Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Study: Cocaine keeps pleasure center 'on'
WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Chronic cocaine addiction keeps a brain enzyme from shutting off pleasure-circuit genes, thus making the addiction worse, U.S. researchers said Thursday.
New and improved RNA interference
Ever since RNA interference was discovered, in 1998, scientists have been pursuing the tantalizing ability to shut off any gene in the body — in particular, malfunctioning genes that cause diseases such as...
How ubiquitin chains are added to cell-cycle proteins: May lead to targeted cancer therapies
Researchers have been able to view in detail, and for the first time, the previously mysterious process by which long chains of a protein called ubiquitin are added by enzymes...
Brooding fishes take up nutrients from their own children
In the pipefish, the male cares for the offspring. Apart from the ones he sucks the life out of. Researchers have just discovery filial cannibalism in the pipefish.
Scientists say dolphins should be treated as 'non-human persons'
Dolphins have been declared the world’s second most intelligent creatures after humans, with scientists suggesting they are so bright that they should be treated as “non-human persons”.
Doesn't this make sense for all restaurants?
Seems a simple enough thing to incorporate, no? Calories right on the receipt. http://i.imgur.com/kXBQS.jpg
Lobster-Like Creature Eats Wood
A crustacean exploits an unexpected food source at the bottom of the sea.
Freeze leads to wildfowl hunt ban
A temporary ban on the shooting of some species of wildfowl is announced by the government due to freezing conditions.
Bees track foraging cost
In a recent study, foraging bees were able to consider time and distance separately, and report both elements using dance.
Fin Whales, Once Rare, Crowd Calif. Coast
Population Explosion of Tiny Fish Might Explain Rising Numbers of Whale Sightings Off Southern Calif.
Molecular anchor links the two inheritable diseases Fanconi anemia and Bloom's syndrome
A new study establishes a molecular link that bridges two rare inherited disorders and explains why these diseases result in genetic instability. The research may lead to a better understanding...
Scientists identify DNA that regulates antibody production
Performance enhancers are the currency of a competitive society. But there's one that we have always had: For millions of years, segments of our DNA have improved the performance of...
Two proteins act as molecular tailors in DNA repair
Every day tiny segments of our DNA are chipped or fragmented or get stuck together when they should really be pulled apart. But what our genome necessarily lacks in stability...
Evolution caught in the act: Scientists measure how quickly genomes change
Mutations are the raw material of evolution. Scientists have now been able to measure for the first time directly the speed with which new mutations occur in plants. Their findings...
New species of fox found in California
SACRAMENTO, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- A subspecies of red fox living in California's Sacramento Valley -- long believed to be a non-native pest -- is in fact native to...
Mathematics And The Three Leopard Cubs
Some years ago, I was watching a wildlife TV programme, where a mother leopard was leading her three cubs, and they encountered a bank. Two of the cubs jumped it...
Bacterial protein mimics its host to disable a key enzyme
Helicobacter pylori infects up to 90 percent of people in the developing world and causes gastric ulcers and cancers of the gut. Now scientists have revealed a subterfuge used by...
Elusive protein points to mechanism behind hearing loss
A serendipitous discovery of deaf zebra fish larvae has helped narrow down the function of an elusive protein necessary for hearing and balance. The work suggests that hearing loss may...
Imaging study shows HIV particles assembling around genome of infected cell
HIV is a wily and lethal replicator. In less than 25 years, it's killed more than 25 million people. Scientists are exploring exactly how this virus reproduces because they would...
Got a pet tarantula? Better protect your eyes
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Here's some advice stemming from the unusual case of a man who had spider hairs stuck in his cornea: Be sure to cover your eyes when hanging...
Neuroscientists at Case Western Reserve University store information in isolated brain tissue
Ben W. Strowbridge, PhD, associate professor of neuroscience and physiology/biophysics, and Phillip Larimer, PhD, a MD/PhD student in the neurosciences graduate program at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine,...
Johns Hopkins scientists discover a controller of brain circuitry
By combining a research technique that dates back 136 years with modern molecular genetics, a Johns Hopkins neuroscientist has been able to see how a mammal's brain shrewdly revisits and...
Molecular chaperone keeps bacterial proteins from slow-dancing to destruction
Just like teenagers at a prom, proteins are tended by chaperones whose job it is to prevent unwanted interactions among immature clients. And at the molecular level, just as at...
Rice scientists divide and conquer
Half a protein is better than none, and in this case, it's way better than a whole one. A Rice University lab has discovered that dividing a particular fluorescent protein...
Common mechanism underlies many diseases of excitability
Inherited mutations in voltage-gated sodium channels (Navs) are associated with many different human diseases, including genetic forms of epilepsy and chronic pain. Theodore Cummins and colleagues, at Indiana University School...
New molecule identified in DNA damage response
In the harsh judgment of natural selection, the ultimate measure of success is reproduction. So it's no surprise that life spends lavish resources on this feat, whether in the courtship...
One of world's oldest giraffes dies at US zoo
The Birmingham Zoo says one of the oldest giraffes in the world has died at age 24. Zoo - Giraffe - Institutions - Zoos and Aquariums...
Got a pet tarantula? Better protect your eyes
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Here's some advice stemming from the unusual case of a man who had spider hairs stuck in his cornea: Be sure to cover your eyes when hanging...