我国科学家发现抑制“过激”免疫反应新机制

日前,国际著名学术期刊《自然-免疫学》杂志刊登了我国科学家的最新研究成果:中国科学院上海生命科学研究院生物化学与细胞生物学研究所裴钢院士研究组研究发现了抑制“过激”免疫反应的新机制。这项工作标志着由国家自然科学基金优秀研究群体、国家科技部“973”项目、中科院知识创新工程等共同支持的细胞信号转导研究,经过数年不懈的工作,再次取得了具有国际水平的重要进展,成为我国生命科学研究中的又一自主创新成果。专家介绍,人们每天都会接触大量的有害微生物,包括致病病菌、病毒等。当这些病原微生物侵入的时候,人体能够识别,并激活免疫反应来杀死它们,从而保障人们身体的健康。但     

曾凡一副主编荣获中国青年女科学家奖

本刊讯：第六届＂中国青年女科学家奖＂于2010年1月26日在北京揭晓,5名青年女科学家成为这一奖项得主。其中,〈现代生物医学进展〉副主编曾凡一博士,（上海交通大学医学遗传研究所副所长、研究员、国家重大科学研究计划项目首席科学家）荣列其中。     

曾凡一副主编荣获中国青年女科学家奖

本刊讯：第六届＂中国青年女科学家奖＂于2010年1月26日在北京揭晓,5名青年女科学家成为这一奖项得主。其中,〈现代生物医学进展〉副主编曾凡一博士,（上海交通大学医学遗传研究所副所长、研究员、国家重大科学研究计划项目首席科学家）荣列其中。     

曾凡一副主编荣获中国青年女科学家奖

本刊讯：第六届＂中国青年女科学家奖＂于2010年1月26日在北京揭晓,5名青年女科学家成为这一奖项得主。其中,〈现代生物医学进展〉副主编曾凡一博士,（上海交通大学医学遗传研究所副所长、研究员、国家重大科学研究计划项目首席科学家）荣列其中。     

能让大自然长久为我们服务吗?

人类对自然界的依赖和保护伴随人类的发展持续到今天,然而越来越壮大的人类与自然界的冲突也在快速升级。森林减少的速度让自然保护人士感到窒息。保护的努力越来越多,但成效却远未达到目标。大自然保护协会(TNC)首席科学家皮特·卡瑞瓦将数学家的逻辑带到了关于人与自然问题的辩论中:"世界上已经没有纯粹的自然了,一旦你认识到了这一点,你就会在完全不同的框架内考虑自然保护。"他这样说可不是意味着"放下武器,承认失败"。他强调:"我们的问题是如何在这个前提下服务于自然,并让自然为我们服务。"     

《细胞》：科学家为近百种“超级增强子”编制目录

据物理学家组织网10月10日报道。最近,美国怀特黑德生物医学研究所科学家发现了一套称为”超级增强子”的基因调控器,能控制、影响人类和小鼠的大量细胞型。研究人员指出,超级增强子富集在基因组的变异区,而这些变异区与多种疾病谱系密切相关。所以它们最终可能在疾病诊断与治疗方面发挥重要作用。相关论文在线发表于当天的《细胞》杂志网站上。     

《自然》：皮肤细胞可直接转变为功能性神经元

《自然》杂志网站5月26日报道，美国斯坦福大学医学院的科学家表示，只需要朝人类的皮肤细胞中添加四种蛋白质，在4至5周内，就能直接变成功能性神经元。最新技术不再需要首先制造出诱导多功能干细胞，使科学家更容易在实验室培养皿中制造出     

Cetus公司克隆CSF-1

Cetus公司宣布该公司的科学家已克隆和表达了人集落刺激因子-1(CSF-1)的基因。CSF-1是一种血细胞生长因子,可能对治疗传染病和某地癌症有用。     

Influence of social interaction between rams on their serving capacity

The experiment was designed to test the hypothesis that social interaction between rams influenced their serving capacity and modified their preference for ewes.The serving capacity and the preference for particular ewes was recorded on the first and seventh day of joining in 8 rams mated either individually or in pairs to 12 oestrous ewes. The serving capacity (mean number ejaculates/hour) was 50% lower in both dominant and submissive rams when working together compared with single-sire matings. However, when working together, 33% of the available ewes were served by the submissive ram and 12.5% were served by the dominant ram so that, in total, more ewes were served (total mean number ± SE of ewes served/ram when mated either individually or as a pair = 4.50 ± 0.89 and 5.50 ± 0.57, respectively). This resulted from a modification in ewe preference by the submissive ram.In the absence of competition, the same ewes were observed to be preferred by most rams. This ewe “attractiveness” was found not to be a permanent characteristic, as the preferred ewes at one oestrus were not necessarily those most preferred at a subsequent oestrus.     

New locus important for Myxococcus social motility and development

The mts locus in salt-tolerant Myxococcus fulvus HW-1 was found to be critical for gliding motility, fruiting-body formation, and sporulation. The homologous genes in Myxococcus xanthus are also important for social motility and fruiting-body development. The mts genes were determined to be involved in cell-cell cohesion in both myxobacterial species.     

Scientific rationale for the development of gene therapy strategies for Parkinson's disease

The ever-evolving understanding of the neuronal systems involved in Parkinson's disease together with the recent advances in recombinant viral vector technology has led to the development of several gene therapy applications that are now entering into clinical testing phase. To date, four fundamentally different approaches have been pursued utilizing recombinant adeno-associated virus and lentiviruses as vectors for delivery. These strategies aim either to restore the lost brain functions by substitution of enzymes critical for synthesis of neurotransmitters or neurotrophic factors as a means to boost the function of remaining neurons in the diseased brain. In this review we discuss the differences in mechanism of action and describe the scientific rationale behind the currently tested gene therapy approaches for Parkinson's disease in some detail and pinpoint their individual unique strengths and weaknesses.     

RasA is required for Myxococcus xanthus development and social motility

An insertion in the rasA gene entirely blocked developmental aggregation and sporulation in Myxococcus xanthus while also reducing swarm expansion on a 0.3% agar surface. Data presented here demonstrate that rasA is required for extracellular fibril formation and social gliding motility.     

Modification of a serving capacity test for beef bulls

Five sets of identical twin bulls were used to determine how the various components of the serving capacity (SC) test influenced the SC a bull showed in the test. It was found that females must be restrained in service crates rather than by a halter. Females restrained in this way need not be in oestrus and bulls must be sexually stimulated before the test (10 min of watching other bulls mounting females being adequate). Bulls tested in this way displayed little variation in SC from one test to another (SD of SC being 1.1 services).