Or at least his honey pot does. Or cells they're calling honey-pot cells. Same diff.
They're actually artificially designed cells made to appear like delicious virus targets. However, since viruses can only infect a cell once, by attacking the decoy, fake cells, they then become inactive. The researchers tested their "honey pot protocells" by using virus particles altered to cause infected cells to fluoresce, thereby visually showing the near-100% success rate. They're hypothesizing that since this uses the virus's own mode of infection, viruses will be less likely to "grow immune" to the cells. Clever, ya? Details at the link!
-Miss Mouse
References and Links
Honey Pot Virus-Killas: http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/574035/
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Let's Try Something New, Shall We?
If you're reading this, you're basically a wonderful person for stickin' with me. My life's been upside down, sideways, and really tangled lately! My goal with this blog was to be a reliably up-to-date news source on all worlds of Science, for all those interested in Science. I don't feel like I meet that goal when I only post every month or two, so I want to try something new out and see if I can make the time for it.
Twitter will go on as usual. My favorite part about this is being able to offer those headlines sooner than other sources, and immediately on the site without having to wait to post a full blog. That part's a success and shall continue. Each week day, however, in the morning, I'll sum up just one very interesting article from the day before. That's a lot easier on me because I sleep in the day when the Science is happening, so I don't get a chance to read and report on all of it until the evening and early morning hours. Wake up to Science. Dig it?
Each Saturday, the hope is to write a longer, normal post wrapping up other big stories from the week. Kinda like how my posts have been up until now - between three and five awesome stories from all different fields and sources. Like I said - headlines will continue as usual on Twitter (right-hand side of the page), so you won't miss a thing during the week!
Let's see if I can pull that off, ya? I'll already be on blogger once a day anyways to update the Pet-of-the-Day on my vet techy blog over here. Totally doable. Come on, lady, YOU CAN DO IT.
SO. Today's story!
Tooooxoooplasmoooosiiiisss...
Is one of my favorite diseases. Ebola is my most favorite, but Toxoplasmosis is one of those ones that comes up quite a bit when you work with cats! In any case, researchers studying it have demonstrated that the "centrocone" behaves as a "master organizer" of other "chromosomes," illuminating the "processes" involved in "parasitic" cell "division." "."
Actually this is very cool. All chromosomes remained bound by the spindles even when not actively dividing. This is especially interesting because those cells probably behave differently during different life cycles of Toxoplasma gondii. Not only does this advance our understanding of Toxoplasmosis, which affects millions of people and is frequently symptomless BUT can cause severe birth defects, BUT it also carries over to other organisms like Malaria. Read the full article below!
-Miss Mouse
References and Links:
Toxoplasmosis & Chromosomes: http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-03-previously-unknown-role-cell-division.html
Twitter will go on as usual. My favorite part about this is being able to offer those headlines sooner than other sources, and immediately on the site without having to wait to post a full blog. That part's a success and shall continue. Each week day, however, in the morning, I'll sum up just one very interesting article from the day before. That's a lot easier on me because I sleep in the day when the Science is happening, so I don't get a chance to read and report on all of it until the evening and early morning hours. Wake up to Science. Dig it?
Each Saturday, the hope is to write a longer, normal post wrapping up other big stories from the week. Kinda like how my posts have been up until now - between three and five awesome stories from all different fields and sources. Like I said - headlines will continue as usual on Twitter (right-hand side of the page), so you won't miss a thing during the week!
Let's see if I can pull that off, ya? I'll already be on blogger once a day anyways to update the Pet-of-the-Day on my vet techy blog over here. Totally doable. Come on, lady, YOU CAN DO IT.
SO. Today's story!
Tooooxoooplasmoooosiiiisss...
Is one of my favorite diseases. Ebola is my most favorite, but Toxoplasmosis is one of those ones that comes up quite a bit when you work with cats! In any case, researchers studying it have demonstrated that the "centrocone" behaves as a "master organizer" of other "chromosomes," illuminating the "processes" involved in "parasitic" cell "division." "."
Actually this is very cool. All chromosomes remained bound by the spindles even when not actively dividing. This is especially interesting because those cells probably behave differently during different life cycles of Toxoplasma gondii. Not only does this advance our understanding of Toxoplasmosis, which affects millions of people and is frequently symptomless BUT can cause severe birth defects, BUT it also carries over to other organisms like Malaria. Read the full article below!
-Miss Mouse
References and Links:
Toxoplasmosis & Chromosomes: http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-03-previously-unknown-role-cell-division.html
Saturday, February 5, 2011
5 February 2011 - Cancer.
I went ahead and changed the Tue-Thur-Sun Schedule on the site header because...well we all know how dependable I am! So yes. I sure do wish blogging was all I did all day! Instead, here is a picture of a kitten:
Anyhoo.
Today, I'd like to talk about a couple of stories I very recently tweeted regarding cancer. Oh, by the way - I noticed that twitter gadget was a little bit of fail, so to make it easier for you guys to use from the site I've switched to the Twitter-created version. Stories should now open in a new tab or window, making it easier for you to read each and come back to the list. :) Okay, anyways, CANCER.
First, something called "Cornell dots." Earlier today I was ranting and raving about how nutty the FDA could get, but here, we see they've graciously permitted the testing of something really nifty - inorganic, tiny dye beads inside a small silica ball. The little balls are small enough to safely pass from the body, as well as being coated with "don't-destroy-me" chemicals. Organic binding bits are stuck to the little dye nanoparticles, making them seek out and stick to tumor cells. Once exposed to "near-infrared" light, they fluoresce brightly, allowing examiners to spot problem sites very easily. They're using radioactivity to double-check results, and will be looking for how long it takes the particles to reach and tag different organ systems, and the length of time needed to leave the body.
Next, most people recognize that sun damage ups your risk for skin cancer, specifically melanoma, but exactly HOW that occurs is still a bit foggy. Well, new research based on previous findings (that a certain kind of interferon moving when exposed to UVB radiation can actually lead to cancerous growth) shows that adding a drug that may block that interferon's activity enough to prevent or halt cancer growth. I don't think there are results on that yet, but it'll be interesting to see where this goes, fo sho.
Mmkay, I know this one was brief, but there was a kitten, so you can't blame me. :) Keep reading the twitter feed, and I'll be around!
-Miss Mouse
References and Links:
Cancer Dots
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110205162831.htm
More "we're-at-least-onto-something" Science
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110205141314.htm
 |
| That's in my office. Only a few days older. Lookitthelittlenose. |
Today, I'd like to talk about a couple of stories I very recently tweeted regarding cancer. Oh, by the way - I noticed that twitter gadget was a little bit of fail, so to make it easier for you guys to use from the site I've switched to the Twitter-created version. Stories should now open in a new tab or window, making it easier for you to read each and come back to the list. :) Okay, anyways, CANCER.
First, something called "Cornell dots." Earlier today I was ranting and raving about how nutty the FDA could get, but here, we see they've graciously permitted the testing of something really nifty - inorganic, tiny dye beads inside a small silica ball. The little balls are small enough to safely pass from the body, as well as being coated with "don't-destroy-me" chemicals. Organic binding bits are stuck to the little dye nanoparticles, making them seek out and stick to tumor cells. Once exposed to "near-infrared" light, they fluoresce brightly, allowing examiners to spot problem sites very easily. They're using radioactivity to double-check results, and will be looking for how long it takes the particles to reach and tag different organ systems, and the length of time needed to leave the body.
Next, most people recognize that sun damage ups your risk for skin cancer, specifically melanoma, but exactly HOW that occurs is still a bit foggy. Well, new research based on previous findings (that a certain kind of interferon moving when exposed to UVB radiation can actually lead to cancerous growth) shows that adding a drug that may block that interferon's activity enough to prevent or halt cancer growth. I don't think there are results on that yet, but it'll be interesting to see where this goes, fo sho.
Mmkay, I know this one was brief, but there was a kitten, so you can't blame me. :) Keep reading the twitter feed, and I'll be around!
-Miss Mouse
References and Links:
Cancer Dots
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110205162831.htm
More "we're-at-least-onto-something" Science
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110205141314.htm
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