Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Genetically Encoded Mouse Cells Controlled By Light
Researchers have genetically encoded mouse cells to respond to light, creating cells that can be trained to follow a light beam or stop on command like microscopic robots.
Opinion: The passing of the ‘father of the green revolution’
The death of Dr Norman Borlaug, the 'father of the green revolution', is a great loss in the fight again starvation, writes Dr Tony Fischer.
AP2gamma - New Key Gene In Nerve Regeneration
A new gene called AP2gamma has been discovered that researchers say is crucial for the neural development of the visual cortex. The cerebral cortex is the folded, outside layer of...
Molecular Evidence Supports Key Tenet Of Darwin's Evolution Theory
An international team of researchers has discovered evidence at the molecular level in support of one of the key tenets of Darwin's theory of evolution. As a model system, the...
Master disease gene is identified
LONDON, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- British scientists say they've identified the master gene that causes blood stem cells to turn into disease-fighting immune cells.
National Briefing | Science: Lasker Award Recipients Named
Five scientists have won research awards for developing a lifesaving leukemia treatment and for advances in “reprogramming” DNA, which led to a new kind of stem cell.
How stem cells make skin
Stem cells have a unique ability: when they divide, they can either give rise to more stem cells, or to a variety of specialised cell types. In both mice and...
Observatory: For a Type of Songbird, Bats Are on the Menu
In a cave in Hungary, researchers found great tits hunting, pecking and eating small pipistrelle bats.
Study shows how disruption of spectrin-actin network causes lens cells in the eye to lose shape
A network of proteins underlying the plasma membrane keeps epithelial cells in shape and maintains their orderly hexagonal packing in the mouse lens, say Nowak et al. The study will...
Seasource-brand sea salt scrub is recalled
WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Arbonne International of Irvine, Calif., is recalling one lot of its Seasource Detox Spa-brand foaming sea salt scrub due to possible bacterial contamination.
Ice cream may target the brain before your hips
Blame your brain for sabotaging your efforts to get back on track after splurging on an extra scoop of ice cream or that second burger during Friday night's football game...
Sex life may hold key to honeybee survival
The number and diversity of male partners a queen honeybee has could help to protect her children from disease, say University of Leeds scientists, who are investigating possible causes of...
Feature: Why our bread needed folic acid
From now on all bread in Australia must have folic acid added to it, buy why is it so important?
Sex Talk Revelations Of The Lonely Y Chromosome: Communication Between Male And Female Occurs In Our Innermost Beings
New findings reveal for the first time that the male and female do truly communicate -- at least at the fundamental genetic level.
Boron-based Compounds Trick A Biomedical Protein
Chemists and biologists have successfully demonstrated that specially synthesized boron compounds are readily accepted in biologically active enzymes, a move that, they say, is a proof of concept that could...
Improvement Of Liver Stem Cell Engraftment By Protein Delivery
Researchers have engineered a chimeric protein that increases cell survival, migration and proliferation to improve stem cell engraftment. The results show that TAT-Tpr-Met, a cell permeable form of the hepatocyte...
Frogs survived Black Saturday
Researchers have found that an unexpected number of Victoria's frogs survived the Black Saturday bushfires and resulting habitat loss.
Video: Candy Flavors Of The Future
Frank Bruni, author of "Born Round" joins Mo Rocca on a tour of future candy flavors.
Novel Drug Screening Method: Informative Swellings
A screening method for bioactive small molecules to treat vascular diseases and an in vivo functional test in a whole animal at the same time: researchers achieved this feat with...
Listeria L-forms: Discovery Of An Unusual Form Of Bacterial Life
Researchers have discovered a new life form of Listeria, an opportunistic pathogen responsible for serious food poisoning. These bacteria can reproduce and proliferate as so-called L-forms. The methods to detect...
Dangerous staph germs found at West Coast beaches
(AP) -- Dangerous staph bacteria have been found in sand and water for the first time at five public beaches along the coast of Washington, and scientists think the...
Star-shaped Cells In Brain Help With Learning
Every movement and every thought requires the passing of specific information between networks of nerve cells. To improve a skill or to learn something new entails more efficient or a...
RNA: Protein Regulators Are Themselves Regulated
Scientists in Switzerland have shown that short strands of ribonucleic acid (RNA) which regulate protein production are themselves also regulated. This additional layer of regulation opens up new perspectives for...
Are Tigers 'Brainier' Than Lions?
A wide-ranging study of big cat skulls has shown that tigers have bigger brains, relative to their body size, than lions, leopards or jaguars.
UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News
Scientists urge isolation of wheat rust ... Single road changes life in national park ... Seeds being saved ahead of ash borer ... Pesticide restrictions to protect salmon ... Health/Science...
Flowering lantana draws butterflies -- but little water
Big color, little water, lots of butterflies. How does that sound? That's the story of lantana in a nutshell. But I'm famous for verbosely pontificating on the attributes of plants...
Key Brain Receptors Linked To Learning and Memory Decrease with Age
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists studying cognitive decline that accompanies aging have been interested in nicotinic receptors, part of a key neural pathway that not only enhances learning and memory skills but...
Novel 'On-Off Switch' Mechanism Stops Cancer in Its Tracks
(PhysOrg.com) -- A tiny bit of genetic material with no previously known function may hold the key to stopping the spread of cancer, researchers at Yale School of Medicine and...