Scientists Determine Drug Target for the Most Potent Botulinium Neurotoxin

Botulinium neurotoxin - responsible for the deadly food poisoning disease botulism and for the beneficial effects of smoothing out facial wrinkles - can also be used as a dreaded biological weapon. Using structure-based drug design, biologist S. Swaminathan and collaborators in biology and at USARMIID have found an efficient inhibitor of the type A neurotoxin and derived the crystllographic structure of the complex.

Brookhaven Lab Scientists Receive Award from LI Technology Hall of Fame

Scientists Avraham Dilmanian from the Medical Department and James Hainfeld from the Biology Department, together with Gerard M. Morris of Morvus Technology Ltd., have won The Long Island Technology Hall of Fame award for the most innovative patent in the category of innovation for the individual. The patent for a method of implementing an experimental procedure to treat cancer, called microbeam radiation therapy (MRT), was chosen for the award from among more than 1,600 patents that were granted to Long Island residents in 2007.

New Method Offers Insight into Radiation Damage to DNA

Senior biologist Betsy Sutherland and Brigitte Paap, now at Arzona State University, have developed a new technique for assessing the damage radiation causes to DNA. Colored fluorescent tags are used instead of radioactive ones to monitor repair of damage to DNA. Because the fluorescent tags reduce the amount of hazardous waste associated with the research the scientists have also been recognized by DOE's Office of Science for their pollution prevention innovation.

Structure of important neurotransmitter regulator determined

Researchers from Virginia Tech, in collaboartion with biophysicist Howard Robinson, have solved the structure of kynurenine aminotransferase II (KAT II) which is critical in the regulation of the neurotransmitter system in the human brain. The enzyme in complex with kynurenine reveals the almost ephemeral linkages of KAT II with its substrate.

Structure Reveals How Cells 'Sugar-Coat' Proteins

Biologist Huilin Li and collaborators at Stony Brook University and the University of Würzburg have deciphered the structure of a large membrane protein complex - oligosaccaride transferase - responsible for adding sugar molecules to newly formed proteins. The structure offers insights into glycosylation and may help scientists understand a variety of diseases that result when the process goes awry.

More Sun Exposure May Be Good for Some People

A new study by biochemist emeritus Richard Setlow and colleagues in Norway suggests that the benefits of moderately increased exposure to sunlight - namely the production of vitamin D, which protects against the lethal effects of many forms of cancer and other diseases - may outweigh the risk of developing skin cancer in populations deficient in vitamin D.

DNA Technique Yields 3-D Crystalline Organization of Nanoparticles

In an achievement some see as the 'holy grail' of nanoscience, Brookhaven researchers Dmytro NykYpanchuk, Mathew Maye, Oleg Gang, and Daniel van der Lelie have for the first time used DNA to guide the creation of three-dimensional, ordered, crystalline structures of nanoparticles. The ability to engineer such 3-D structures is essential to producing functional materials that take advantage of the unique properties that may exist at the nanoscale.