Cyanobacteria and their plasmids

As we discussed in Chapter 19, bacterial can contain extra circles of DNA called plasmids that are also transcribed and translated into proteins.   Here is an current example of how cyanobacteria expresses genes on a particular plasmid.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130315074607.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fmost_popular+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Most+Popular+News%29

Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria

Some bacteria can now resist even the strongest antibiotics . . .

http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/nm/nightmare-bacteria-shrugging-off-antibiotics-on-rise-in-u-s

Baby born with HIV cured

A baby born with the HIV virus appears to have been cured, scientists announced Sunday, describing the case of a child from Mississippi who's now 2½ and has been off medication for about a year with no signs of infection.

http://news.yahoo.com/scientists-baby-born-hiv-apparently-cured-213124051.html

Quadruple Stranded DNA

In another example of the need to constantly research things that we think we already know, scientists have found out that some strands of DNA form a quadruple strand . . .

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=four-strand-dna-structure-found-cells

New step towards cure for AIDS

Scientists have created a protein inhibitor that seems to perform exceedingly well in stopping the HIV virus from replicating.  If the HIV virus can't replicate, the patient will never develop AIDS.  

We will discuss how inhibitors work in Chapter 14 in a few weeks.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-16/scientists-hail-potential-cure-for-aids/4466766

Can humans regenerate limbs . . .

University of Manchester scientists have discovered the importance of reactive oxygen compounds in the regeneration of tadpole limbs.  They hope to apply this research to aid human medicine.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130113201141.htm#.UPQDfiBgbSo.email

Recent discovery in Mitosis

Scientists have learned that proteins aren't the only important main molecules of life in the cell.

Lipids serve an essential role in cell division (mitosis):

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn22592-chemical-key-to-cell-division-revealed.html

This study, which began after a new focus on progeria research, may be helpful in curing uncontrollable cell division (cancer).