Latest science news in Biology & Nature
New defences deployed against plant diseases
An international team led by scientists at the Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich,UK, have transferred broad spectrum resistance against some important plant diseases across different plant families. This breakthrough provides a...
How Its Internal Clock Is Read, Knows Reindeer
Humans are pegged to a 24-hour cycle. We're locked into it not just by day and night--there’s the master timepiece in the brain called the circadian clock. But it doesn't...
Maximizing Codeine
Plant Biochemistry: Researchers identify enzymes that convert codeine to morphine in poppy plants.
An organic approach to pest control: releasing super-sexed (but sterile) male insects
An improved method for sustainable pest control using "super-sexed" but sterile male insects to copulate with female ones is being developed by agricultural researchers in Israel. The scientists thus hope...
Brain-Like Computer Closer to Realization
(PhysOrg.com) -- Almost since computing began, scientists and technologists have been fascinated with the idea of a computer that works similarly to the human brain. In 2008, the first "memristor"...
New microscopy technique offers close-up, real-time view of cellular phenomena
For two decades, scientists have been pursuing a potential new way to treat bacterial infections, using naturally occurring proteins known as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). Now, MIT scientists have recorded the...
Heat makes butterflies early
Butterflies are emerging earlier in spring because of climate change, according to a new study – it’s not just a coincidence.
Harsh winter delays spring blooms
It looks more like January than March as spring flowers bloom much later than expected, say researchers.
Designer nano luggage to carry drugs to diseased cells
For the first time, scientists have succeeded in growing empty particles derived from a plant virus and have made them carry useful chemicals...
Wine vine: Microscopic photography reveals bacteria destroying grape plant cell wall
Like a band of detectives surveying the movement of a criminal, researchers using photographic technology have caught at least one culprit in the act. In this case, electron microscopy was...
UC Irvine biologists help sequence Hydra genome
UC Irvine researchers have played a leading role in the genome sequencing of Hydra, a freshwater polyp that has been a staple of biological research for 300 years...
India needs more wildlife protection areas
NEW YORK, March 15 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists studying the extinction of large mammals in India say the country needs improvements in protected areas and cultural tolerance for some...
Snake infrared detection unravelled
Scientists have discovered the receptors that allow snakes to find prey in the dark.
Cells of aggressive leukaemia hijack normal protein to grow
Researchers have found that one particularly aggressive type of blood cancer, mixed lineage leukaemia (MLL), has an unusual way to keep the molecular motors running. The cancer cells rely on...
New technique allows study of protein folding, dynamics in living cells
A new technique to study protein dynamics in living cells has been created by a team of University of Illinois scientists, and evidence yielded from the new method indicates that...
Japan whale cull not necessary: researchers
Whale researchers returned from Antarctic waters Monday after a six-week expedition they say proves Japan's annual kill of whales for scientific purposes is unnecessary.
Developing Weed Resistance in Corn Hybrids
Scientists in Africa are working to develop maize hybrids that keep their genetic diversity and resistance to parasitic weeds.
Decoding the long calls of the orangutan
Research into the long calls of male orangutans in Borneo has given scientists new insight into how these solitary apes communicate through dense jungle. An acoustic analysis of the calls...
Light activated 'warhead' turns modest molecules into super protein killers
Using a novel light activation technique, Scripps Research Institute scientists have been able to turn molecules with only a modest ability to fight specific proteins into virtual protein destroyers.
Fishery management practices for beluga sturgeon must change, experts urge
A first-of-its-kind study of a Caspian Sea beluga sturgeon (Huso huso) fishery demonstrates current harvest rates are four to five times higher than those that would sustain population abundance. The...
Can a single layer of cells control a leaf's size?
Little is known about the developmental control of leaf size and shape, and understanding the mechanisms behind this is a major issue in plant biology. New research concludes that communication...
Forest tree species diversity depends on individual variation
It's a paradox that's puzzled scientists for a half-century. Models clearly show that the coexistence of competing species depends on those species responding differently to the availability of resources. Then...
U.S. stem cell expert is "hottest" researcher
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rudolf Jaenisch, whose stem cell lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has consistently broken new barriers in the field, is the world's "hottest" researcher, according to...
Pit vipers' night vision explained
Study finds protein responsible for sensing heat from prey
Florida on guard against giant snails
Efforts are underway to prevent the reestablishment of African mollusks, which threaten crops and public health. ...
Scientists identify driving forces in human cell division
Using a novel imaging system for quantifying aspects of cell division in three dimensions, scientists have discovered new interactions between sister kinetochores -- the protein bundles at the contact point...
Scientists identify key protein from mitochondria in energy regulation
Scientists have discovered a new mechanism that governs this pathway and in the process identified a novel potential therapeutic target for controlling fat metabolism.
The world's smallest sea horse
Hippocampus satomiae, little bigger than a pea, has been found on reefs in IndonesiaLittle bigger than a pea, the smallest known sea horse, Hippocampus satomiae, was discovered at a depth...