Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Dads Are Key to Making Us Human
Among mammals, 95 percent of males have little to no interaction with their children. For humans, this differs.
Polar bears tracked by hair, feces
KINGSTON, Ontario, June 19 (UPI) -- Analyzing hair and feces from polar bears could prove more valuable than tracking them by helicopter to tranquilize and tag them, Canadian...
New photodynamic cancer therapy studied
SANTA CRUZ, Calif., June 18 (UPI) -- Chemists at the University of California-Santa Cruz say they've developed novel compounds that show promise for photodynamic cancer therapy.
New early MD diagnosis method proposed
BIRMINGHAM, England, June 18 (UPI) -- British medical scientists say they used an animal study to demonstrate a method of making an early diagnosis of muscular dystrophy, before...
Fish can learn despite small brains
LONDON (Reuters) - A small fish found in streams across Europe has a human-like ability to learn, British scientists reported Wednesday.
Man who lost sense of smell assumed Zicam safe
(AP) -- He was like millions of other consumers who sometimes take vitamins or echinacea, hoping to build up his immunity or ward off a cold. He figured alternative remedies...
Great Tips for Beginning Gardeners
Jon Traunfeld is the University of Maryland's Home and Garden Information Center director - offers some great tips for beginning gardeners to get the most our of their gardens this...
Nanocrystals Reveal Activity Within Cells
Researchers have created bright, stable and bio-friendly nanocrystals that act as individual investigators of activity within a cell. These ideal light emitting probes represent a significant step in scrutinizing the...
Individual Primates Display Variation In General Intelligence
General intelligence varies among primates within a single species, according to new research. The study is the first to look at general intelligence within one primate species. Through a series...
Same-sex relationships may play an important role in evolution
Biologists claim that same-sex relationships help drive the evolution of animals' physiology, life history and social behaviour
UCF researcher's nanoparticles could someday lead to end of chemotherapy
Nanoparticles specially engineered by University of Central Florida Assistant Professor J. Manuel Perez and his colleagues could someday target and destroy tumours, sparing patients from toxic, whole-body chemotherapies...
Cells are like robust computational systems
Gene regulatory networks in cell nuclei are similar to cloud computing networks, such as Google or Yahoo!, researchers report today in the online journal Molecular Systems Biology. The similarity is...
Plant microbe shares features with drug-resistant pathogen
An international team of scientists has discovered extensive similarities between a strain of bacteria commonly associated with plants and one increasingly linked to opportunistic infections in hospital patients. The findings...
The universe in your head
Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: Stem cell pioneer Robert Lanza generates controversy on a whole different plane with "Biocentrism," a book that lays out his theory of everything.
New piece found in the puzzle of epigenetics
For many years scientists have known that the numerous biological functions of an organism are not regulated solely by the DNA sequence of its genes: Superordinate regulatory mechanisms exist that...
Key Target Of Aging Regulator Found
Researchers have defined a key target of an evolutionarily conserved protein that regulates the process of aging. The study provides fundamental knowledge about key mechanisms of aging that could point...
Gray Hair Caused by Stress (Cell Stress, That Is)
Work or personal stress might make you want to pull your hair out, but it's damaged DNA that actually turns it gray, according to a new study done in mice.
Researchers Look to Better Understand Extinction Processes of Mammals
As the human population continues to grow and resource demands soar, biodiversity conservation has never been more critical said University of New Mexico Biology Department postdoctoral researchers Ana Davidson and...
Scientists have solved a genetic problem
Researchers at the Universities of Manchester and Birmingham have solved a genetic problem that causes the accumulation of male hormones - called androgens - in women.
Do Gay Animals Change Evolution?
Homosexual behavior seems pointedly un-Darwinian. An animal that doesn't pass along genes by mating with the opposite sex at every, well, conceivable opportunity, seems to be at an evolutionary disadvantage. So what’s in...
Renewed Call to Get Antibiotics Out of Food
The dangers of antibiotic abuse in industrial-scale animal meat production are well known.
Patchy pig monitoring may hide flu threat
Experts call for increased surveillance of animals.
Peripheral Nerve Repair With Fat Precursor Cells Led To Wider Nerves And Less Muscle Atrophy
Multipotent, abundant, easily isolated fat (adipose) precursor cells (APCs) demonstrate an ability to differentiate in vitro into cartilage chondrogenic, boneosteogenic, fatadipogenic and muscle tissue myogenic cell types. A new study...
Pesticides found in central Florida lakes
WASHINGTON, June 16 (UPI) -- U.S. government scientists said they have found pesticide-related compounds and elevated levels of nitrate in several central Florida lakes.
Removing pests restores niche
In a recent study, a native bird species was able to recolonise an island without assistance after introduced pests were wiped out.
Study shows transfer of heavy metals from water to fish in Huelva estuary
A team of researchers from the University of Cadiz has confirmed that zinc, copper and lead are present at high levels in the water and sediments of the Huelva estuary,...
New Piece Found In The Puzzle Of Epigenetics: Mechanism Of Fine Regulation Of RNA Synthesis Elucidated
Scientists have identified the enzyme TFIIH kinase as an important factor in the epigenetic regulation of the cell nucleus enzyme RNA polymerase II. The findings constitute a further building block...
Honeybees create a buzz at Kew year after they were wiped out by disease
Some 20,000 honeybees released in wildflower meadow at Kew Gardens to encourage people to grow bee-friendly flowers