinner than a human hair. In these transparent plastic foils, they introduce organic luminescent molecules. In the beginning, these molecules are in an inactive, dark state. By locally using ultraviolet irradiation, it is possible to turn this dark state into an active, luminescent one...

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Detailed Maps of Thousands of Nearby Galaxies

The MaNGA data set will eventually include more than 10,000 nearby galaxies, and the survey is already more than half way toward that goal.
Credit: SDSS/MaNGA collaboration

The latest data release from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) includes observations revealing the internal structure and composition of nearly 5,000 nearby galaxies observed during the first three years of a program called Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA).

MaNGA uses a technique called resolved spectroscopy to study galaxies in much greater detail than previous surveys. Spectroscopy is a powerful tool for astronomers, yielding a wealth of information by measuring how much light an object emits at different wavelengths...

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Mars Rover Curiosity makes 1st Gravity-Measuring Traverse on the Red Planet

In a selfie taken in mid-January 2019, Mars rover Curiosity prepares to enter a new, clay-mineral-rich unit on its traverse up Mount Sharp in Gale Crater. Mission scientists are anxious to see what a new gravity-measuring technique will reveal about the mountain and Gale Crater’s history.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

A clever use of non-science engineering data from NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity has let a team of researchers, including an Arizona State University graduate student, measure the density of rock layers in 96-mile-wide Gale Crater. The findings, to be published February 1, 2019, in the journal Science, show that the layers are more porous than scientists had suspected...

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