Feed of Latest U-M Research News
Posts Tagged ‘College of Literature Science & the Arts’
New antioxidant system found
The U-M's Kate Carroll, along with colleagues in Belgium, have discovered a new antioxidant system that protects single amino acids known as cysteines. The body's proteins, which are made up of amino acids and perform essential roles, can be injured by reactive species known as oxidants. Over time, the injuries can lead to cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease and other serious medical conditions. To guard against such harm, our cells have special proteins that can repair or reverse oxidative damage. But until now, no such repair system had been identified for single cysteines, which are particularly susceptible to the damage. The research appears in the Nov. 20 issue of the journal Science. [Read more...]
An atomic-level look at an HIV accomplice
Since the discovery in 2007 that a component of human semen called SEVI boosts infectivity of the virus that causes AIDS, researchers have been trying to learn more about SEVI and how it works, in hopes of thwarting its infection-promoting activity. Now, scientist Ayyalusamy Ramamoorthy and coworkers at the University of Michigan have determined the atomic-level, three-dimensional structure of a SEVI precursor known as PAP248-286 and discovered how it damages cell membranes to make them more vulnerable to infection with HIV. [Read more...]
Coppola wins Carnegie/CASE U.S. Professor of the Year honor
Brian Coppola, the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Chemistry, has been selected as a 2009 U.S. Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Founded in 1981, the U.S. Professors of the Year Awards Program is the only national program specifically designed to acknowledge outstanding undergraduate teaching. Coppola was selected from more than 300 top professors in the United States. [Read more...]
Talking about movies: Tarantino’s film history
According to Frank Beaver, a film historian and critic, and professor emeritus of Screen Arts and Cultures at the University of Michigan, director Quentin Tarantino's latest film, "Inglourious Basterds," is brutally violent at the same time it joyfully recalls movies of the past. [Read more...]
A world without ice
U-M geophysics professor Henry Pollack explains how scientists know that CO2 is at its highest level in 800,000 years, and what it means for the planet. [Read more...]
The U-M Museum of Zoology - a priceless collection of life
Prof. William Fink spoke for the U-M Saturday Morning Physics lecture series about the role of the Museum of Zoology for the campus, including it's value for research and teaching and as an international resource. [View lecture...]
The Things They Carried
U-M professor examines the items people bring to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall and their reasons for doing so, reported in an article in the Fall 2009 issue of LSA Magazine. [Read more...]
U-M scientists move forward with plans for embryonic stem cell projects
Nov. 4, 2009 is the one-year anniversary of the vote approving Proposal 2, the state constitutional amendment that eased restrictions on human embryonic stem cell research in Michigan. The amendment permits Michigan scientists to derive new human embryonic stem cell lines. While no such projects have begun at U-M, researchers here have taken several significant steps this year to prepare for them. [Read more...]
Hybrid molecules show promise for exploring, treating Alzheimer’s
One of the many mysteries of Alzheimer's disease is how protein-like snippets called amyloid-beta peptides, which clump together to form plaques in the brain, may cause cell death, leading to the disease's devastating symptoms of memory loss and other mental difficulties. In order to answer that key question and develop new approaches to preventing the damage, scientists must first understand how amyloid-beta forms the telltale clumps. University of Michigan researchers have developed new molecular tools that can be used to investigate the process. The molecules also hold promise in Alzheimer's disease treatment. The research, led by assistant professor Mi Hee Lim, was published online this week in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. [Read more...]
The Unwitting Lexicologist
Professor Sarah Thompson never suspected her life's work would be to record an endangered native language before it is lost forever. Here is her story, as reported in the Fall 2009 issue of LSA Magazine. [Read more...]