LA JOLLA, CA—Proteins are the workhorses of cells, adopting conformations that allow them to set off chemical reactions, send signals and transport materials. But when a scientist is designing a new drug, trying to visualize the processes inside cells, or probe how molecules interact with each other, they can’t always find a protein that will do the job they want. Instead, they often engineer their own novel proteins to use in experiments, either from scratch or by altering existing molecules.
拉霍亚，加利福尼亚州——每年有超过 11,000 名美国人遭受脊髓损伤，其中超过四分之一的损伤是由于跌倒造成的，随着人口老龄化，这一数字可能会上升。脊髓损伤之所以如此多且永久致残，是因为人体缺乏再生神经纤维的能力。我们身体所能做的最好的就是将幸存的组织绕过损伤部位。.
LA JOLLA,CA—The Salk Institute received a record-setting $93 million from individuals, foundations and corporate donors during fiscal year 2012 to support the Campaign for Salk, the Institute’s first major fundraising campaign.
LA JOLLA,CA—丹尼斯·奥利里 of the Salk Institute was the first scientist to show that the basic functional architecture of the cortex, the largest part of the human brain, was genetically determined during development. But as it so often does in science, answering one question opened up many others. O’Leary wondered what if the layout of the cortex wasn’t fixed? What would happen if it were changed?
LA JOLLA, CA—Stem cells are key to the promise of regenerative medicine: the repair or replacement of injured tissues with custom grown substitutes. Essential to this process are induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which can be created from a patient’s own tissues, thus eliminating the risk of immune rejection. However, Shinya Yamanaka’s formula for iPSCs, for which he was awarded last year’s Nobel Prize, uses a strict recipe that allows for limited variations in human cells, restricting their full potential for clinical application.
LA JOLLA,CA—A team of scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies has identified why disruption of a vital pathway in cell cycle control leads to the proliferation of cancer cells. Their findings on telomeres, the stretches of DNA at the ends of chromosomes that protect our genetic code and make it possible for cells to divide, suggest a potential target for preventive measures against cancer, aging and other diseases. The findings were published July 11, 2013 in Molecular Cell.
LA JOLLA,CA—Scientists studying cancer development have known about micronuclei
for some time. These erratic, small extra nuclei, which contain fragments, or whole
chromosomes that were not incorporated into daughter cells after cell division,
are associated with specific forms of cancer and are predictive of poorer prognosis.
LA JOLLA,CA—Tickets are now available online for the 18th annual “Symphony at Salk-a concert under the stars” featuring multi-talented
singer Katharine McPhee who will perform at the Institute on August 24 with the
San Diego Symphony 和
acclaimed guest conductor Maestro Thomas Wilkins.
加拉霍亚，加利福尼亚州——表观基因组的变化，包括 DNA 的化学修饰，可以作为基因组中的额外信息层，并被认为在学习和记忆以及与年龄相关的认知能力下降中起作用。美国索尔克生物学研究所科学家的一项新研究结果表明，DNA 甲基化（一种特殊的表观基因组修饰）的景观在从出生到成年的过渡过程中，在大脑细胞中具有高度动态性，有助于理解大脑细胞基因组中的信息是如何从胎儿发育到成年的。大脑比身体所有其他器官都要复杂得多，这一发现为更深入地了解大脑中复杂的连接模式是如何形成的打开了大门。.
LA JOLLA, CA—How is it possible for a human eye to figure out letters that are twisted and looped in crazy directions, like those in the little security test internet users are often given on websites?
LA JOLLA, CA—The power of the brain lies in its trillions of intercellular connections, called synapses that together form complex neural “networks.” While neuroscientists have long sought to map these individual connections to see how they influence specific brain functions, traditional techniques have been unsuccessful. Now, scientists at the Salk Institute and the Gladstone Institutes, using an innovative brain- tracing technique, have found a way to untangle these networks. These findings offer new insight into how specific brain regions connect to each other, while also revealing clues as to what may happen, neuron by neuron, when these connections are disrupted.
LA JOLLA—Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have demonstrated that sensory regions in the brain develop in a fundamentally different way than previously thought, a finding that may yield new insights into visual and neural disorders.
LA JOLLA, CA—On Aug. 24, 2013, multi-talented singer Katharine McPhee will step into the spotlight as the featured headliner for the 18th annual “Symphony at Salk-a concert under the stars” to perform with the San Diego Symphony and acclaimed guest conductor Maestro Thomas Wilkins.
LA JOLLA, CA—It’s common wisdom that one rotten apple in a barrel spoils all the other apples, and that an apple ripens a green banana if they are put together in a paper bag. Ways to ripen, or spoil, fruit have been known for thousands of years-as the Bible can attest-but now the genes underlying these phenomena of nature have been revealed.
LA JOLLA, CA—Salk scientists Beverly M. Emerson, Christopher R. Kintner, ，和 Paul E. Sawchenko were selected as inaugural holders of new endowed chairs created through the Joan Klein Jacobs and Irwin Mark Jacobs Senior Scientist Endowed Chair Challenge. In 2008, Dr. and Mrs. Jacobs created a challenge grant to establish endowed chairs for senior scientists. For every $2 million that a donor contributes toward an endowed chair at the Institute, the Jacobses will add $1 million to achieve the $3 million funding level required to fully endow a chair for a Salk senior scientist. To date, 17 out of 20 chairs have been established.
LA JOLLA, CA—Scientists have uncovered a survival mechanism that occurs in breast cells that have just turned premalignant-cells on the cusp between normalcy and cancers-which may lead to new methods of stopping tumors.
LA JOLLA, CA—Discovering that mouse hair has a circadian clock – a 24-hour cycle of growth followed by restorative repair – researchers suspect that hair loss in humans from toxic cancer radiotherapy and chemotherapy might be minimized if these treatments are given late in the day.
LA JOLLA, CA—A drug developed by scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, known as J147, reverses memory deficits and slows Alzheimer’s disease in aged mice following short-term treatment. The findings, published May 14 in the journal Alzheimer’s Research and Therapy, may pave the way to a new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease in humans.
LA JOLLA, CA—Scientists have long known that control mechanisms known collectively as “epigenetics” play a critical role in human development, but they did not know precisely how alterations in this extra layer of biochemical instructions in DNA contribute to development.
加利福尼亚州拉霍亚—索尔克生物研究所的科学家们发现了一种能够驱动库欣病中垂体瘤形成的蛋白质，这一发现可能为临床医生提供治疗这种危及生命的疾病的靶点。.
