Scientists Tame Chaotic Protein Fueling 75% of Cancers

​The MYC proteins (grey ribbons) bind to DNA and promote cancer progression. UCR researchers developed a molecule (orange pretzel-like shape) that binds to MYC, inhibiting its cancer-promoting function. (Min Xue/UCR)

Discovery opens window to more effective treatment. Meet MYC, the shapeless protein responsible for making the majority of human cancer cases worse. UC Riverside researchers have found a way to rein it in, offering hope for a new era of treatments.

In healthy cells, MYC helps guide the process of transcription, in which genetic information is converted from DNA into RNA and, eventually, into proteins.

“Normally, MYC’s activity is strictly controlled...

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Researchers develop AI-driven Machine-Checking Method for Verifying Software Code

 software code
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

A team of computer scientists led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently announced a new method for automatically generating whole proofs that can be used to prevent software bugs and verify that the underlying code is correct.

This new method, called Baldur, leverages the artificial intelligence power of large language models (LLMs), and when combined with the state-of-the-art tool Thor, yields unprecedented efficacy of nearly 66%. The team was recently awarded a Distinguished Paper award at the ACM Joint European Software Engineering Conference and Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering.

“We have unfortunately come to expect that our software is buggy, despite the fact that it is everywhere and we all use it every day...

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New Images reveal what Neptune and Uranus really look like

New images reveal what Neptune and Uranus really look like
Voyager 2/ISS images of Uranus and Neptune released shortly after the Voyager 2 flybys in 1986 and 1989, respectively, compared with a reprocessing of the individual filter images in this study to determine the best estimate of the true colors of these planets. Credit: Patrick Irwin.

Neptune is fondly known for being a rich blue, and Uranus green—but a new study has revealed that the two ice giants are actually far closer in color than typically thought.

The correct shades of the planets have been confirmed with the help of research led by Professor Patrick Irwin from the University of Oxford, which has been published today in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

He and his team found that both worlds are in fact a similar shade of greenish blue, despite the c...

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Epilepsy Drug shows Promise in Slowing Joint Degeneration in Osteoarthritis

X-ray images of arthritis on various joints Nav1.7
(© stock.adobe.com)

Yale researchers have identified a drug target that may alleviate joint degeneration associated with osteoarthritis, a debilitating condition that afflicts as many as 30 million people in the United States alone, which they report on Jan. 3 in the journal Nature.

Pain relievers and lifestyle changes, such as exercise and reduced excess weight, have long been the therapies most commonly used to treat the joint stiffness and pain caused by degenerative disease, but there is a pressing need for therapies that can prevent joint breakdown that occurs in osteoarthritis.

It is known that specialized proteins known as sodium channels found in cell membranes produce electrical impulses in “excitable” cells within muscles, the nervous system, and the heart.

And in p...

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