Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Marine microbes may lead to better drugs
EDINBURGH, Scotland, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Scottish and British scientists say a new way to analyze marine microbes might lead to better methods to manufacturer drugs for epilepsy, diabetes...
Navigating In The Ocean Of Molecules: Computer Program Points The Way To New Disease Treatments
Tracking down new active agents for cancer or malaria treatment could soon become easier. A new computer program acts as a tool for navigating chemical space. It generates maps of...
Blueberry leaves may kill hepatitis C
MIYAZAKI, Japan, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Japanese scientists say they've discovered a chemical found in blueberry leaves can help block the replication of the hepatitis C virus.
Scientists Devise Efficient Way Of Learning About Complex Corn Traits
There's no "silver bullet" gene or gene region that controls so-called complex traits in maize, commonly known as corn. Instead, crop scientists show that lots of small changes in a...
Distinctive Gene Expression In Brains Of Relapsing Heroin-addicted Rats
A group of genes whose expression is significantly altered following exposure to drug paraphernalia after an enforced "cold-turkey" period have been identified. Researchers studied gene expression in the brains of...
Innovative Method To Detect Genetic Causes Of Complex Diseases Identified
Computational biologists have developed an analytical technique to detect the multiple genetic variations that contribute to complex disease syndromes such as diabetes, asthma and cancer, which are characterized by multiple...
Growth spurts
The veil is being lifted from the once unseen world of molecular activity. Not so long ago only the final products were visible and scientists were forced to gauge the...
Itch-specific Neurons Identified In Mice Offers Hope For Better Treatments
Researchers have discovered that itch-specific neurons exist in mice, and their studies suggest that itch and pain signals are transmitted along different pathways in the spinal cord. The researchers say...
Study confirms limits on stem cell research
Only a handful of available embryonic stem cell lines have been used by scientists, an analysis finds, attributing the figures in part to Bush-era policies. Scientists have long complained that the Bush administration's...
Birds' Problem-Solving Validates Aesop
Experiments with Rooks Show Birds' Ability to Use Tools in Strategic Fashion to Access Food
Configure your own operating software
Remote maintenance systems that monitor the status of facilities and machines have always had to be configured manually, a laborious task. But now a new system can be easily adapted...
Mutant Mice Are Bred to Order
Some are fat, others tiny. And one is just having a bad hair day Head Tilt Mouse Ever since Mario Capecchi, Martin Evans, and Oliver Smithies created the first knockout mouse in...
Prey Tell: How Fish Track Their Quarry, Even When They Can't See It
Fish are adept trackers of prey, able to detect the trace of another fish more than a minute after it has swum past. [More]
Rare sighting of humpbacks off P.E.I. shore
Locals and tourists going deep-sea fishing off P.E.I.'s North Shore have been getting an extra treat recently: at least two humpback whales have been joining in the fishing.
The dead end of animal research
Despite persistent lobbying for animal testing, the evidence
Tumour mutations can predict chemo success
New work by MIT cancer biologists shows that the interplay between two key genes that are often defective in tumours determines how cancer cells respond to chemotherapy...
Rarest croc returned to the wild
Conservationists release 50 of the world's most endangered crocodiles into the wild in a massive step toward saving the species.
Nanoscale tools from DNA origami
Gaining fine control over DNA structure could lead the way to tiny tools and devices
Novel mechanism revealed for increasing recombinant protein yield in tobacco
Elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) cause plants to store GM proteins in special 'protein bodies,' insulating them from normal cellular degradation processes and increasing the overall protein yield. Researchers writing in the...
Scientists Find Early Evolution Maximized The 'Spellchecking' Of Protein Sequences
As letters of the alphabet spell out words, when amino acids are linked to one another in a particular order they "spell out" proteins. But sometimes the cell machinery for...
Great Diversity Of Marine Plankton Drive Oceanic Photosynthesis
Marine biologists have demonstrated that there is considerable diversity amongst the smallest microalgae belonging to the group of so-called haptophytes. Scientists have shown that these photosynthetic microorganisms, highly diversified and...
Mammal Mystery Spurs Calif. Rescue Mission
Hundreds of Sea Lions are Turning Up Sick and Starving on the Coast - and Scientists Aren't Sure Why
Repellent keeps sharks away ... from humans
A half-dollar-sized metal alloy clamped onto fishing gear protects sharks from getting inadvertently caught in fishing nets by creating a mild electrical current.
A plant's arsenal of crystalline darts and sand
Pet owners have heard the warnings to keep certain poisonous houseplants away from their pets, such as Dieffenbachia (dumbcane), Philodendron, peace lily, and pothos. For houseplants like these and...
Carnegie donates landmark clones to biology
With the information explosion, it's remarkable that so little is known about the interactions that proteins have with each other and the protective membrane that surrounds a cell. These interactive,...
Observatory: An Aesop’s Fable Might Just Be True
Aesop was quite the fable-teller, but a study suggests he might have been a student of bird behavior as well.
Observatory: Scientists Use Curvy DNA to Build Molecular Parts
Researchers have taken a step toward creating parts for molecular machines, out of DNA.
Researchers uncover potential mechanisms to protect against genetic alterations, diseases
Peering into the DNA of tiny yeast, researchers at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego and the San Diego Branch of the Ludwig Institute for...