Latest science news in Biology & Nature
FOR KIDS: World’s largest lizard is venomous too
Komodo dragons kill prey in a way similar to some snakes, scientists find
How Embryo Movement Stimulates Joint Formation
A new study uncovers a molecular mechanism that explains why joints fail to develop in embryos with paralyzed limbs. The research answers a longstanding question about the influence of muscle...
Research reveals critical role of evolutionary processes in species coexistence
A team of researchers, led by the University of Minnesota, addressing long-standing conflicts in ecology and evolutionary science, has provided key directions for the future of community ecology. The team...
Fast, Affordable Tool For Finding Gene 'On-off' Switches
Scientists have created a method of quickly identifying large numbers of the genetic material known as short hairpin RNA -- also called shRNA -- that turns genes on and off.
Survey finds slower decline of bee colonies
The decline of honeybee colonies has slowed slightly since last fall, but a mysterious combination of ailments is still decimating the insect's population, federal researchers say.
Small Evolutionary Shifts Make Big Impacts - Like Developing Night Vision
Minor differences in the timing of cell proliferation can explain the large differences found in the eyes of two species - owl monkeys and capuchin monkeys - that evolved from...
Proteomics: Finding the key ingredients of disease
The winner of the chilli cook-off, usually has a key secret ingredient, which is hard to identify. Similarly, many diseases have crucial proteins, which change the dynamics of cells from...
Special Protein Helps Maintain An Efficient Brain
The instruction manual for maintaining an efficient brain may soon include a section on synaptotagmin-IV (Syt-IV), a protein known to influence learning and memory, thanks to a new study.
UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News
Graphene functionalization is achieved ... Many diabetes drugs in development ... Study: Climate change affects polar bears ... Meningococcal bacteria mechanism is found ... Health/Science news from UPI.
Beetles drive groundbreaking conservation project
They are cursed the world over for contaminating food supplies and are a huge commercial pest, but the humble flour beetle is about to play a significant role in the...
Integrated microbial genomes expert review goes primetime
After a genome is sequenced and automatically annotated, researchers often manually review the predicted genes and their functions in order to improve accuracy and coverage across the vast genetic code...
New tool helps researchers identify DNA patterns of cancer, genetic disorders
A new tool will help researchers identify the minute changes in DNA patterns that lead to cancer, Huntington's disease and a host of other genetic disorders. The tool was developed...
Computer model predicts brain tumour growth and evolution
Researchers from Brown University and other institutions have developed a computational computer model of how brain tumours grow and evolve...
Cohesin jigsaw begins to fit
The essential chromosomal protein complex cohesin has crucial roles in sister chromatid cohesion, DNA repair and transcriptional regulation. Despite its conserved function, cohesin's disparate association patterns in different organisms did...
Identification Of Protein Domain Contributes To Safer Food
Researchers have identified the protein component responsible for regulating innate immunity in humans and animals. They furthermore discovered that comparable changes in this regulating mechanism lead to comparable disruptions in...
100 reasons to change the way we think about genetics
For years, genes have been considered the one and only way biological traits could be passed down through generations of organisms...
Research: Mockingbirds, no bird brains, can recognise a face in a crowd
The birds are watching. They know who you are. And they will attack. Nope, not Hitchcock. It's science...
AS SEEN ON EARTH: Tent City, Dog Guard, Elephant Photos
A landmine-sniffing dog waits, an elephant gets hosed, and Jews remember a deadly plague in these glimpses of life from around the globe.
Cambrian explosion changed ocean chemistry
Mud stirred up by sea-floor animals may have stoked global sulphate levels.
Fungi could be used to control Chagas disease
Argentinean scientists have shown that fungi can act as an insecticide to eliminate the vector of the parasite that causes Chagas disease.
Vital Statistics: 4 Feet and a Tail, and the Cause of Many Falls
Today alone about 235 people will wind up in an emergency room with an injury caused by a fall involving a cat or a dog.
Chemicals in Dragon’s Glands Stir Venom Debate
Proteins in a big lizard’s mouth affect the blood pressure of its prey.
Death by Human Error Trumps Technology Again
Human error causes far more damage and kills far more people than computer or technological failures.
Device continuously monitors cancer growth
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 18 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts Institute of Technology team says it has created the first implantable device that can continuously monitor cancer growth.
No clues in shark's death
The mysterious death of an eight-metre basking shark in New Brunswick has caught the eye of British researchers.
Broad scientists to sequence multiple myeloma samples
The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) announced today a collaboration with the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT to systematically uncover the molecular changes underlying multiple myeloma by whole-genome sequencing...
HIV Vaccine From Engineered Plants: Mice Form Antibodies Against HIV Protein
Researchers in Sweden have succeeded in changing the genes in plants so they can function as a vaccine against HIV. Through gene modification the plants have acquired the capacity to...
Scientists find rivers' patterns
Waterways will soon be easier to manage, thanks to the new finding that all of Australia's rivers follow 12 distinct patterns.