Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Fruit flies sick from mating
Mating can be exhausting. When fruit flies mate, the females' genes are activated to roughly the same extent as when an immune reaction starts. This is shown in a study...
Malaria parasite zeroes in on molecule to enhance its survival, team finds
A team of researchers from Princeton University and the Drexel University College of Medicine has found that the parasite that causes malaria breaks down an important amino acid in its...
Saving wheat crops worldwide
CSIRO Plant Industry scientists and international collaborators have discovered the key to overcoming three major cereal diseases, which in epidemic years cost wheat growers worldwide in excess of AUS$7.8 billion. In...
Shark Attacks Worldwide Dropped In 2008
Shark attacks dipped to the lowest level in five years in 2008, a change that might have happened because the ailing economy kept cash-strapped vacationers away from beaches, a leading...
Montreal scientists unlock mystery of early molecular mechanism
Two Montreal researchers have proposed a new theory for a question that has long vexed evolutionary biologists: How did a mechanism thought to help build life self-assemble?
How microscopic changes to brain cause schizophrenic behaviour in mice
The findings are being published in an Early Edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week. 'We found several microscopic pathologies and behavioural traits that...
Coffee cultivation good for diversity in agrarian settlements but not in forests
Coffee shrubs, both in themselves and because they are most often cultivated in the shade of large trees, can have a positive impact on plant and animal diversity in those...
Lake Michigan fish populations threatened by decline of tiny creature
The quick decline of a tiny shrimp-like species, known scientifically as Diporeia, is related to the aggressive population growth of non-native quagga mussels in the Great Lakes, say NOAA scientists....
Team learns how cellular protein detects viruses and sparks immune response
A study led by researchers at the University of Illinois reveals how a cellular protein recognises an invading virus and alerts the body to the infection...
Key Cellular Factor That Regulates Length Of Actin Filaments Identified
Researchers have raised the curtain on how actin maintains just the right filament length to keep the cell healthy and happily dividing.
Roles Of DNA Packaging Protein Revealed
Scientists have found that a class of chromatin proteins is crucial for maintaining the structure and function of chromosomes and the normal development of eukaryotic organisms.
PHOTO IN THE NEWS: Hairy-Tailed Rat Is New Species
Say howdy to the Hamiguitan hairy-tailed rat (above), the newest member of our mammalian family that is found only on a mountain in the Philippines.
Drug design facility to attract scientists to Halifax
A new health research facility in Halifax will help scientists to investigate how drugs and chemicals interact in the human body.
What do Biological Cells and Democracy Have in Common?
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at the New England Complex Systems Institute (NECSI) and Harvard University offer a groundbreaking new perspective on how genes determine and regulate the functional identity of a...
Radiation riddle remains even after scientist's lifetime research
A large tract of land not far from E. John Ainsworth's Pleasanton, Calif., home bears no evidence of the research on radiation health effects he led in the 1960s, at...
Value of Brain Exercises Questioned
Crossword puzzles, crafts and other stimulations decrease dementia but are they just markers of a healthy lifestyle?
Icebreaker could do more harm than good for trapped dolphins: biologist
While residents of a town on Newfoundland's northeast coast are calling for an icebreaker to free five trapped dolphins, a marine biologist warns such a move may make things worse.
Gene linked to anxious behavior in mice
Mice and men are different in many ways, of course, especially when it comes to the psychological. But new research linking a gene in mice to anxious behavior raises the...
Science, engineering programs advancing
Harvard President Drew Faust today renewed the University’s commitment to the vision of advancing interdisciplinary, collaborative science in general, and the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology (SCRB), the...
Feds: Calif. returning chinook salmon a record low
(AP) -- A record-low number of chinook salmon returned to rivers in California's Central Valley last year, indicating that severe restrictions on salmon fishing are likely again this year,...
Soybean product fights abnormal protein involved in Alzheimer's disease
A vegan food renowned in Asia for its ability to protect against heart attacks also shows a powerful ability in lab experiments to prevent formation of the clumps of tangled...
Special issue of BMC Microbiology spotlights standardised language for describing microbes
A special issue of BMC Microbiology highlights some of the recent achievements of scientists developing a universal language to describe the genes involved in the complex interplay between microbes and...
Diverse 'Connectomes' Hint At Genes' Limits In Nervous System
Genetics may play a surprisingly small role in determining the precise wiring of the mammalian nervous system, according to painstaking mapping of every neuron projecting to a small muscle mice...
Self-regulating Molecular 'Transformers' Control Intracellular Protein Delivery
Scientists have uncovered the Transformer-like properties of molecules responsible for carrying and depositing proteins to their correct locations within cells. The research could eventually lead to novel treatments for diseases...
Plants Take A Hike As Temperatures Rise
Plants are flowering at higher elevations along trails in Arizona's Santa Catalina Mountains, according to new research. Individual plant species respond differently to a warming climate. An analysis of 20...
Newly Discovered Gene Could Be A Prime Target In The Most Lethal Brain Cancer
Scientists have discovered mutations in two genes that could become therapeutic targets in malignant glioma, a dangerous class of brain tumors.
Engineered bacterium churns out two new key antibiotics
(PhysOrg.com) -- In recent years, scientists have isolated two potent natural antibiotics — platensimycin and platencin — that are highly effective against bacterial infection, including those caused by the most...
PHOTO IN THE NEWS: "Extinct" Bird Seen --Then Eaten
A rare quail from the Philippines was photographed for the first time before being sold at a poultry market, experts say.