VirtualBody

"The Utrecht Biomolecular Interactions software portal provides access to software tools developed in the Computational Structural Biology group / NMR Research Group of Utrecht University with a main focus on the characterization of biomolecular interactions. Please note that this site is in active development."

"At EPFL's Blue Brain facilities, computer models of individual neurons are being assembled into neural circuits that produce electrical signals akin to brain waves. The results, published in the journal Neuron, are helping solve the mystery of how and why these signals arise in the brain."

" Brain cells talk to each other in a variety of tones. Sometimes they speak loudly but other times struggle to be heard. For many years scientists have asked why and how brain cells change tones so frequently. Today National Institutes of Health researchers showed that brief bursts of chemical energy coming from rapidly moving power plants, called mitochondria, may tune brain cell communication."

""Mucus is everywhere," says microbiologist Jeremy Barr. Almost every animal uses it to make a barrier that protects tissues that are exposed to the environment, such as the gut or lungs. Now, Barr and a team of researchers have discovered that mucus is also the key to an ancient partnership between animals and viruses."

"Navigate the brain in a way that was never before possible; fly through major brain pathways, compare essential circuits, zoom into a region to explore the cells that comprise it, and the functions that depend on it. The Human Connectome Project aims to provide an unparalleled compilation of neural data, an interface to graphically navigate this data and the opportunity to achieve never before realized conclusions about the living human brain."

 Circadian rhythms can boost the body's ability to fight intestinal bacterial infections, UC Irvine researchers have found.

Here's a good reason to pay attention in math class. Nature Communications has published a paper from Ottawa researchers today, outlining how advanced mathematical modelling can be used in the fight against cancer. The technique predicts how different treatments and genetic modifications might allow cancer-killing, oncolytic viruses to overcome the natural defences that cancer cells use to stave off viral infection.

"Despite the best of intentions, many people may feel that there are simply too many hurdles to overcome before they find themselves exercising at a gym. You need a gym membership (often steep), you need appropriate clothing and shoes, you need to get yourself across town, you need to plan your workout for the day, and so on. What's important to remember is that (as far as your health is concerned) physical activity is good for you regardless of where it is done and how fashionable your LuLu Lemon gear might be."

""We've learned that the same pathway that is activated strongly and prematurely in kids with progeria is also happening in you and me. That toxic protein they make from the beginning is also in our cells as we approach senescence. So cell senescence is not just a running down of the system - it's an active process. A signal turns on this protein." And that aging signal, Dr. Collins added, is connected to the shortening of the chromosome tips that serves as a cellular clock. So the glimpse into aging the kids with progeria provide may have illuminated a new risk factor that can damage blood vessels even in a star athlete who eats only broccoli."

The growing acceptance of Neuro plasticity lets us see the brain as a resource we can continually develop. This talk describes a programme designed to help us address limitations of our own brain and even take our skills to exceptional levels Barbara Arrowsmith-Young tells the inspiring story of how she overcame her severe learning difficulties with specific brain exercises she developed herself. We also hear the moving accounts of two Australians who've taken a leaf out of her book.  They've found the hard work has paid off.