Science

Cells are like robust computational systems Gene regulatory networks in cell nuclei are similar to cloud computing networks, such as Google or Yahoo!, researchers report today in the online journal Molecular Systems Biology. The similarity is that each system keeps working despite the failure of individual components, whether they are master genes or computer processors. Scientists capture the first image of memories being made The ability to learn and to establish new memories is essential to our daily existence and identity; enabling us to navigate through the world. A new study by researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (The Neuro), McGill University and University of California, Los Angeles has captured an image for the first time of a mechanism, specifically protein translation, which underlies long-term memory formation. Unlike rubber bands, molecular bonds may not break faster when pulled From balloons to rubber bands, things always break faster when stretched. Or do they? University of Illinois scientists studying chemical bonds now have shown this isn't always the case, and their results may have profound implications for the stability of proteins to mechanical stress and the design of new high-tech polymers. Potential for non-invasive brain tumor treatment Duke University engineers have taken a first step toward a minimally invasive treatment of brain tumors by combining chemotherapy with heat administered from the end of a catheter.