Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Species adapt or risk extinction
Some tropical species may be unable to adapt to climate change and risk extinction as a result, new research has found.
Pups from 1st cloned dog to be distributed to public
Puppies born from the world's first cloned dog will be offered to good homes later this year, South Korean researchers said on Thursday.
Moths Cloaked In Color: Reexamining Parallel Evolution In Diurnal Neotropical Moths
A new study revises the taxonomy of the Dioptinae, a subfamily of moths that have conquered the day in the tropical Americas. The roughly 500 described dioptines have a wide...
How Much of A Mutant Are You?
Do you ever wonder how many harmful mutations you carry in your genome? Even if you've never worried about how much of a mutant you are, geneticists have spent a...
Finding The ZIP-code For Gene Therapy: Scientists Imitate Viruses To Deliver Therapeutic Genes
Australian scientists have developed a new gene therapy vector that uses the same machinery that viruses use to transport their cargo into our cells. As a result, therapeutic DNA can...
Protein–telomere Interactions Could Be Key In Treating Cancer
Researchers have shown that a large noncoding RNA in mammals and yeast plays a central role in helping maintain telomeres, the tips of chromosomes that contain important genetic information and...
Diversity in Key Environmental Cleanup Microbe Found
Researchers analyzed the gene sequences, proteins expressed and physiology of 10 strains of bioremediation microbes called Shewanella. Results showed surprising diversity not seen using traditional microbiology approaches.
Study Reveals How A Common Virus Eludes The Immune System
Viruses have numerous tricks for dodging the immune system. New research reveals a key detail in one of these stratagems, identifying a protein that enables cytomegalovirus to shut down an...
Germ genes come clean
Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: Using genetic analysis, scientists discover that a germ used for cleaning up toxic sites is actually many types of germs that can gobble up different...
Feature: Solar powered sea slugs aid climate change
Nudibranchs, or sea snails without a shell, have developed a fascinating ability to use the plants they feed on to absorb solar energy.
Toxins in Lake Michigan fish linked to diabetes
This is a fish tale in which smaller is better than bigger, especially if the catch is to be eaten in any quantity.
Personal Health: Buyer Beware of Home DNA Tests
What information, if any, can we learn from home DNA tests?
Mind: Sleep May Be Nature’s Time Management Tool
When the predators are out, best to be hidden and safe — in bed.
A New 'Bent' On Cellular Fusion
Success in cellular fusion -- as occurs at the moment of conception and when nerve cells exchange neurotransmitters -- requires that a membrane be bent before the merging process can...
Wolf hunts to open, judge eyes injunction request
(AP) -- Gray wolf hunting was set to begin in the Northern Rockies, even as a federal judge eyed a request to stop the killing of the predators just...
Scientists report how nerve networks form
MONTREAL, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- Canadian scientists say they've found the interaction of a specific protein regulates the development of nerve connections in the visual system of tadpoles.
Pheromones in commercial products
Scientists have always been puzzled by the science of pheromones, even with animals. The fact that dogs have a sense of smell we still do not understand. Certain smells attract...
Mouse Brain Rewires Its Neural Circuits To Recuperate From Damaged Neural Function After Stroke
A Japanese research group has found that after a cerebral stroke in one side of a mouse brain, another side of the brain rewires its neural circuits to recuperate from...
Researchers to mimic nature's probes
The National Science Foundation has awarded Clemson University researchers $2 million to study ways to mimic the suction mechanism used by butterflies and moths to feed so that the same...
African experts study escaped hippos in Colombia
African zoologists are in Colombia to advise local authorities on what to do with dozens of hippos roaming around the abandoned zoo of late drug lord Pablo Escobar in the...
Counting duplicated genome segments now possible
A newly designed computational method has proven its usefulness in counting copies of duplicated genome sequences and in doing initial assessments of their contents, according to a study published 30...
Krill prefer sex in the dark
Researchers have found that when it comes to reproduction, krill like it with the lights off, and their cycle of maturation can be altered by keeping them in the dark.
Plant used to soothe horses
Scientists have used a healing Tasmanian plant to create a hoof ointment for horses, and believe the shrub could also help human skin.
Red apple gene found
Scientists have deciphered the DNA code that makes apple flesh red, a finding that could lead to healthier and more colourful fruit.
Poisonous Venoms of Cone Snails
Our laboratory conducts research using the venomous predatory cone snail Conus. Our HHMI program involves two projects: a biodiversity education initiative and an undergraduate program in neuroscience for majors in...
Platypus endangered by traps
Yabby traps are killing Australia's famous platypus in large numbers, and their use needs to be regulated, according to scientists.
Disease Threat May Change How Frogs Mate
A disease may be causing a behavioral change in frogs. The research has unearthed a surprising fact about our long-tongued friends: wild frogs in the UK may be changing their...
Sandfish Tucks Legs And 'Swims' Like A Snake Under Desert Sand
A new study details how sandfish -- small lizards with smooth scales -- move rapidly underground through desert sand. In this first thorough examination of subsurface sandfish locomotion, researchers found...