Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Study: Cocaine keeps pleasure center 'on'
WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Chronic cocaine addiction keeps a brain enzyme from shutting off pleasure-circuit genes, thus making the addiction worse, U.S. researchers said Thursday.
Prions show evolution without DNA: study
Infectious proteins that cause brain-wasting diseases such as BSE can evolve, even though they contain no genetic information, researchers say.
New and improved RNA interference
Ever since RNA interference was discovered, in 1998, scientists have been pursuing the tantalizing ability to shut off any gene in the body — in particular, malfunctioning genes that cause diseases such as...
To a mosquito, matchmaking means 'singing' in perfect harmony
Researchers have new insight into the sex lives of the much-maligned mosquitoes that are responsible for the vast majority of malaria deaths, according to a new study. In finding a...
Using modern sequencing techniques to study ancient humans
DNA that is left in the remains of long-dead plants, animals or humans allows a direct look into the history of evolution.
Evolution caught in the act: Scientists measure how quickly genomes change
Mutations are the raw material of evolution. Scientists have now been able to measure for the first time directly the speed with which new mutations occur in plants. Their findings...
Carbon nanotubes show promise for high-speed genetic sequencing
Scientists have demonstrated the potential of a new DNA sequencing method in which a single-stranded ribbon of DNA is threaded through a carbon nanotube.
Mystery solved: Facial cancer decimating Tasmanian devils likely began in Schwann cells
An international team of scientists led by a Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) investigator has discovered that the deadly facial tumors decimating Australia's Tasmanian devil population probably originated in Schwann...
Bacterial protein mimics its host to disable a key enzyme
Helicobacter pylori infects up to 90 percent of people in the developing world and causes gastric ulcers and cancers of the gut. Now scientists have revealed a subterfuge used by...
Elusive protein points to mechanism behind hearing loss
A serendipitous discovery of deaf zebra fish larvae has helped narrow down the function of an elusive protein necessary for hearing and balance. The work suggests that hearing loss may...
Imaging study shows HIV particles assembling around genome of infected cell
HIV is a wily and lethal replicator. In less than 25 years, it's killed more than 25 million people. Scientists are exploring exactly how this virus reproduces because they would...
Got a pet tarantula? Better protect your eyes
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Here's some advice stemming from the unusual case of a man who had spider hairs stuck in his cornea: Be sure to cover your eyes when hanging...
Neuroscientists at Case Western Reserve University store information in isolated brain tissue
Ben W. Strowbridge, PhD, associate professor of neuroscience and physiology/biophysics, and Phillip Larimer, PhD, a MD/PhD student in the neurosciences graduate program at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine,...
Johns Hopkins scientists discover a controller of brain circuitry
By combining a research technique that dates back 136 years with modern molecular genetics, a Johns Hopkins neuroscientist has been able to see how a mammal's brain shrewdly revisits and...
Molecular chaperone keeps bacterial proteins from slow-dancing to destruction
Just like teenagers at a prom, proteins are tended by chaperones whose job it is to prevent unwanted interactions among immature clients. And at the molecular level, just as at...
Rice scientists divide and conquer
Half a protein is better than none, and in this case, it's way better than a whole one. A Rice University lab has discovered that dividing a particular fluorescent protein...
Common mechanism underlies many diseases of excitability
Inherited mutations in voltage-gated sodium channels (Navs) are associated with many different human diseases, including genetic forms of epilepsy and chronic pain. Theodore Cummins and colleagues, at Indiana University School...
New molecule identified in DNA damage response
In the harsh judgment of natural selection, the ultimate measure of success is reproduction. So it's no surprise that life spends lavish resources on this feat, whether in the courtship...
One of world's oldest giraffes dies at US zoo
The Birmingham Zoo says one of the oldest giraffes in the world has died at age 24. Zoo - Giraffe - Institutions - Zoos and Aquariums...
Got a pet tarantula? Better protect your eyes
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Here's some advice stemming from the unusual case of a man who had spider hairs stuck in his cornea: Be sure to cover your eyes when hanging...
Genetic link to heart failure
New research has identified a group of 12 genetic variants in the HSPB7 gene that is associated with heart failure in humans.
Part 1 of tsunami system completed
JAKARTA, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Indonesia has completed the first part of a three-part system to provide rapid early warnings against tsunamis, officials said.
Scientists visualize how a vital hepatitis C virus protein moves along its nucleic acid substrate
By taking three conformational snapshots of a hepatitis C virus motor protein in association with its substrate, researchers have provided the first structural explanation of how a representative superfamily 2...
Springtime Sheep Grazing Helps Control Leafy Spurge
Using sheep to control leafy spurge works best if it's done in the spring every year, according to a new study.
Geek Films of the Decade
Gladiator and Wall-E made it to the list. Find out the rest of the decade's best geek films.
Dutch court to hear Niger Delta case
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- A court in the Netherlands said it would hear a case against supermajor Royal Dutch Shell brought by Nigerian farmers complaining of environmental...
Fight against coffee disease gathers strength
There are grounds for optimism in the battle against a lethal coffee plant fungus as Ugandan scientists roll out a disease-resistant variety.
Weakened Plasmodium generates protective immunity
Researchers have found that weakened Plasmodium elicits a protective immune response.