ASU researchers 'wire' DNA to identify mutations
News: A team of ASU researchers led by Nongjian Tao and Peiming Zhang has developed a new, breakthrough technique for the detection of DNA mutations.

Yale Study Pinpoints How Plants Adjust To And Grow In Various Lighting Conditions
Researchers have identified how plants adjust their growth patterns to adapt to various lighting environments

The theoretical limits of DNA sequence discrimination by linked polyamides
This report analyzes the theoretical limits of DNA sequence discrimination by linked polyamides composed of two to four different types of heterocyclic rings

Heat Damage To "Photosynthesis Engine" In Symbiotic Algae May Be Among Major Causes Of Coral Bleaching
Recent studies have strongly implicated the gradual warming of ocean temperatures as a major cause of coral reef bleaching.

Nanopore Method Could Revolutionize Genome Sequencing
News: A team led by physicists at the University of California, San Diego has shown the feasibility of a fast, inexpensive technique to sequence DNA as it passes through tiny pores.

Theoretical considerations on the "spine of hydration" in the minor groove of d(CGCGAATTCGCG) d(GCGCTTAAGCGC): Monte Carlo computer simulation
A theoretical description of aqueous hydration in the minor groove of a B-form DNA is presented on the basis of a liquid-state Monte Carlo computer simulation

Magnetism and mimicry of nature hold hope for better medicine, environmental safety
News: Critical advances in medicine and environmental protection promise to emerge from a new method for biochemical analysis of fluids developed by an international science team.

Nonlinear elasticity, proteinquakes, and the energy landscapes of functional transitions in proteins
Large-scale motions of biomolecules involve linear elastic deformations along low-frequency normal modes, but for function nonlinearity is essential. In addition, unlike macroscopic machines, biological machines can locally break and then reassemble durin

ASU professor finds new twist to old theory
By using a novel application of thermodynamics, the range of the mean-field theory of ferromagnetism is successfully extended to accurately describe the behavior of ferromagnetic materials across a broader range of temperatures.

Statistical Thermodynamics: taking a walk on a landscape
The folding of proteins, the complex behavior of glasses, and the structure and dynamics of atomic and molecular clusters have long been studied in separate disciplines. In recent years, energy landscape theory has emerged as a unifying language for exper

The Complex Kinetics of Protein Folding in Wide Temperature Ranges
A study on kinetics of protein folding was carried out to understand the basic mechanism of this process. The complex kinetics of protein folding in wide temperature ranges was explored.

New thermodynamic theory will help engineers 'go with the flow'
Constructal Law provides such designers a method to minimize the resistance of flow throughout a system

Novel laboratory model reveals clues to how blood starts clotting
Approach has potential to reveal mechanisms behind variety of reactions within the body

Unified physics theory explains animals' running, flying and swimming
A single unifying physics theory can essentially describe how animals of every ilk, from flying insects to fish, get around, researchers at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering and Pennsylvania State University have found. The team reports that a

Engineers probe spiders' polymer art
Manufactured silk could be used for artificial tendons and ligaments, sutures, parachutes and bulletproof vests

UCSB Physicist Devises Way To Observe Protein Folding
Physicists are getting more involved in the fight against diseases by studying the folding of proteins, which they hope will eventually lead to the development of new drugs. Illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease and even some cancers are the result of pro

Why the brain has 'gray matter'
By borrowing mathematical tools from theoretical physics, scientists have recently developed a theory that explains why the brain tissue of humans and other vertebrates is segregated into the familiar "gray matter" and "white matter."

Purdue scientists see biochemistry's future - with quantum physics
Chemists will soon have no trouble predicting how some large, complex biomolecules will react with others as the world of computational quantum physics will not only sharpen our basic knowledge of biology but it will also help scientists select the best p