Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Biochemist JoAnne Stubbe wins National Medal of Science
Nation's top science honor goes to MIT biochemist for her role in helping reveal the mechanism of enzymes involved in DNA replication and repair
Invasive Species On The March: Variable Rates Of Spread Set Current Limits To Predictability
Whether for introduced muskrats in Europe or oak trees in the United Kingdom, zebra mussels in United States lakes or agricultural pests around the world, scientists have tried to find...
Crinkly wing gives efficiency
Researchers have captured and modelled the motion of a locust’s wing, finding out why insects can fly so far – and how to copy this.
Protein Helps Distinguish Chromosome Ends From DNA Breaks
Researchers have demonstrated how human cells protect chromosome ends from misguided repairs that can lead to cancer. The work follows the team's 2007 in vitro demonstration of the role of...
Scientists Illuminate How MicroRNAs Drive Tumor Progression
Researchers have identified collections of tiny molecules known as microRNAs that affect distinct processes critical for the progression of cancer. The findings, they say, expand researchers' understanding of the important...
Rare genetic disorder reversed
LA JOLLA, Calif., Sept. 18 (UPI) -- The rare genetic disorder cystinosis has been successfully reversed in mice using stem cell transplantation, scientists in California say.
Native Hawaiian birds threatened
HONOLULU, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- A species of bird introduced to Hawaii in the late 1920s as pest control is threatening the state's native and endangered birds, researchers said.
ISU researchers working to develop, market embryonic test for bovine genetics
Looking at the genetic makeup of cattle to determine their value is nothing new. An examination of a small sample of hair or blood can reveal if a calf has...
Building a complete metabolic model
Investigators at Burnham Institute for Medical Research, University of California, San Diego, The Scripps Research Institute, Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation and other institutions have constructed a complete...
Secrets Of Insect Flight Revealed: Modeling The Aerodynamic Secrets Of One Of Nature's Most Efficient Flyers
Researchers are one step closer to creating a micro-aircraft that flies with the maneuverability and energy efficiency of an insect after decoding the aerodynamic secrets of insect flight.
Mechanism related to the onset of various genetic diseases revealed
Researchers at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB) have revealed the process by which proteins with a tendency to cause conformational diseases such...
Experts watch health of bat colonies in wake of white-nose syndrome
The tiny male bat didn't expect to wind up in a biologist's hand when he set out in search of a nighttime snack along Box Canyon Creek.
Roles of S100A2 and p63 in the carcinogenesis of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma
As a member of the S100 family, S100A2 is considered a candidate tumour-suppressor gene. Recently, p63 gene, a new member of the p53 gene family, has been studied in the...
Genes controlling insulin can alter timing of biological clock
Many of the genes that regulate insulin also alter the timing of the circadian clock, a new study has found...
Proposal to reintroduce Iberian lynx on abandoned agricultural land
Spanish scientists have developed a model to identify the agricultural areas with the greatest potential for restoring the habitat of the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus), which is at risk of...
Scientists pinpoint protein link to fat storage
A protein found present in all cells in the body could help scientists better understand how we store fat...
Squirrel seen savaging fruit bat
A zoologist in Africa has witnessed a and never before seen incident of a squirrel trying to kill a fruit bat.
Last chance to see the aye-aye?
Wildlife expert Mark Cawardine describes the ecological destruction of Madagascar, witnessed during his quest to find a remarkable nocturnal lemur.
New Links Between Epilepsy And Brain Lipids
In mice that are missing a protein found only in the brain, neural signals "go crazy," leaving the animals with epileptic seizures from a young age, researchers have found. Their...
Researchers Isolates Liver Cancer Stem Cells Prior To Tumor Formation
Researchers have taken an important step in understanding the role of stem cells in development of liver cancer. Using a unique approach that involves study of individual cells, the team...
Why Female Water Buffalo Have Horns but Impala Do Not?
(PhysOrg.com) -- The reason some female hoofed animals have horns while others do not has long puzzled evolutionary biologists, even the great Charles Darwin. But now a survey of 117...
Drug discovery process more accurate, less expensive using novel mass spectrometry application
Cancer and cell biology experts at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have developed a new mass spectrometry-based tool they say provides more precise, cost-effective data collection for drug discovery efforts.
Making a clean getaway: Scientists demonstrate how bird baths make for more accurate flyers
(PhysOrg.com) -- Newcastle University scientists investigating why starlings bathe so often have discovered it alters their escape behaviour, with clean birds proving the most accurate flyers.
Biopesticides: The Future of Pest Control?
Biopesticides: The Future of Pest Control? Have you ever marveled over the natural link among things that seem as totally disparate as stale beer, fox urine, fungi, canola oil, parasitic wasps,...
Nanosatellite to Test Life's Handedness in Space
Much of the biology on Earth involves molecules that are oriented in a left-handed direction. A proposed nano-satellite would carry up some of these bio-molecules to see if something in...
Decade-long US project to fight malaria builds thriving African mosquito net industry
WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 17, 2009) -- In a decade-long initiative to protect millions of families from malaria in sub-Saharan Africa, a U.S.
Can Gene Expression Profiling Make It Possible To Predict Deadly Infections In Cattle?
A new study suggests that gene expression profiling may allow researchers to track the progression of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle and ultimately predict their infectious status.
The Cliq may raise the bar for smart-phones
Motorola may have provided a glimpse of the next stage in the evolution of the smart-phone.