La Jolla, CA – In this week’s journal Nature, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies report that they have solved one of the ‘holy grail’ puzzles of developmental biology: the existence of a mechanism that insures that the exterior of our bodies is symmetrical while inner organs are arranged asymmetrically.
La Jolla, CA – Fred H. “Rusty” Gage, Ph.D., whose basic research at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies has advanced scientific understanding about the potential of the adult brain and nervous system to repair itself, has been elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a distinction awarded annually to top individuals in business, government, public affairs, the arts and popular culture as well as biomedical research.
La Jolla, CA – The ability of a pair of legs to walk in a stepwise fashion with each other appears to be set up during a brief period as an embryo’s spine develops, when a single neurotransmitter takes its turn to “talk” to nerve cells.
La Jolla, CA – During embryonic development, thousands of nerves must be connected to muscles as part of a communication network that allows the newborn to move, breathe and lead a normal life. The question is, how does this complicated ‘telephone system’ get wired up?
La Jolla, CA – On the morning of April 12, jhundreds of Salk scientists, graduate students and staff will begin their day at the Institute by celebrating the 50th anniversary of the vaccine that has saved them – and millions of others – from becoming crippled or dying from poliomyelitis or polio.
La Jolla, CA – The Salk Institute scientist who earlier discovered that enhancing the function of a single protein produced a mouse with an innate resistance to weight gain and the ability to run a mile without stopping, has found new evidence that this protein and a related protein play central roles in the body’s complex journey to obesity and offer a new and specific metabolic approach to the treatment of obesity related disease such as Syndrome X (insulin resistance, hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis).
La Jolla, CA – Salk Institute for Biological Studies scientists have identified a tiny flexible gateway that controls the rapid-fire opening and closing of a family of ion channels through which potassium ions flow in and out of cells of the body.
La Jolla, CA – Sascha du Lac and Joseph P. Noel, both basic research scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, were selected for the prestigious position of Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator.
La Jolla, CA – The elusive world of membrane proteins – the crucial gatekeepers of a body cell’s outer wall that are popular targets for scientists trying to understand the molecular origins of health and disease – has been made more accessible through a discovery published in the February 25 issue of Science.
La Jolla, CA – A hallmark of brain organization is that nerve cells (neurons) with similar function are grouped together. But Salk Institute for Biological Studies research published in Nature on February 24 shows that neighboring neurons also keep secrets that they share only with trusted friends.
La Jolla, CA – Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have filled in two significant gaps in the molecular pathway that allow plant steroid hormones to stimulate plants to be larger and more fruitful. The findings may open up the prospect of larger vegetables or increased seed yield and could have a galvanizing effect on agricultural research.
La Jolla, CA – Scientists working for the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF) and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have discovered the chemical basis of our sixth sense – the mysterious switch that resets our biological clocks as we cross time zones. The finding brings closer to reality medications to treat so-called circadian disorders such as severe jet lag and seasonal depression, as well as improve the lives of shift workers.
La Jolla, CA – Currently available lines of human embryonic stem cells have been contaminated with a non-human molecule that compromises their potential therapeutic use in human subjects, according to research by investigators at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine and the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California.
La Jolla, CA – Scientists at the Salk Institute have discovered a novel genetic pathway that ensures body organs develop correctly and in the right position during embryonic development. The discovery has important implications for stem cell medicine, which continues to face the challenge of inducing stem cells to form new organs.
La Jolla, CA – Salk Institute scientist Tony Hunter has been awarded the 2005 Wolf Prize in Medicine, Israel’s top recognition for achievements in the interest of mankind, for his key discoveries in cell regulation and cancer research.
La Jolla, CA – Scientists at the Salk Institute have provided a startling insight into how cells age that might lead to new approaches for treating cancer and even aging itself.
La Jolla, CA – Salk Institute scientist Tony Hunter has been awarded the 2004 Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize, a leading national award for scientific achievement, for his pivotal discoveries about the chemical ‘switch’ that turns healthy cells into cancer cells.
La Jolla, CA – A Salk Institute research team has discovered how nature controls the degree of binocular vision in mammals, work that could have crucial implications for human stem-cell medicine.
La Jolla, CA – Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante today named Dr. Richard Murphy, chief executive officer of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, to the Independent Citizen’s Oversight Committee overseeing the implementation of Proposition 71.
La Jolla, CA – Salk Institute for Biological Studies scientist Tony Hunter has been named a member of the prestigious Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies of Sciences, Dr. Richard Murphy, Salk Institute President said today.
