Fungus genome yielding answers to protect grains, people and animals

franklin submitted, created time 1 year 3 months (news.uns.purdue.edu)

Why a pathogen is a pathogen may be answered as scientists study the recently mapped genetic makeup of a fungus that spawns the worst cereal grains disease known and also can produce toxins potentially fatal to people and livestock.

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Does the victim affect snake venom composition?

carly submitted, created time 1 year 3 months (www.biologynews.net)

A snake's intended prey might affect the type and evolution of toxins in their venom, research published in the online open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology shows.

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Direct and indirect cellular effects of aspartame on the brain.

rmforall submitted, created time 1 year 4 months (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

Many informed experts, not controlled by vested interests, now publish detailed studies this year on the toxicity of aspartame, due to its components: methanol, aspartic acid, phenylalanine. The body always quickly converts methanol into formaldehyde.

Almost none of these mainstream studies are mentioned in mass print and broadcast media.

Here is their abstract. You can access the article for $ 30:
www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/1602866a.html;jsessionid=DA855B80C66B37279C6D981F78BC3571
http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/vaop/ncurrent/pdf/1602866a

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New use for a cell toxin found to inhibit survival proteins in cancer cells

bianjie submitted, created time 1 year 5 months (www.eurekalert.org)

A chemically-modified version of a mitochondrial toxin long used to control species of invasive fish in lakes has been found to selectively inhibit two "survival proteins in cancer cells.

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Cholera vaccine delivered in GM rice

captainclaw submitted, created time 1 year 6 months (www.abc.net.au)

Japanese researchers say that a new rice-based vaccine could give developingnations a cheap and effective treatment against the killer disease cholera.The researchers inserted a gene from cholera bacteria, Vibrio cholerae, into the genome of the Kitaake rice plant.The gene expressed a subunit of the disease-causing cholera toxin B, about 30 micrograms of which accumulated in each rice seed.Mice then ate the transgenic rice in the form of powder, absorbing the cholera toxin B antigen

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Genome of Clostridium botulinum reveals the background to world's deadliest toxin

alpha submitted, created time 1 year 7 months (www.biologynews.net)

"The genome of the organism that produces the world’s most lethal toxin is revealed today. This toxin is the one real weapon in the genome of Clostridium botulinum and less than 2 kg — the weight of two bags of sugar — is enough to kill every person on the planet. Very small amounts of the same toxin are used in medical treatments, one of which is known as Botox"

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Snake Bites the Toxic Toad That Feeds It--and Spreads Its Poison

eudemon submitted, created time 1 year 11 months (www.sciam.com)

It sounds like something straight out of a video game: A snake collects toxin by biting a poisonous toad and uses that venom as a defense against hawks and other predators.

Some R. tigrinus snakes carry toxins called bufadienolides in their nuchal glands, sacks located under a ridge of skin along their upper necks. When threatened, they arch their necks, exposing the poisonous ridge to an antagonist. The clawing and biting of hawks and other predators most likely rips the skin and lets the poison ooze out, potentially blinding the snake's attackers

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