Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Secrets Revealed About How Disease-causing DNA Mutations Occur
Scientists have shed light on the processes that lead to certain human DNA mutations that are implicated in hundreds of inherited diseases. The results one day could influence the way...
Oxygen key to 'cut and paste' of genes
(PhysOrg.com) -- An oxygen-sensitive enzyme has been found to play a key role in how genes create the many different proteins that make up our bodies.
Molecular Differences Found Between Embryonic Stem Cells And Reprogrammed Skin Cells
Researchers have found that embryonic stem cells and skin cells reprogrammed into embryonic-like cells have inherent molecular differences, demonstrating for the first time that the two cell types are clearly...
Plants' internal clock can improve climate-change models
The ability of plants to tell the time, a mechanism common to all living beings, enables them to survive, grow and reproduce. In a study published in the latest issue...
Virus-resistant grapevines
A good wine needs to ripen. But it's a long way to the barrel. Even before the harvest, the grapevines have to overcome all kinds of obstacles. Extremely hot or...
World 'still losing biodiversity'
Species around the world are still being lost despite governments pledging action to reverse the trend, a report warns.
Potential Alzheimer's drug target found
SANTA BARBARA, Calif., July 2 (UPI) -- A U.S.-led international team of scientists said it has found laboratory evidence that a cluster of peptides might be the toxic...
Rampant helper syndrome: Methane-producing molecule can also repair DNA
The Archaea are single-celled organisms and a domain unto themselves, quite apart from the so called eukaryotes, being bacteria and higher organisms. Many species live under extreme conditions, and carry...
Wildlife crisis worse than economic crisis
Life on Earth is under serious threat, despite the commitment by world leaders to reverse the trend, according to a detailed analysis of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species...
Amur tigers on 'genetic brink'
The world's largest cat is down to an effective wild population of fewer than 35 individuals, new research has found.
Inbred bumblebees less successful
Declining bumblebee populations are at greater risk of inbreeding, which can trigger a downward spiral of further decline. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology have provided...
Idaho F&G plan to kill pelicans hits obstacles
(AP) -- Federal officials have told the Idaho fish and game officials that their plan to halve the number of pelicans nesting in southern and eastern Idaho by 2013...
Protein In The Envelope Enclosing The Cell Nucleus: New Piece Of The Puzzle In Research On Cancer And Stem Cells?
Scientists have discovered a new protein in the inner membrane of the cell nucleus. This protein may play an important role in cell division and now provides a new piece...
Clocking salt levels in the blood: A link between the circadian rhythm and salt balance
New research, conducted by Charles Wingo and his colleagues, at the University of Florida, Gainsville, suggests a link between the circadian rhythm and control of sodium (salt) levels in mice...
Microbial analysis, micropatterning methods featured in Cold Spring Harbor Protocols
Microbial populations have traditionally been studied in carefully controlled, laboratory-grown cultures. New metagenomic approaches are being developed to study these organisms in environmental or medical samples. The July issue of...
More than 800 wildlife species now extinct
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 800 animal and plant species have gone extinct in the past five centuries with nearly 17,000 now threatened with extinction, the International Union for Conservation...
Boom in wood stork numbers sparks debate over endangered status
The wood stork, an ungainly duckling among the Everglades' elegant wading birds, has been breeding in numbers unseen in decades.
TV remotes to undergo big change
In 1955, Zenith introduced the first wireless TV remote control, the Flash-Matic, followed a year later by the Space Command.
Africa takes the lead in health research partnerships
A new US$49 million initiative aims to strengthen health research capacity across Africa — and will put African researchers in charge.
DNA Sudoku
A 2,000-year-old math theorem, along with Sudoku, may soon help researchers untangle DNA at blazing speeds. [More]
How to fix a broken heart?
Clues about how human hearts form hint at routes to cell-based therapies.
Italians sue over stem cells
Government's exclusion of human embryonic cells from funding call sparks anger.
Don't cry politicization
To call biomedical research proposals political distorts the issue, says David Goldston.
Michael Young receives Gruber Foundation’s 2009 Neuroscience Prize
Michael W. Young, Richard and Jeanne Fisher Professor and head of the Laboratory of Genetics at Rockefeller University, has received the 2009 Neuroscience Prize of the Peter and Patricia Gruber...
Late Blight - the Irish Potato Famine Fungus - Is Attacking Northeast Gardens and Farms Now
Home gardeners beware: This year, late blight -- a destructive infectious disease that caused the Irish potato famine in the 1840s -- is killing tomato and potato plants in gardens...
Red pandas welcome triplet babies at N.D. zoo
Red pandas Shan Tou and Yukiko are the proud parents of triplets born at the Red River Zoo in Fargo, N.D. These cubs are a big deal; only five red...
'A predator on par with a shark'
RICHMOND, Va., July 1 (UPI) -- The blue catfish, introduced 30 years ago as a game fish in the James River, has risen to the top of the...
Cancer also a threat to wildlife
NEW YORK, July 1 (UPI) -- The World Conservation Society in New York says while cancer touches the lives of many humans, it is also a major threat...