Enzyme key to ageing identified

October 10th, 2009 LONDON - Scientists have uncovered the structure of an unusual enzyme which can be used to reverse the contamination of land caused by RDX explosive. The discovery, by scientists from the York University Structural Biology Lab and the Centre for Novel Agricultural Products, will support the development of plants that can help tackle pollution from RDX.

October 10th, 2009 LONDON - Scientists at the University of York, UK, have uncovered the structure of an unusual enzyme that can be used to reverse the contamination of land by explosives. The discovery, by scientists in the York Structural Biology Laboratory and the Centre for Novel Agricultural Products, will support the development of plants that can help tackle pollution caused by royal demolition explosive, also known as RDX.

October 7th, 2009 LONDON - Graz University scientists in Austria say that compound found in human sperm, known as spermidine, may prove the next weapon in the fight against ageing. They have found that spermidine slows ageing processes, and increases longevity in yeast, flies, worms, mice, and human blood cells by protecting cells from damage.

October 5th, 2009 LONDON - Taking a step closer towards a wonder pill that could extend people's lifespan by up to 25 years, scientists have claimed that over half of babies born in the new future in the UK and other wealthy nations will live to 100 years. The drug, touted as the "elixir of life" drug, works by using a molecule called spermidine, which helps to protect the body against damaging chemicals known as free radicals.

August 7th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists from Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet claim to have identified the cause of premature ageing. The normal ageing process has been linked to problems with cell respiration, the process through which the cells extract energy from nutrients.

June 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The risk of toxic effects of pesticides on kids extends much longer into childhood than expected, reveals a new study at the University of California, Berkeley. Newborns' levels of an enzyme called paraoxonase 1 (PON1), critical to the detoxification of organophosphate pesticides, average one-third or less than those of the babies' mothers.

June 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new study, scientists have identified a new microbe that can gorge themselves on toxic chemicals in petrochemical spillages at industrial sites, by digesting hydrocarbons. As part of the study, Hong-Qi Wang and Yan-Jun Chen College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, working with Bo-Ya Qin of the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China, have investigated the activity of enzymes from the bacterium Bacillus cereus DQ01, which can digest the hydrocarbon n-hexadecane.

June 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - An international team of researchers has discovered an enzyme that plays a crucial role in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The researchers hope that the new finding could potentially lead to therapies to help those affected by ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, collectively referred to as IBD.

May 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Two studies conducted by scientists at Dartmouth Medical School have provided significant insights into why the 24-hour body clock does not change with temperature when metabolism is so affected. Circadian systems are biological oscillators that orchestrate activities through an elaborate network of interactive proteins and feedback loops.

April 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - University of Liverpool researchers have developed a novel method to help scientists identify genes that can help protect the body during the ageing process. The team developed a method of analysing genes in multiple ageing tissue types in both animals and humans.

March 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Japanese scientists have created what could be world's first 'green' hair bleach, an environmentally friendly preparation for lightening the colour of hair on the head and other parts of the body without the unwanted effects of the bleaches used by millions every year. Kenzo Koike, a chemist with Kao Corporation's Beauty Research Centre in Tokyo, has isolated an enzyme from a strain of Basidiomycete ceriporiopsis, a type of 'white-rot' fungus that has also shown potential to degrade and clean up pollutants in soil.

March 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The world's first green hair bleach, developed by Japanese scientists, seems to be free of the unwanted side-effects of such formulations used by millions every year. Kenzo Koike, a chemist with Kao Corporation's Beauty Research Centre in Tokyo, has isolated an enzyme from a strain of Basidiomycete ceriporiopsis, a type of 'white-rot' fungus that has also shown potential to degrade and clean up pollutants in soil.

March 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered a new energy-making biochemical twist that can boost the lifespan of yeast cells, and can even do the same for humans. The findings have revealed that making glucose is highly influenced by a large enzyme complex already known to fix damaged DNA, and which apparently affects yeast life span through a common chemical process-acetylation.

February 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have found that an enzyme associated with the synthesis of fat in the body is also the key to healthy skin and hair. The enzyme is DGAT1.

January 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have identified a cellular mechanism in mutated 'Indy' fruit flies that could help prolong life by cutting down the output of free radicals. The finding by Stephen Helfand and Nicola Neretti of Brown University and others adds another piece to the puzzle that Helfand, a professor of biology first discovered in 2000.