Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Drug Used To Treat Skin Conditions Is A Marine Pollutant
Clotrimazole is a common ingredient in over-the-counter skin creams. Recent results from research in Sweden now show that it is associated with major environmental risks. "The pharmaceuticals and chemicals in...
Hair Structures Of Blind Cavefish Inspire New Generation Of Sensors
The fish species Astyanax fasciatus cannot see, but their unique technique for sensing their environment and the movement of water around them with gel-covered hairs that extend from their bodies...
DNA Duplication: A Mechanism For 'Survival Of The Fittest'
Scientists have discovered that DNA duplications have given plants an evolutionary advantage. This mechanism enabled plants -- in contrast to the dinosaurs -- to survive the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction of...
Wild Bees Can Be Effective Pollinators
A three-year study of 15 southwestern Michigan blueberry farms found 112 wild bee species which were active during the blueberry blooming period. Many of these species visit more flowers per...
Social Isolation Makes Strokes More Deadly, Study Finds
New research in mice suggests that social isolation may promote more damaging inflammation in the brain during a stroke. Researchers found that all the male mice that lived with a...
Mutated gene in zebrafish sheds light on blindness in humans
Among zebrafish, the eyes have it. Inside them is a mosaic of light-sensitive cells whose structure and functions are nearly identical to those of humans. There, biologists at The Florida...
Bushfires protect rare snake
Controlled bushfires may keep woodland from destroying the habitat of Australia's most endangered snake, research has found.
To Fight Drug Addiction, Researchers Target The Brain With Nanoparticles
A precise, new nanotechnology treatment for drug addiction may be on the horizon. Scientists have developed a stable nanoparticle that delivers short RNA molecules in the brain to "silence" or...
Auditory Regions Of Brain Convert To Sense Of Touch, Hearing Loss Study Finds
Researchers have discovered that adult animals with hearing loss actually re-route the sense of touch into the hearing parts of the brain.
Evolution Of Fins And Limbs Linked With That Of Gills
The genetic toolkit animals use to build fins and limbs is the same one that controls the development of part of the gill skeleton in sharks. Also, the skeleton of...
What does an Egyptian pharaoh smell like?
She may have ruled like a man, but Egyptian queen Hatshepsut still preferred to smell like a lady.
Genetic changes outside nuclear DNA suspected to trigger more than half of all cancers
A buildup of chemical bonds on certain cancer-promoting genes, a process known as hypermethylation, is widely known to render cells cancerous by disrupting biological brakes on runaway growth. Now,...
Whales Trucked to Safety
After beaching themselves in Australia, a group of pilot whales were saved and trucked to deeper waters. Video.
Genomic variations in African-American and white populations
Deletions, duplications or rearrangements of genomic regions in the human genomes produce differences in gene copy numbers, referred to as copy number variations (CNV). Those variations account for a substantial...
Fresh pot of tea strikes anti-cancer gold
Researchers might one day brew up a cancer treatment in their afternoon cuppa, says a study in a Royal Society of Chemistry journal...
Most detailed malaria map ever highlights hope and challenges facing global community
The most detailed map ever created of malaria risk worldwide is published today by an international team of researchers funded by the Wellcome Trust. The Malaria Atlas Project (MAP) will...
Coenzyme rare to bacteria critical to Mycobacterium tuberculosis survival
Coenzyme F420, a small molecule that helps certain enzymes transfer electrons, is found in microorganisms known as methane-producing archaea, some of which thrive in extreme environments. It also helps the...
Gene Decides Whether Coral Relative Will Fuse Or Fight
When coral colonies meet one another on the reef, they have two options: merge into a single colony or reject each other and aggressively compete for space. Marine scientists have...
In Horse Play, Adult-to-young Ratio Is Key
Adults of many animal species play a crucial role in the social development of youngsters. A new study reveals that the ratio of adults to young plays a much more...
Predicting mosquito outbreaks for disease control
University of Adelaide researchers have shown they can predict the biggest population peaks of disease-carrying mosquitoes up to two months ahead.
Diabetics on high-fiber diets might need extra calcium
The amount of calcium your body absorbs might depend, in part, on the amount of dietary fiber you consume.
Portuguese wave-power snake dead in the water
Opened in September as a world "first" in producing electricity from waves, a pioneering installation here is dead in the water having functioned for only a few weeks in a...
First auto carbohydrate synthesiser
Scientists have unveiled the first fully automated carbohydrate synthesiser, hoped to speed vaccine development
Human Genes Required For Hepatitis C Viral Replication Identified
Researchers are investigating a new way to block reproduction of the hepatitis C virus -- targeting not the virus itself but the human genes the virus exploits in its life...
New research reveals the earliest evidence for corn in the New World
Among the hundreds of plants that have been domesticated in the New World, none has received as much attention or been subject to as much debate as corn, or maize...
Fighting fungal weapons, not fungi
Selective compounds engineered to battle crop disease, not harm beneficial species
Oozing Through Texas Soil, a Team of Amoebas Billions Strong
A field of genetically identical amoebas in Texas raises the possibility that cells might organize on much larger scales than once thought.
Researchers find 4,000-year-old coral species
Deep-sea corals are the oldest living animals with a skeleton in the seas, claims new research that found a 4,265-year-old coral species off the coast of Hawaii.