Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Exercise Can Be Like Heroin, "Gym Rats" Show
Hardcore human runners who can't bear to skip a workout may be hooked in a way that's similar to heroin addiction, according to a new study of rats.
Glycine Found In Comet
Discovery suggests molecules necessary to create life may be widespread throughout the universe.
Study Supports DNA Repair-blocker Research In Cancer Therapy
Scientists have uncovered the mechanism behind a promising new approach to cancer treatment: damaging cancer cells' DNA with potent drugs while simultaneously preventing the cells from repairing themselves. The findings...
Tiny Asian clams invade Lake Tahoe
DAVIS, Calif., Aug. 19 (UPI) -- A tiny import, the Asian clam, is a growing problem in Lake Tahoe on the California-Nevada border.
Cancer's break-in tools possibly identified at Duke
A single cell in a 1-millimetre nematode worm is providing valuable new clues into cancer's deadliest behaviour - its ability to put down roots in new tissues after spreading throughout...
Does Sugar Feed Cancer?
Researchers have uncovered new information on the notion that sugar "feeds" tumors. The findings may also have implications for other diseases such as diabetes.
Flat bacteria in nanoslits
It appears that bacteria can squeeze through practically anything. In extremely small nanoslits they take on a completely new flat shape. Even in this squashed form they continue to grow...
Hepatitis C virus channels efforts into cell survival
Researchers at the University of Leeds have discovered a previously unknown mechanism that allows the hepatitis C virus (HCV) to remain in the body for decades...
Honey-bee aggression study suggests nurture alters nature
A new study reveals that changes in gene expression in the brain of the honey bee in response to an immediate threat have much in common with more long-term and...
The first gene-encoded amphibian toxin isolated
Researchers in China have discovered the first protein-based toxin in an amphibian - a 60 amino acid neurotoxin found in the skin of a Chinese tree frog. This finding may...
Gene vital to brain's stem cells implicated in deadly brain cancer
Researchers from Columbia University Medical Centre's Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Centre have identified a protein that activates brain stem cells to make new neurones - but that may be hijacked...
How to make a lung
A tissue-repair-and-regeneration pathway in the human body, including wound healing, is essential for the early lung to develop properly. Genetically engineered mice fail to develop lungs when two molecules in...
Engineered protein-like molecule protects cells against HIV infection
With the help of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and molecular engineering, researchers have designed synthetic protein-like mimics convincing enough to interrupt unwanted biological conversations between cells...
Newly discovered mechanism in cell division has implications for chromosome's role in cancer
'A biologist, a physicist, and a nanotechnologist walk into a...' sounds like the start of a joke. Instead, it was the start of a collaboration that has helped to decipher...
Faster, cheaper way to find disease genes in human genome passes initial test
University of Washington (UW) researchers have successfully developed a novel genome-analysis strategy for more rapid, lower cost discovery of possible gene-disease links. By saving time and lowering expenses, the approach...
Frogs find home in elephant dung
They may not be the best-smelling homes, but Asian elephant dung piles provide certain frog species with shelter, one researcher has found. Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz of the University of Tokyo found...
Well: Weight Lifting May Help to Avert Lymph Problem
Restricting activity may not be the best strategy against lymphedema.
Naturally occurring protection against severe malaria
In a study to be published in the next issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), researchers at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, in Portugal, show...
Study Links Pesticides, Declining Frog Population
Researchers discover that the same chemicals that make California's Central Valley so successful as a farming area also make the nearby Sierra Mountains deadly for frogs.
Genetic diagnosis of embryos: clear explanation, not rhetoric needed
In the area of genetic diagnosis of embryos, the choice of words matters as they can influence policies and perceptions, according to an analysis in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal)...
From cell division to ageing: Scientists locate main cell switches
(PhysOrg.com) -- Protein function and gene expression are often regulated by reversible modifications of already existing proteins. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry and the University of Copenhagen...
Honeybee aggression genes studied
CHAMPAIGN, Ill., Aug. 17 (UPI) -- U.S. and Mexican scientists have linked gene expression in honeybees' brains in the response to threats with long-term and evolutionary aggression differences.
Blood parasite genetic linkage map created
COLLEGE STATION, Texas, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- A U.S. scientist says he has completed the first genetic linkage map for Schistosoma mansoni -- a blood parasite linked with schistosomiasis.
Survey shows high numbers of seed scallops on Georges Bank, low numbers in Mid-Atlantic
A NOAA Fisheries scallop survey off the northeastern U.S. coast between North Carolina and Massachusetts shows high numbers of juvenile 'recruit' sea scallops and ocean quahogs on Georges Bank tempered...
New Insights Into Limb Formation
Researchers have gained new understanding of the role hyaluronic acid plays in skeletal growth, chondrocyte maturation and joint formation in developing limbs.
Ground Beetles Produce Aromas of Lemons, Oranges As Predator Repellents
Researchers report for the first time that some ground beetles produce the natural repellent limonene as their major defensive chemical.
Researchers Find Key To Keeping Cells In Shape
Researchers have discovered how a protein within most cell membranes helps maintain normal cell size, a breakthrough in basic biology that has implications for a variety of diseases such as...
New Method Takes Aim At Aggressive Cancer Cells
Researchers have discovered a chemical that works in mice to kill the rare, aggressive cells within breast cancers that can seed new tumors. These cells, known as cancer stem cells,...