Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Brain Plasticity: Changes And Resets In Homeostasis
Researchers have found that synaptic plasticity, long implicated as a device for "change" in the brain, may also be essential for stability.
Histamine Affects Alcohol-related Behavior
The histamine-3 receptor is important in terms of alcohol-related behavior, and a drug affecting that receptor may have qualities that alter alcohol-related behavior.
High Carbon Dioxide Levels Cause Abnormally Large Fish Ear Bones
Scripps study focuses on bony structures essential in fish orientation and acceleration.
Nematode Courting Caught On Camera
Researchers studying the nervous control of nematode mating behavior have produced video footage of a male worm preparing to mate with a hermaphrodite. Researchers investigated the role of the excitatory...
Crying Baby Monkeys Get on Everyone's Nerves
When baby rhesus monkeys want to suckle, they do what human infants do: cry, cry, cry.
More Gene Mutations Linked To Autism Risk
More pieces in the complex autism inheritance puzzle are emerging in the latest gene study of autism spectrum disorders. This study identified 27 different genetic regions where rare copy number...
STAT3 Protein Found To Play A Key Role In Cancer
A protein called STAT3 has been found to play a fundamental role in converting normal cells to cancerous cells, according to a new study. The study found that STAT3, in...
Brain Recordings Take Flight
A new lightweight device measures brain activity in homing pigeons in midflight
Engineering autism: Mice with extra chromosome region show many autistic signs
Mice who inherit a particular chromosomal duplication from their fathers show many behaviours associated with human autism, researchers report in the 26th June issue of the journal Cell, a Cell...
Long-term apple scab resistance remains elusive, Purdue expert says
There are hundreds of choices when picking a crabapple tree from the nursery, but a Purdue University expert says only a handful are resistant to a widespread fungus or other...
MU scientists convert pigs' connective tissue cells into stem cells
For years, proponents have touted the benefits of embryonic stem cell research, but the potential therapies still face hurdles. Side effects such as tumour development, a lack of an effective...
Good males are bad fathers
Contrary to predictions, males of high genetic quality are not very successful when it comes to fertilising eggs. A new study on seed beetles by Swedish and Danish scientists Goeran...
Pushmi-pullyu of B-cell development discovered
Although every cell in the body carries the genes necessary to function as an antibody-producing B cell, only a small proportion of stem cells mature into those important immune-system cells....
Study finds DNA barcoding requires caution without closer examination
The goal of DNA barcoding is to find a simple, cheap, and rapid DNA assay that can be converted to a readily accessible technical skill that bypasses the need to rely on...
A penny for your prions: Researchers study link between copper, mad cow disease
(PhysOrg.com) -- North Carolina State University researchers have discovered a link between copper and the normal functioning of prion proteins, which are associated with transmissible spongiform encephalopathy diseases such as...
Naming may be key to brain's ability to recognize faces
(PhysOrg.com) -- Our tendency to see people and faces as individuals may explain why we are such experts at recognizing them, new research indicates. This approach can be learned and...
Australian coastal and river dwellers at risk of melanoma
(PhysOrg.com) -- South Australians living on the coast, near the River Murray and in metropolitan Adelaide are more likely to get skin cancer than their inland cousins.
DNA patterns of microbes
(PhysOrg.com) -- The genomes or DNA of microbes contain defined DNA patterns called genome signatures. Such signatures may be used to establish relationships and to search for DNA from viruses...
Cells Use Import Machinery To Export Their Goods As Well
Research suggests a new level of regulation for cellular export process by molecules previously assumed to be dedicated to import activities.
MicroRNAs help control HIV life cycle
LA JOLLA, Calif., June 26, 2009 -- Scientists at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have discovered that specific microRNAs (non-coding RNAs that interfere with gene expression) reduce HIV...
Virus filters for medical diagnosis
In biomedicine and biotechnology the smallest, complex, compound sample quantities must be reliably processed. Microsystems with new mechanisms of action for pumping, filtering and separating will manage this task with...
Environmental Cues Control Reproductive Timing And Longevity
When humans and animals delay reproduction because food or other resources are scarce, they may live longer to increase the impact of reproduction, according to a new study.
New nanoparticles could revolutionize therapeutic drug discovery
A revolutionary new protein stabilisation technique has been developed by scientists funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council which could lead to 30 per cent more proteins being...
Smog Stresses Skin Cells
Smog is nasty enough in the atmosphere, and now research suggests it damages human skin cells as well.
UAB researchers draft 3-D protein map to aid stroke, cancer research
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- A new three-dimensional computer protein map is helping researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) unravel the biological pathways that control brain-cell death after...
Castor-oil Plants Genetically Altered To Produce New Bio-lubricants
Researchers have genetically altered castor-oil plant so as to use it as a factory to produce bio lubricants.
Bird Migration: First ‘transmitter Godwit’ Back To West Africa In One Go
One of the fifteen Frisian ‘transmitter godwits’, which was still in Friesland on Saturday, arrived in Senegal in West Africa on Tuesday morning. The bird, nicknamed Heidenskip, appears to have...
Artificial liver for drug tests
If you have hay fever, headaches or a cold, it's only a short way to the nearest chemist. The drugs, on the other hand, can take eight to ten years...