Led Scientists Find Antibodies that Prevent Most HIV Strains from Infecting Human Cells. Scientists have discovered two potent human antibodies that can stop more than 90 percent of known global HIV strains from infecting human cells in the laboratory, and have demonstrated how one of these disease-fighting proteins accomplishes this feat. According to the scientists, these antibodies could be used to design improved HIV vaccines, or could be further developed to prevent or treat HIV infection. Moreover, the method used to find these antibodies could be applied to isolate therapeutic antibodies for other infectious diseases as well. “The discovery of these exceptionally broadly neutralizing antibodies to HIV and the structural analysis that explains how they work are exciting advances that will accelerate our efforts to find a preventive HIV vaccine for global use,” says Anthony S.
Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health. NIAID scientists Peter D. Top 10 Reasons to Love Viruses. Viruses can often be seen in a very poor light, but they aren’t all bad. In fact, we humans probably wouldn’t exist without viruses. Author Michael Brooks writes about the upside of sharing the planet with these ruthless killer machines. Here are the top 10 reasons to love viruses. Ah-Choo! 10. Evolution’s greatest innovation – the cell nucleus – is thought to have come from a virus ( 9. Ok, so that’s not a very scientific take on why we should appreciate the virus. Mimivirus is particularly fearsome because it is virtually indestructible. 8. Around 8 per cent of your DNA is unmistakably viral in origin. 7. When Craig Venter, the human genome pioneer, took samples of the Sargasso Sea, his team found more than 1800 new species of virus containing more than 1.2 million new genes . 6.
No one can agree on whether viruses should be considered part of biology, or chemical parasites on biology. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. . Photo by xaminmo. No Longer Human | Women’s Health. Biology | 7.03 Genetics, Fall 2004 | Lecture Notes. Cells flow like glass, study finds. By studying cellular movements at the level of both the individual cell and the collective group, applied physicists have discovered that migrating tissue flows very much like colloidal glass. The research, led by investigators at Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the University of Florida, advances scientists’ understanding of wound healing, cancer metastasis, and embryonic development. The finding was published online Feb. 14 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Cells often move from one part of the body to another. In a developing embryo, for example, cells in the three germ layers have to arrange themselves spatially so that the cells that will become skin are on the outside. Similarly, as a cancerous tumor expands, the cells proliferate and push others aside. As a wound heals, new cells have to move in to replace damaged tissue. “We study this extensively,” says Weitz, who leads the Experimental Soft Condensed Matter Group at SEAS. Scientists Discover Solar Powered Hornets - GoodCleanTech. Download Graphic Images from the Hillis/Bull Lab. Return to "Download Files" Page You are welcome to download the following graphic image of the Tree of Life for non-commercial, educational purposes: Tree of Life (~3,000 species, based on rRNA sequences) (pdf, 368 KB) (see Science, 2003, 300:1692-1697) This file can be printed as a wall poster.
Tree of Life tattoo, courtesy of Clare D'Alberto, who is working on her Ph.D. in biology at the University of Melbourne. The organisms depicted in this tattoo are (starting at 4 o'clock and going around clockwise): (1) a cyanobacterium (Anabaena); (2) a radiolarian (Acantharea); (3) a dinoflagellate (Ceratium); (4) an angiosperm (Spider Orchid); (5) a couple species of fungi (Penicillium and a yeast); (6) a ctenophore (comb jelly); (7) a mollusc (nudibranch); (8) an echinoderm (brittle star); and (9) a vertebrate (Weedy Sea Dragon).
Here is another great Tree of Life tattoo! Cover of Molecular Systmatics, 2nd ed Here is yet another version from Hannah Udelll at the University of Wisconson-Madisson.