Professor Gunter von Minckwitz, from the German Breast Group Forschungs GmBH, Neu-Isenburg set out to investigate the expression of a protein, known as poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase - or PARP, in various hormone receptor subtypes of early breast cancer, with the hopes of predicting a total response to chemotherapy given before surgery.

Scientists working to understand more about the brains ability to learn and change in relation to the age of the cells have reported a new finding that they were able to prompt a new period of plasticity in the brain of juvenile mice. Their study involved the transplant a specific type of immature neuron from embryonic mice to the visual cortex of juvenile mice. The visual cortex has a period of very high plasticity during the earliest stages of development. During the period of plasticity, cells in this region react strongly to visual cues and respond with rapid synaptic transmissions produce the neural circuitry that is crucial for proper visual function.

This is a new video released in February that discusses, new results announced from two separate groups of scientists at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider.

First scientists worked to measure the temperature in the first instants of the formation of a quark-gluon plasma “soup.” They found that at that instant, the temperature is four trillion degrees if you can image that.

From International Science Grid This Week: "To put things in perspective, the temperature at the sun’s core is a mere 15 million degrees Kelvin, while the temperature at the core of a collapsed Type II supernova is only 100 billion degrees.

On March 11, 2010, researchers from the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB), in Seattle, WA announced that they had, very successfully, analyzed the first whole genome sequences of a family of four. ISB partnered with Complete Genomics, of Mountain View California, to sequence the genomes of a father, mother and two children – both of which had two recessive genetic disorders, Miller Syndrome (a rare craniofacial disorder), and Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia (or PCD – a lung disease). The results demonstrate the tremendous benefits of having the complete genome from an entire family with which to work – allowing the team to minimize the error rates in sequencing and increase the accuracy of the sequencing data to 99.999%.

Last Thursday Dr. Donald Tomalia spoke in downtown Portland, Oregon at the Arlene Schnitzer hall. The lecture was ultimately about two topics; safe application of nano technology to society, and the need for a clear categorization method for nanotechnology that would serve as a foundation for moving nanotechnology to nanoscience. This idea is one that Dr. Tomalia discussed at length illustrating that the logic for needing this tool is the same logic that a chemist would site as to why we need a periodic table of elements. I am going to give a quick overview sharing some resources for learning about dendritic formations found in nature and how these formations are used to construct what are now calling Dendrimers.

Researchers at the University of Rochester's Institute of Optics have discovered a way to make liquid flow vertically upward along a silicon surface, overcoming the pull of gravity, without pumps or other mechanical devices.

Vanderbilt University has published a study that reports human cells moving in what seem to be independent ways similar to amoebae and bacteria. These results are thought to be a first in cell biology and were inspired in a unique way. The researchers’ adopted some new assumptions

Researchers have been able to see how heart failure affects the surface of an individual heart muscle cell in minute detail, using a new nanoscale scanning technique developed at Imperial College London.

About two weeks ago I saw an announcement for the Materials Visualization Competition (MVC10) put on by the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Materials Research Institute at Penn State. MVC10 is a scientific visual and artistic competition started to highlight the quality of research in materials at Penn State. See the entire gallery.

This image gallery brings to focus the splendid vascular systems of common plants, and showcases the beauty that resides at all levels of the natural world. See the entire gallery.