Repairing damage and maintaining the integrity of its DNA is one of the cell’s highest priorities. A newly discovered mechanism has been found that detects and repairs alkylation, which can be caused by a number of environmental toxins and chemotherapy drugs.

With the effects of the GFC still being felt across industry, academia and business, now more than ever is the time to be working smarter, not harder.

By reconstructing an ancient protein and tracing how it subtly changed over vast periods of time to produce scores of modern-day descendants, scientists have shown how evolution tinkers with early forms and leaves the impression that complexity evolved many times.

Long before geese started flying in chevron formation or cyclists learned the value of drafting, fungi discovered an aerodynamic way to reduce drag on their spores so as to spread them as high and as far as possible.

Aseptic technique is a set of principles and practices used by cell culture workers to reduce the potential of unwanted microorganisms or other cell lines from being introduced into cell cultures, sterile solutions and supplies and, most importantly, the technician and coworkers.

Imagine building a car chassis without a blueprint or even a list of recommended construction materials. In a sense, that’s precisely what a team of engineers at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, in Greenbelt, Md., did when they designed a one-of-a-kind structure that is one of nine key new technology systems of the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM).

A research team with the University of Queensland’s Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology ( AIBN) has been awarded the 2010 Translational Research Excellence Commercialisation Award. [ + ]

Experts are claiming that genetic screening will become a routine part of workplace safety.

In a discovery that challenges the scientific theory that colour processing is split across different parts of the human brain, researchers have used the movie Strictly Ballroom to locate the region in human brains.

Melbourne biotech Patrys announced today that it has treated its first patient in the clinical trial of its natural human antibody PAT-SM6 for melanoma. [ + ]

Aseptic technique is a set of principles and practices used by cell culture workers to reduce the potential of unwanted microorganisms or other cell lines from being introduced into cell cultures, sterile solutions and supplies and, most importantly, the technician and coworkers. This is especially true when working with human cell lines known to contain oncogenic or infectious viruses or other harmful microorganisms.

Clonetics Prostate Smooth Muscle Cell Systems contain Normal Human Prostate Smooth Muscle Cells (PrSMC) and optimized medium for their growth. Each System can generate PrSMC cultures for experimental applications in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), prostitis and prostate cancer.

Australians understand that innovation is an essential driver of the country’s knowledge and growth. They also recognise that research and development (R&D) activity within Australian firms assumes a crucial place in that process – through its contribution to the generation of new information, products, services and employment opportunities. [ + ]

Direct DNA recovery using the FlashGel Recovery System eliminates agarose gel preparation, band excision, and purification, and delivers highly efficient recovery, free from inhibitors and UV-induced damage, in a simple 5-10 minute protocol.

The Clonetics B-ALI Bronchial Air Liquid Interface Medium BulletKit provides a model system to investigate bronchial epithelial cells in a more physiologically relevant way.