Latest science news in Biology & Nature

Risk Of Developing Deep Vein Thrombosis During A Flight Is Often Overestimated, According to Some Experts

14 years ago from Science Daily

The risk of developing deep vein thrombosis during a long flight is often overestimated. According to some researchers, this condition is very unlikely in healthy travelers. When people wear a...

Cold virus used in cystic fibrosis study

14 years ago from UPI

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., July 21 (UPI) -- Using a common cold virus to deliver a corrected gene to cystic fibrosis cells restores normal function to lung tissue, researchers in...

Schistosomiasis worms sequenced

14 years ago from SciDev

New drugs to fight schistosomiasis could be on the way now the genomes of two worms that cause the disease have been sequenced.

Gene Variations Can Be Barometer Of Behavior, Choices

14 years ago from Science Daily

Researchers have determined that variations of three different genes in the brain (called single-nucleotide polymorphisms) may help predict a person’s tendency to make certain choices.

How Evolution Can Allow For Large Developmental Leaps

14 years ago from Science Daily

Most evolutionary changes happen in tiny increments. But when it comes to traits like the number of wings on an insect, or limbs on a primate, there is no middle...

Tension in axons is essential for synaptic signalling, researchers report

14 years ago from

Every time a neurone sends a signal - to move a muscle or form a memory, for example - tiny membrane-bound compartments, called vesicles, dump neurotransmitters into the synapse between...

New life histories emerge for invasive wasps, magnify ecological harm

14 years ago from

A switch from annual to multiyear colonies and a willingness to feed just about any prey to their young have allowed invasive yellowjacket wasps to disrupt native populations of insects...

Genes that let creepy-crawlies survive a deep freeze

14 years ago from

Arctic springtails (Megaphorura arctica) survive freezing temperatures by dehydrating themselves before the coldest weather sets in. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Genomics have identified a suite of...

Human movement plays critical role in understanding disease transmission

14 years ago from Physorg

To control mosquito-borne diseases like dengue, researchers need to look at the behavior of people, not just the insect that transmits the disease, according to new research by Steven Stoddard...

Uterine cells produce their own oestrogen during pregnancy

14 years ago from

For decades, scientists assumed that the ovary alone produced steroid hormones during pregnancy. In a new study in mice, however, researchers demonstrate that once an embryo attaches to the uterine...

Heart disease: Research off the beating patch

14 years ago from Physorg

It is an amazing sight: What looks like a tiny beating heart is actually a piece of synthetic, gauze-like mesh, barely the size of a fingernail, floating in a Petri...

Studies Shed Light On Preserving Fertility Among Cancer Patients

14 years ago from Science Daily

Successes in cancer treatment have created a challenge for young cancer patients since the chemotherapy and radiation treatments that save lives threaten fertility. Researchers are now reporting on how they...

Growing Sea Lamprey Embryos Dramatically Alter Genomes, Discard Millions Of Units Of DNA

14 years ago from Science Daily

Sea lampreys, which arose from the jawless fish that first appeared a half-billion years ago, dramatically remodel their genomes during embryonic development. This is believed to be the first recorded...

Milwaukee jaguar may be hope of species

14 years ago from UPI

MILWAUKEE, July 20 (UPI) -- Pat the jaguar, a big cat captured in Belize for rehabilitation, may be the hope of his species, officials of the Milwaukee County Zoo...

The Web: Grassroots action thrives online

14 years ago from UPI

By GENE KOPROWSKIUnited Press International A weekly series by UPI examining the global telecommunications phenomenon known as the World Wide Web.

Vital Signs: Hazards: At the Beach, Watch Out for Dirty Sand, Too

14 years ago from NY Times Science

A study found that sand can also contain high levels of fecal bacteria, and that people who dig in it can get sick.

Researchers look to imprinted genes for clues to foetal growth restriction in cloned swine

14 years ago from

Researchers at North Carolina State University have found that intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), which results in low birth weight and long-term deleterious health effects in cloned swine, is linked to...

Muscular protein bond -- strongest yet found in nature

14 years ago from Physorg

A research collaboration between Munich-based biophysicists and a structural biologist in Hamburg (Germany) is helping to explain why our muscles, and those of other animals, don't simply fall apart under...

Basics: When ‘What Animals Do’ Doesn’t Seem to Cover It

14 years ago from NY Times Science

A precise definition of behavior? Even experts don’t agree.

Serengeti wildlife know where water is cleaner

14 years ago from MSNBC: Science

Something in the water in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park is spurring the world's most spectacular migration, according to a new study.

Not 'Genomic Junk' After All: LincRNAs Have Global Role In Genome Regulation

14 years ago from Science Daily

A scientific team shows that lincRNAs -- once dismissed as "genomic junk" -- have a global role in genome regulation.

Discovery of genetic toggle switch inches closer to possible diabetes cure

14 years ago from

Scientists have identified a master regulator gene for early embryonic development of the pancreas and other organs, putting researchers closer to coaxing stem cells into pancreatic cells as a possible...

Our brain looks at eyes first to identify a face

14 years ago from

A study by the University of Barcelona (UB) has analysed which facial features our brain examines to identify faces. Our brain adapts in order to obtain the maximum amount of...

Male sex chromosome losing genes by rapid evolution, study reveals

14 years ago from Biology News Net

Scientists have long suspected that the sex chromosome that only males carry is deteriorating and could disappear entirely within a few million years, but until now, no one has understood the evolutionary processes...

Researchers develop process for 'surgical' genetic changes

14 years ago from Physorg

Research led by scientists at Iowa State University's Plant Sciences Institute has resulted in a process that will make genetic changes in plant genes much more efficient, practical and safe.

Sweet, Salty, Sour, Bitter And Umami: Variants Of 'Umami' Taste Receptor Contribute To Our Individualized Flavor Worlds

14 years ago from Science Daily

Using a combination of sensory, genetic, and in vitro approaches, researchers confirm that the T1R1-T1R3 taste receptor plays a role in human umami (amino acid) taste. They further report that...

Venus flytrap origins uncovered

14 years ago from BBC News: Science & Nature

It is a plant that traps and eats animals, and now scientists have worked out where this voracious plant came from.

Zoo keeper wears abandoned baby kangaroo

14 years ago from MSNBC: Science

Christina Cooper has been wearing a kangaroo lately — a foundling named Skippy, who was rejected by his mother at a wildlife park in eastern Louisiana.