Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Researchers Unveil Near-complete Protein Catalog For Mitochondria
Researchers have created the most comprehensive "parts list" to date for mitochondria, a compendium that includes nearly 1,100 proteins. By mining this critical resource, the researchers have already gained deep...
RNA Emerges From DNA's Shadow
RNA, the transporter of genetic information within the cell, has emerged from the shadow of DNA to become one of the hottest research areas of molecular biology, with implications for...
Not The Protein, But Its Location In The Cell, Determines The Onset Of Leukemia
Scientists are still searching for the cause of many forms of Leukemia, including T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Researchers have now discovered that the carcinogenic property of the fusion protein NUP214-ABL1...
Genes That Control Embryonic Stem Cell Fate Identified
Scientists have identified about two dozen genes that control embryonic stem cell fate. The genes may either prod or restrain stem cells from drifting into a kind of limbo, they...
Mechanism That Explains How Cancer Enzyme Winds Up On Ends Of Chromosomes Found
Researchers have shown a mechanism that explains how two essential components of human telomerase -- normally active only in early prenatal development but turned back on during cancer growth --...
Purified Stem Cells Restore Muscle In Mice With Muscular Dystrophy
Researchers have demonstrated for the first time that transplanted muscle stem cells can both improve muscle function in animals with a form of muscular dystrophy and replenish the stem cell...
Unsuspected Gene Mutation Found For Atrial Fibrillation
Researchers have found a gene mutation linked to one family's hereditary form of atrial fibrillation. The study was based on a large family with an inherited form of atrial fibrillation...
Learning Suffers If Brain Transcript Isn't Transported Far Out To End Of Neurons
Neuroscientists have solved a mystery that lies at the heart of human learning, and they say the solution may help explain some forms of mental retardation as well as provide...
Detecting Early Forms Of Cancer By Analyzing Structure of Specific Sugar Molecules
Scientists have developed a system which can pinpoint potential "biomarkers" of early forms of cancer, by looking at structures of specific sugar molecules which are attached either to proteins of...
Middle Eastern families yield intriguing clues to autism
Research involving large Middle Eastern families, sophisticated genetic analysis and groundbreaking neuroscience has implicated a half-dozen new genes in autism. read more
Enzyme key to 'sister act' that maintains genome stability
Keeping the genome stable is a "sister act" of matched chromatids – the pairs of the double helix DNA molecule that exist during the chromosome duplication in the S phase...
DNA sewing machine
Japanese scientists have made a micro-sized sewing machine to sew long threads of DNA into shape. The work published in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Lab on a Chip...
Common Mechanisms May Underlie Autism's Seemingly Diverse Mutations
Many of the seemingly disparate mutations recently discovered in autism may share common underlying mechanisms. The mutations may disrupt specific genes that are vital to the developing brain, and which...
Vest To Measure Stress
How stressed are we? A sensor vest will soon be able to tell us. From sports training to computer games, the garment registers the electrical excitation of the muscles at...
DNA In JonBenet Case Left Behind In Skin Cells
Crime scene DNA is typically recovered from blood or semen stains, but the DNA that exonerated members of JonBenet Ramsey's family came from invisible skin cells.
Scientists use genomic tools to create maps of DNA methylation
(PhysOrg.com) -- Much of the field of stem cell biology and development remains uncharted territory. Just as famous explorers and astronomers mapped out landmasses and constellations, researchers are working fervently...
Researchers catch ion channels in their opening act
Each thought or action sends a million electrical signals pulsing through your body. At the heart of the process of generating these electrical impulses is the ion channel.
Conservation areas 'attracting human settlement'
Protected conservation areas attract human settlement rather than drive people away, which could threaten biodiversity, finds a study.
Researchers Hack Final Part Of The Immune System Code
Researchers have managed to decipher the final part of the immune system's key codes. The human body has its own natural inbuilt defense mechanism which uses access or “pincodes” to...
Scientists generate the most precise map of genetic recombination ever
Genetic recombination, the process by which sexually reproducing organisms shuffle their genetic material when producing germ cells, leads to offspring with a new genetic make-up and influences the course of...
Birds set lifespan records
DOUGLAS, Isle of Man, July 10 (UPI) -- A 41-year-old razorbill is among a record number of tough old birds found living longer than scientists thought, a British...
Competition favours big only child
Researchers have developed a model that predicts which size offspring will be favoured by evolution, and explains why humans favour one large child over many small ones.
Touching research: To improve robots, researcher eyes jellyfish
(PhysOrg.com) -- Biology professor Joseph Ayers is expanding his research on animals` nervous systems that produced the RoboLobster and RoboLamprey to include a study on tactile sensory perception in jellyfish...
Feds: Grazing doesn't fit Ore. national monument
(AP) -- Federal rangeland managers said continuing to allow cattle to graze on the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument is harming the rare plants, fish and wildlife the monument was created...
Jumping mouse leaps off endangered list
LAKEWOOD, Colo., July 10 (UPI) -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it removed Preble's meadow jumping mouse from the endangered species list for Wyoming.
In Wake of Gorilla Murders, Isolated Group Offers Hope
Rare mountain gorillas in Africa's Virunga region face a constant stream of human threats, but their cousins just a few miles north are relatively safe, as long as they don't...
Female Frogs Have Selective Hearing
Túngaras tune out the mating calls of males from other species
Can Snakes Smell Anything?
Most snakes have an excellent sense of smell, in part to make up for their poor eyesight and limited hearing.