Writing today in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a University of Wisconsin-Madison bacteriologist reveals that mispaired nucleotides in transfer RNA actually make the molecule more adroit, enhancing its ability to build proteins.

Ever since penicillin, a byproduct of a fungal mold, was discovered in 1929, scientists have scrutinized fungi for other breakthrough drugs. As reported today in The Journal of Chemistry and Biology, a team led by a University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher has developed a new method that may speed the ongoing quest for medically useful compounds in fungi.

Ants that tend and harvest gardens of fungus have a secret weapon against the parasites that invade their crops: antibiotic-producing bacteria that the insects harbor on their bodies.

According to estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, food-borne pathogens account for 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths in the United States each year. As the food industry continues to globalize, food safety is expected to remain a significant public health issue.

The tree guard zipper is a hand tool that allows for quick and easy installation and removal of the corrugated plastic tree guards often used to protect young trees from deer and other types of trunk damage. In a field trial by the Healthy Farmers, Healthy Profits Project, the tree guard zipper was 37 percent faster at installing the guards and 27 percent faster at removing them than installing and removing by hand.

One of the isomers of conjugated linoleic acid, a group of fatty acids found in milk, is a natural regulator of the COX-2 protein, which plays a significant role in cancer and inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, according to a study published recently by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers.

The strong grip and force needed to operate a manual pruner can strain arms, wrists, hands and fingers. Using an electronic pruner is more efficient than using a manual pruner, because it reduces hand fatigue and is faster. Workers who use a manual pruner hour after hour will make slower, more ragged cuts. An electronic pruner consistently produces clean cuts, and can reduce pruning time by 20 percent because it alleviates strain.

University of Wisconsin-Madison biochemists have developed an approach that allows them to measure with unprecedented accuracy the strengths of hydrogen bonds in a protein. The scientists were then able to predict the function of different versions of the protein based on structural information, a novel outcome that was published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Vibrantly colored creatures from the depths of the South Pacific harbor toxins that have the potential to act as powerful cancer drugs–and CALS biochemists have defined the structure of the toxins and provided basic understanding that can be used to synthesize pharmaceuticals.

Thomas Record, a biophysical chemist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was in August named one of six 2006 Society Fellows by the Biophysical Society, a […]