Latest science news in Biology & Nature
When Bears Steal Human Food, Mom's Not To Blame
Researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society found that the black bears that become habituated to human food and garbage may not be learning these behaviors exclusively from their mothers, as...
Flame retardant found in falcon eggs
SAN FRANCISCO, May 8 (UPI) -- California researchers said high levels of flame retardant have been found in the eggs of peregrine falcons living in urban areas.
Cell's 'Power Plant' Genes Raise Vision Disorder Risk
Genetic variation in the DNA of mitochondria -- the "power plants" of cells -- contributes to a person's risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, investigators report. The study is the...
Screw Worm Outbreak In Yemen
An outbreak of the insidious "screw worm" fly in Yemen, is threatening livelihoods, in a country where rearing livestock is a traditional way of life. The menacing fly lays its...
Humans And Fruit Flies Have Same Insulin-regulated Molecular Pathway To Maintain Energy Balance When Starved
Humans and fruitflies -- those pesky little buggers that are irresistibly attracted to overripe fruit -- share more than a sweet tooth. Both rely on the same insulin-regulated molecular pathway...
Blocking brain enzyme helped mice stay slim
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Blocking a single brain enzyme helped short-circuit a key hunger signal in mice and made them eat less, lose weight and have better blood sugar control, U.S....
Gut Hormone Makes Food Look Even Yummier
A gut hormone that causes people to eat more does so by making food appear more desirable, suggests a new report in Cell Metabolism. In a brain imaging study of...
Saving frogs before it's too late
With nearly one-third of amphibian species threatened with extinction worldwide, fueled in part by the widespread emergence of the deadly chytrid fungus, effective conservation efforts could not be more urgent....
Fat transplantation can have metabolic benefits
When transplanted deep into the abdomen, fat taken from just under the skin comes with metabolic benefits, or at least it does in mice, reveals a new study in the...
Ecologists tease out private lives of plants and their pollinators
The quality of pollen a plant produces is closely tied to its sexual habits, ecologists have discovered. As well as helping explain the evolution of such intimate relationships between plants...
Mouse can do without man's most treasured genes
The mouse is a stalwart stand-in for humans in medical research, thanks to genomes that are 85 percent identical. But identical genes may behave differently in mouse and man, a...
Test of maturity for stem cells
Stem cells are extremely versatile: They can develop in 220 different ways, transforming themselves into a correspondingly diverse range of specialized body cells. Biologists and medical scientists plan to make...
Unraveling the Genomic Code for Development
Scientists at the California Institute of Technology have produced the first complete description of the complex network of genes that create a particular type of cell in an organism.
Foreign water fleas trouble in Canada
KINGSTON, Ontario, May 6 (UPI) -- Freshwater fishermen in Ontario are being asked to help stop the spread of a non-native water flea by a Queen's University biologist...
Studies yield malaria target proteins
Separate research teams have discovered proteins that could aid the development of antimalarial techniques.
Genome Sequence Of Fungus Reveals Unsuspected Ability To Use Complex Carbon Sources
The model fungus Podospora anserina has undergone substantial evolution since its separation from Neurospora crassa, as revealed from the Podospora draft genome sequence published in Genome Biology. The study also...
Understanding Plants' Coping Skills May Yield Tougher Plant Varieties
It's a familiar notion that an individual might interpret and respond to stressful events in a unique way based on previous experience and genetic predispositions. A new study by researchers...
Seaweed May Create Cloudy Coasts
Scientists at The University of Manchester have helped to identify that the presence of large amounts of seaweed in coastal areas can influence the climate. read more
Electric Signals Could Ward Off Sharks
Scientists hope to reduce shark bycatch by repelling sharks with electric fields.
Study: Insects first to feel warming
WASHINGTON, May 5 (UPI) -- Tropical insects will likely be the first types of animals to suffer extinction because of rising global temperatures, U.S. researchers say.
Geneticist Guiseppe Attardi dead at 84
PASADENA, Calif., May 5 (UPI) -- Giuseppe Attardi, a pioneering geneticist who identified all the genes of the DNA in mitochondria, died April 5 at his home in...
Spiraling Nanotrees Offer New Twist On Growth Of Nanowires
When a chemistry professor and his graduate student accidentally made some nanowire pine tree shapes one day -- complete with tall trunks and branches that tapered in length as they...
Fungus Could Be a Fix for Uranium Pollution
Common soil organism holds the metal in place, keeping it from spreading
WTO gives Japan until September to change chip import rules
(AP) -- The World Trade Organization is giving Japan until Sept. 1 to change its punitive charges on imports of South Korean computer memory chips.
The Pregnant Male
The seahorse is a strange fish. Many of the traits it possesses have evolved in a direction unlike any other family of animals underwater—its bent S-shape; its head at a...
Video: Bear Bones Approach to Osteoporosis
The bear fact is that hibernating ursines don't lose bone mass even though they're inactive for months. Could human bones be taught this trick?
Are There Missing Pieces to the Human Genome Project? [News]
If you ask the scientists at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) when the Human Genome Project wrapped up, they'll tell you it was finished in 2003. However, a...
Still Seeking a Cause of Colony Collapse Disorder
Through the winter of 2007-08, beekeepers reported a total loss of about 36.1 percent of their honey bee colonies, up about 13.5 percent from the previous winter. Losses attributed to...