Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Chlorophylls effective against aflatoxin
A new study has found that chlorophyll and its derivative chlorophyllin are effective in limiting the absorption of aflatoxin in humans. Aflatoxin is produced by a fungus that is a...
New tool in the fight against mosquito-borne disease: A microbial 'mosquito net'
Earlier this year, researchers showed that they could cut the lives of disease-carrying mosquitoes in half by infecting them with a bacterium they took from fruit flies. Now, a new...
Scientists develop technique to determine ethnic origin of stem cell lines
Scientists have developed a straightforward technique to determine the ethnic origin of stem cells. The team's analysis of a variety of human embryonic stem cell lines currently in use in...
UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News
Sea lions depart Fisherman's Wharf ... Geologists turn to unmanned aircraft ... Schizophrenic mouse developed ... Rare leopard captured in Japan ... Health/Science news from UPI.
Sharks Killed for Oil Used in Swine Flu Vaccine
Millions of doses of the H1N1/09 vaccine contain a substance called squalene, which is extracted from the livers of rare deep-sea sharks caught in the wild, conservationists say.
PICTURES: Tigers Butchered for Trade at "Zoos" in China
Many Chinese tourist attractions are secretly operating as fronts for illegal tiger farming, butchering captive tigers for the multibillion-dollar black market in wildlife parts, conservationists say.
Some Females Too Sexy for Own Good, Fly Study Says
Too much sex can be a bad thing. "Sexy" female fruit flies get so much attention—and toxic semen—that they have trouble finding food and their birthrates fall, a new study...
Rare leopard captured in Japan
TSUSHIMA CITY, Japan, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- An endangered Tsushima leopard cat is recovering at a wildlife center in Japan after being captured in Tsushima City, officials said.
Biotech Advance May Yield Genetically Sterile Screwworms
(PhysOrg.com) -- Transgenic screwworms developed by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists could set the stage for new, improved methods of eradicating the pest based on the sterile insect technique (SIT).
Marseillevirus -- a new member of the giant viruses
After Mimivirus, Mamavirus and the virophage, the group of giant viruses now has a new member called Marseillevirus. The new virus was discovered in an amoeba by a team of...
A look back at 2009's most striking wildlife discoveries
From a new species of giant rat to ants that took over the world, 2009 was a striking year for new discoveries about wildlife.
Looks can be deceiving: Lizards acquire the same camouflaging adaptation in different ways
(PhysOrg.com) -- Does it matter if nature solves the same problem multiple ways? A NSF-supported study of lizard populations in White Sands, New Mexico has helped researcher Erica Rosenblum of...
The tracking devices that connect a UK zoo and Antarctic penguins
Penguins at a Leicestershire zoo are helping scientists with a new project to track the movements of their cousins in Antarctica.
Drought Resistance Explained: Protein Structure Reveals How Plants Respond To Water Shortages
Scientists have discovered that the key to plants' responses to drought lies in the structure of a protein called PYR1 and how it interacts with the plant hormone abscisic acid....
Learning From Insects: The Race Is On For New 'Bio-Resources'
Unseen and unheard, insects are all around us. And with more than a million different species, each one perfectly adapted to its environment, no other form of animal life comes...
Evolution experiments with flowers
Evolution uses every chance it gets to try something new. Researchers have now investigated how petunia flowers are formed and discovered that nature is even more varied than the naked...
Transcription factors guide differences in human and chimp brain function
Humans share at least 97 percent of their genes with chimpanzees, but, as a new study of transcription factors makes clear, what you have in your genome may be less...
Researchers demonstrate nanoscale X-ray imaging of bacterial cells
An ultra-high-resolution imaging technique using X-ray diffraction is a step closer to fulfilling its promise as a window on nanometer-scale structures in biological samples. Researchers report progress in applying an...
Cosmic Log: Teens turn into DNA detectives
Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: Student sleuths use DNA analysis to find mislabeled food products and what could be a new type of cockroach in their own homes. ...
The decade we learned the language of life
How the mapping of 6bn human genes sparked a new age of biology that is only just beginningIt was the decade that launched a new age of science, and it came as...
Chemists Discover How Cells Create Stability During Critical DNA-to-RNA Information Transfers
(PhysOrg.com) -- A pair of University of Massachusetts Amherst chemists believe they have for the first time explained how the main players in transcription -- RNA polymerase, RNA (red in...
Biologists Release First Volume Of Microbial Encyclopedia
Despite the multitudes of microbes that reside on earth, our knowledge of them is quite limited. Of the estimated nonillion (1030) that exist, scientists have or are in the process...
Minnesota joins Asian carp lawsuit
CHICAGO, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Ohio, Michigan and Minnesota have joined forces to seal Illinois waterways from the Great Lakes in a fight against an invasive carp, officials said.
Researchers Use New Acoustic Tools to Study Marine Mammals and Fish
(PhysOrg.com) -- Over the past decade, researchers have developed a variety of reliable real-time and archival instruments to study sounds made or heard by marine mammals and fish. These new...
New research could advance research field critical to personalized medicine
It's the ultimate goal in the treatment of cancer: tailoring a person's therapy based on his or her genetic makeup. While a lofty goal, scientists are steadily moving forward, rapidly...
Scientists Show How Bacteria Move Electrons Across a Membrane
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at the University of East Anglia, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Pennsylvania State University have demonstrated for the first time the mechanism by which some bacteria can...
Urine Components May Indicate Severity of Lupus Nephritis
Lupus may involve inflammation of the kidney, called lupus nephritis, which can impair the kidney’s ability to remove waste from the body. Since normal kidney function is vital, lupus nephritis...
New Device Prints Human Tissue
A company is developing devices for human tissue repair and organ replacement.