Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Designer Wine? Characterization Of Grapevine Transposons May Aid Development Of New Grape Varieties
A new study presents a genome-wide characterization of grapevine transposons. This work shows that transposons have captured and amplified gene sequences in grapevines, which could have had an impact on...
Massive Cancer Gene Search Finds Potential New Targets In Brain Tumors
An array of broken, missing and overactive genes have been identified in a genetic survey of glioblastoma, the most common and deadly form of adult brain cancer, report scientists. The...
Honest Lovers? Fallow Buck Groans Reveal Their Status And Size During The Rut
Researchers have show for the first time that sexually selected vocalizations can signal social dominance in mammals other than primates, and reveal that the independent acoustic components -- fundamental frequency...
Arteries From Distinct Regions Of The Body Have Unique Immune Functions
Arteries play an active role in the immune system by sensing infection and injury. They collect information about invaders through dendritic cells embedded in their walls. Arteries supplying blood to...
Chandelier Cells Unveil Human Cognition
What is it that distinguishes humans from other mammals? The answer to this question lies in the neocortex -- the part of the brain responsible for sensory perceptions, conscious thought...
Science could aid dog breeding
Research suggests that genetics could be used to predict and breed for certain dog behaviour – such as being able to cope with high density living.
Caught in a trap: bumblebees vs. robotic crab spiders
Bumblebees learn to avoid camouflaged predators by sacrificing foraging speed for predator detection, according to scientists from Queen Mary, University of London.
Previous Claims Of SiRNA Therapeutic Effects Called Into Question By Report In Human Gene Therapy
The many recent reports documenting the therapeutic efficacy of short interfering RNAs in animal models of human disease may actually be describing non-specific therapeutic effects related to the ability of...
New Stem Cell Tools To Aid Drug Development
Scientists have designed, developed and tested new molecular tools for stem cell research to direct the formation of certain tissue types for use in drug development programs.
Innate Immune System Targets Asthma-linked Fungus For Destruction
A new study shows that the innate immune system of humans is capable of killing a fungus linked to airway inflammation, chronic rhinosinusitis and bronchial asthma. Researchers have revealed that...
Brain protein holds key to fertility
WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists have discovered the crucial ovulation-triggering role played by a small protein molecule in the brain, a finding that could hold the key to new therapies for...
Clones' offspring may be in food supply: FDA
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Food and milk from the offspring of cloned animals may have entered the U.S. food supply, the U.S. government said on Tuesday, but it would be impossible...
A kiss(peptin) controls fertility
In a world first researchers have found out that the brain controls a woman's fertility with the help of an appropriately named molecule, kisspeptin.
Three proteins linked with schizophrenia
BALTIMORE, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- U.S. and Japanese researchers report the discovery of genetic links among three unrelated proteins associated with the development of schizophrenia.
Hearing Restoration May Be Possible With Cochlear Repair After Transplant Of Human Cord Blood Cells
Hearing loss due to cochlear damage may be repaired by transplanting human umbilical cord hematopoietic stem cells. This study, using animal models of chemical and auditory cochlear damage, found that...
Ocean studied using 'artificial upwelling'
CORVALLIS, Ore., Sept. 3 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists are using what they call artificial upwelling to determine how marine microbial ecosystems respond to large-scale perturbations.
Freshwater biological invasions increasing
BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 3 (UPI) -- A U.S. study suggests the growing number of dams and other freshwater impoundments are increasing the number of invasive species invading the...
Canada recalls Obsessions-brand mushrooms
OTTAWA, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is advising people not to consume Fresh Obsessions-brand sliced white mushrooms due to possible bacterial contamination.
Ecologists Search For Invasive Ladybird’s Weak Spot
Ecologists have discovered that – as well as being larger, hungrier and more aggressive than most British native ladybirds - the invasive alien harlequin ladybird is also more resistant to...
Virus weaves itself into the DNA transferred from parents to babies
Parents expect to pass on their eye or hair color, their knobby knees or their big feet to their children through their genes. But they don't expect to pass on...
What a sleep study can reveal about fibromyalgia
Research engineers and sleep medicine specialists from two Michigan universities have joined technical and clinical hands to put innovative quantitative analysis, signal-processing technology and computer algorithms to work in the...
C. Erec Stebbins Awarded Prestigious EUREKA Grant
C. Erec Stebbins has been awarded an inaugural EUREKA grant from the National Institutes of Health for a project aimed at exploiting a bacteria-based "nanosyringe" as a means of delivering...
Fancy Footwork Helps Flies Cheat Death
High-speed videos reveal surprising sophistication in insect's escape response
Monitoring Immune Responses In Disease
A new method enables the detection of multiple parameters of single human cells. A new report demonstrates the characterization of specific blood cells from an individual with type 1 diabetes,...
Unhappily married? His genes may be to blame
The same gene that affects a rodent’s ability to mate for life may affect human marriages, Swedish and U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.
The highlight of the museum's £78m expansion
Due to open next year, the new structure promises to bring the collections, scientists and the public together
Using networks to map the social lives of animals
Dr Dick James from the University's Department of Physics has released a practical guide for biologists explaining how social network analysis, a method used widely in the social sciences to...
'Armored' Fish Study Helps Strengthen Darwin's Natural Selection Theory
Shedding some genetically induced excess baggage may have helped a tiny fish thrive in freshwater and outsize its marine ancestors, according to a new study in Science.