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A blood test was developed to measure the amount of cathepsin,
a proteolytic enzyme, in serum.
The level of enzyme activity
appears to be an early indication of cervical cancer in women.
The test may be an adjunct to the present Pap smear as a
means to screen females for early signs of cancer.
@e
We have implemented computer-controlled,
eight-variable cell
sorting on a dual-beam sorter.
Utilizing two laser beams and
a multivariable pulse~-height analyzer, cells and chromosomes
can be analyzed for several components or properties and sorted
based on any cambination of the measurements.
An important
application is the improved resolution of individual chromosome
types from human cells, allowing better chromosome purification
for biomedical studies.
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A slit scanning flow cytometer has been constructed which allow
high speed measurement of the distribution of dye along cells
and chromosomes with a spatial resolution of less than lum.
Chromosomes and cells can be classified on the basis of their
slit scan profiles.
The device is especially useful in detecting
aberrant cells or chromosames which may occur as a result of
mutagen exposure.
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Assignment of human B-, y-, and 6-globin genes to the short
arm of chromosome ll by chromosome sorting and DNA restriction
enzyme analysis was accomplished, thus demonstrating a new
technique based on flow sorting to assign genes to the chromosomes
of the human karyotype.
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The composition of histones, the major proteins binding DNA
into the subunit structure of chromatin,
has been found to be
different in heterochromatin and potentially active chromatin.
This lends support to the idea that histones and related proteins
may regulate the level of genetic activity of chromatin regions
by affecting the condensation states of the chromatin.