Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Parkinson's mystery unravelled
After linking different causes of Parkinson's, scientists are a step closer to identifying the single pathway that leads to the disease.
Newly Discovered Gene Plays Vital Role In Cancer
Gene p53 protects against cancer and is usually described as the most important gene in cancer research. However, scientists have now shown that a previously unknown gene, Wrap53, controls the...
Mystery Of Deep-sea Fish With Tubular Eyes And Transparent Head Solved
Marine biologists recently solved the half-century-old mystery of a fish with tubular eyes and a transparent head. This fish's unusual eyes can rotate within a transparent shield that covers the...
UCLA stem cells scientists make electrically active motor neurons from iPS cells
Stem cells scientists at UCLA showed for the first time that human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells can be differentiated into electrically active motor neurons, a discovery that may aid...
In the Palace of the Naked Mole-Rat
Naked Mole-Rats are ugly, but also very interesting mammals. Now scientists want to find out, if the males influence the distribution of male and female progeny.
Protected dingoes stay put
A study of dingoes in a conservation area found that they stayed within their habitat, except when finding a mate, and did not threaten livestock.
Ocean becoming more acidic, potentially threatening marine life
A dramatic increase in carbon dioxide levels is making the world's ocean more acidic, which may adversely affect the survival of marine life and organisms that depend on them, such...
Stable Thanks to Dynamics - DNA Component Resists UV Radiation
(PhysOrg.com) -- Complex computer simulations have, for the first time, allowed scientists to examine in detail the processes that help to ensure the stability of DNA when exposed to UV...
Researchers develop 'wireless' activation of brain circuits
Traditionally, stimulating nerves or brain tissue involves cumbersome wiring and a sharp metal electrode. But a team of researchers at Case Western Reserve University is going "wireless."
Relationships in rank and file
Since the sequencing of the human genome eight years ago, enormous progress has been made in analyzing and understanding it. Nevertheless, the function of most human genes is still barely...
New light shed on marine luminescence
The phenomenon of light emission by living organisms, bioluminescence, is quite common, especially in marine species. It is known that light is generated by chemical reactions in which oxygen molecules...
Scientists quantify El Niño's effect on malaria
Scientists have quantified the link between El Niño and malaria rates in Colombia, and say seasonal malaria forecasts are a possibility.
New Questions About Evolution Of Hormones In Mammals
The recent developments of noninvasive techniques such as tracking mammals to gather feces, and sensitive assays for fecal hormone metabolites, have allowed the formulation of a more complete picture of...
Key To Regenerative Therapies? Process For Expansion And Division Of Heart Cells Identified
Researchers have unraveled a complex signaling process that reveals how different types of cells interact to create a heart.
Tree Lizard’s Quick Release Escape System Makes Jumpers Turn Somersaults
Lizards have the ultimate quick release escape system. When in a predator's grips, they drop their tails to escape. But what price do tree dwelling lizards pay for freedom? Biologists...
Genetic epidemiologist named visiting professor
Laurent Abel, a geneticist interested in infectious diseases, has been appointed a visiting professor and member of Jean-Laurent Casanova’s Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Disease at Rockefeller University.
Lecture to ask 'Is human evolution over?'
Steve Jones, Professor of Genetics and Head of the Biology Department at University College London, will give this year's Darwin Annual Lecture at the University of Kent...
Fruit Flies Soar As Lab Model, Drug Screen For The Deadliest Of Human Brain Cancers
Fruit flies and humans share most of their genes, including 70 percent of all known human disease genes. Taking advantage of this remarkable evolutionary conservation, researchers transformed the fruit fly...
Reduction in parasite infections ahead for India
Experts from Queen's University Belfast are in India today (Monday) to advise the country on how it can reduce parasitic infections which destroy plants and animals...
Box turtles face knockout as Indonesian traders flagrantly ignore quota
Unregulated trade - at 10 to 100 times legal levels - has caused Southeast Asian Box Turtles almost to vanish from parts of Indonesia where they were once common, according...
Lifeline for endangered albatross
A new scheme pioneered in South Africa could provide hope for seabirds threatened with extinction due to fishing.
Elephant fans tune in to Belgian on-line birthing
Thousands of elephant fans have registered on an on-line site promising live footage of the first birth of an elephant in Belgium.
Human stem cells provide a new model for Lou Gehrig's disease
February 23, 2009, Cambridge, UK ? Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a devastating condition in which motor neuron degeneration causes progressive loss of movement...
Controlling cucumber beetles organically
As the popularity of organic produce increases with consumers, growers need more options to manage pests naturally.
An inexhaustible source of neural cells
Research scientists in Bonn have succeeded in deriving so-called brain stem cells from human embryonic stem cells. These can not only be conserved almost indefinitely in culture, but can also...
Tuning in on cellular communication in the fruit fly
In their ongoing study of the processes involved in embryonic development in fruit flies, researchers at WPI's Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center at Gateway Park have identified the function of...
Specific Protein Is Crucial To Reproduction Of Parasites Involved In Toxoplasmosis Disease
Scientists have discovered a protein in T. gondii that is essential for the parasite's growth. The group's work points the way toward a new model system that can be used...
Some of your body's cells have a 'license to kill'
Millions of "natural killer cells" -- nature's first line of defense against cancer, viruses and other infectious microbes --- are on constant patrol inside your body.