Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Fireflies' Glow Helps Researchers Track Cancer Drug's Effectiveness
The gene that allows fireflies to flash is helping researchers track the effectiveness of anti-cancer drugs over time. The technique requires a substrate called luciferin to be added to the...
Enzyme Helps Males Make Up For Their X Chromosome Shortage
Researchers have revealed new insights into how sex chromosomes are regulated. A chromatin modifying enzyme helps compensate for the fact that males have only one copy of the sex chromosome...
First 'Molecular Snapshot' Of A Virulence Factor On Bacterial Surface
Scientists have captured a view of proteins during translocation across the bacterial outer membrane, for the first time. This "molecular snapshot" may enlighten scientists to the process of protein secretion...
Invasion Strategy Of World's Largest Virus Revealed
A new study provides important new insights into the process of viral infection. The study reveals certain mechanisms by which mimivirus -- a virus so called because it was originally...
Fruits, Vegetables And Teas May Protect Smokers From Lung Cancer, Researchers Report
Tobacco smokers who eat three servings of fruits and vegetables per day and drink green or black tea may be protecting themselves from lung cancer, according to a first-of-its-kind study...
National Briefing | Science: Genome Chief to Step Down
Francis S. Collins, who has led the National Human Genome Research Institute since 1993, will step down on Aug. 1.
Fruit fly helps identify protein critical to eggshell formation that may be pesticide target
The common fruit fly circling your week-old peach has helped scientists zero in on a protein critical to the insect's eggshell formation.
How defects in 1 gene cause 3 distinct and devastating human diseases
By studying heat-loving microbes, two research teams have gained new insight into how seemingly small differences in a single protein involved in DNA transcription and repair can lead to strikingly...
Off the Cob-brand kernel corn is recalled
WASHINGTON, May 29 (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the voluntarily recall of 87 cases of Off the Cob-brand corn due to possible contamination.
VIDEO: Rare Rhino Footage Captured
A rare video of an endangered Java rhinoceros was shot by a jungle camera trap set up by the WWF to study the creature's habits.
Ecstasy deaths linked to raised body temperature
A University of Adelaide study has revealed that effects of the drug ecstasy are compounded when taken in warm environments.
The structure of XPD sheds light on cancer and aging
The protein XPD is one component of an essential repair mechanism that maintains the integrity of DNA. XPD is unique, however, in that pinpoint mutations of this single protein are...
Researchers identify genetic markers that predict efficacy of novel cancer drug
Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) and USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified genetic markers in cancer cells that predicted the benefit of a novel cancer drug prior...
Relaxation exercises sharpens shooting in biathlon
Biathletes who have learned to apply a relaxation technique can improve their results in the rifle-shooting range. This is shown in a study carried out at the Swedish Winter Sports...
New Insights Into Cellular Reprogramming Revealed By Genomic Analysis
Recent research has shown that adult mouse and human cells can be transformed, or "reprogrammed" into a primitive, stem-cell state, but the process is inefficient and poorly understood. Now, thanks...
Bug sucks zoo animal blood
A bloodsucking insect is being used to collect blood samples from animals at zoos under a pilot project, London Zoo says.
Conservation group petitions to protect ice seals
(AP) -- Fresh off a successful campaign to list polar bears as a threatened species, a conservation group is asking for similar protection for the bears' main prey.
Fish Scales From Norway Show Ocean Fate of Atlantic Salmon
Sports fishermen from the Drammen River in Norway have been saving the scales of Atlantic salmon as they return from the ocean to spawn. Analyzing growth rings on the scales,...
Mice Mothers Devote Energies To Offspring When Life Is Threatened
Sick female deer mice devote their energy to producing healthier offspring. Deer mice offspring of infected mothers were bigger, meaning they are more likely to survive and reproduce. This finding...
Marine microbiology: Origins of Death
Programmed cell death is usually seen as the unique prerogative of plants and animals. So how is it that photosynthetic plankton have been killing themselves by uncannily similar methods for...
A Great Lakes mystery: The case of the disappearing species
Throughout the overlooked depths of Lake Michigan and other Great Lakes, a small but important animal is rapidly disappearing. Until recently, the animal - a shrimplike, energy-dense creature called Diporeia...
Statistical tool could explain gene study variations
While scientists are using the human genome to associate certain genes with disease, Dr. Hongyan Xu wants to ensure they are accounting for natural variations in those genes.
Intestinal bacteria promote -- and prevent! -- inflammatory bowel disease
Scientists search for drug candidates in some very unlikely places. Not only do they churn out synthetic compounds in industrial-scale laboratories, but they also scour coral reefs and scrape tree...
Fruit fly protein acts as decoy to capture tumor growth factors
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have shown how Argos, a fruit fly protein, acts as a 'decoy' receptor, binding growth factors that promote the progression of...
New MRI technique could catch cancer early: study
LONDON (Reuters) - A new imaging technique that relies on naturally occurring baking soda in the body could help pinpoint cancer earlier and quickly gauge if drugs to kill tumors...
North Pacific humpback whales rebounding
WASHINGTON, May 28 (UPI) -- The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says most North Pacific humpback whale populations are rebounding.
Microbiology: The inside story
The human body teems with microbes. In this, the first of two features, Asher Mullard looks at the global efforts to catalogue this vast 'microbiome'. Apoorva Mandavilli meets the...
Sullivan Wins NSF Career Award for Research on Therapeutic Drug Carriers
Millicent Sullivan was a born engineer. As a youngster, she had a fascination with shapes and loved building things with Tinker Toys. Today, Sullivan, an assistant professor of chemical...