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| Biology articles |
Researchers unmask proteins in telomerase, a substance that enables cancer
One of the more intriguing workhorses of the cell, a protein conglomerate called telomerase, has in its short history been implicated in some critical areas of medicine including cancer, aging and keeping stem cells healthy. With such a resume, telomerase has been the subject of avid interest by basic scientists and pharmaceutical companies alike, so you'd think at the very least people would know what it is.
New method offers insight into radiation damage to DNA
A new technique for assessing the damage radiation causes to DNA indicates that the spatial arrangement of damaged sites, or lesions, is more important than the number of lesions in determining the severity of the damage. The technique, developed by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Brookhaven National Laboratory, helps reveal why high-energy charged particles such as the heavy ions in outer space are more potentially harmful than lower-energy forms of radiation such as x-rays and gamma rays. The research could help clarify the risks faced by future astronauts flying long-term missions to the moon or Mars.
Scientists map medulla circuitry in fruit flies, setting stage for understanding how color vision is processed
New York University biologists have mapped the medulla circuitry in fruit flies, setting the stage for subsequent research on how color vision is processed. The work, which appeared in the journal Current Biology, will allow future scholarship to explore how color vision is processed in the optic lobe of the fruit fly Drosophila, providing a paradigm for more complex systems in vertebrates.
Fly flight simulators reveal secrets of decision making
Even flies like video games--and it's not just child's play, say scientists at the California Institute of Technology. With the help of a unique bug-sized flight simulator, Caltech researchers are deciphering the secrets of behavior and decision making in the fly brain, and, ultimately, in our own.
Climate change and human hunting combine to drive the woolly mammoth extinct
Does the human species have mammoth blood on its hands? Scientists have long debated the relative importance of hunting by our ancestors and change in global climate in consigning the mammoth to the history books. A new paper, published in PLoS Biology, uses climate models and fossil distribution to establish that the woolly mammoth went extinct primarily because of loss of habitat due to changes in temperature, while human hunting acted as the final straw.
Viruses, oxygen and our green oceans
Some of the oxygen we breathe today is being produced because of viruses infecting micro-organisms in the world's oceans.
High-flying moths don't just go with the flow
Enormous numbers of migratory moths that fly high above our heads throughout the night aren't at the mercy of the winds that propel them toward their final destinations, researchers report online on April 3rd in Current Biology, a publication of Cell Press. Rather, they rely on sophisticated behaviors to control their flight direction, and to speed their long-distance journeys into areas suitable for the next generation of moths.
Researchers find pre-clovis human dna
DNA from dried human excrement recovered from Oregon's Paisley Caves is the oldest found yet in the New World -- dating to 14,300 years ago, some 1,200 years before Clovis culture -- and provides apparent genetic ties to Siberia or Asia, according to an international team of 13 scientists.
Are animals stuck in time?
Dog owners, who have noticed that their four-legged friend seem equally delighted to see them after five minutes away as five hours, may wonder if animals can tell when time passes. Newly published research from The University of Western Ontario may bring us closer to answering that very question.
Stem cells from hair follicles may help grow new blood vessels
For a rich source of stem cells to be engineered into new blood vessels or skin tissue, clinicians may one day look no further than the hair on their patients' heads, according to new research published by University at Buffalo engineers.
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Why migratory birds from Asia land in Europe
Migratory birds make mistakes in terms of direction, but not distance. These are the findings of a team of ornithologists and ecologists from the University of Marburg, the Ornithological Society in Bavaria and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), writing in the Journal of Ornithology.
New fish has a face even dale chihuly could love
A fish that would rather crawl into crevices than swim, and that may be able to see in the same way that humans do, could represent an entirely unknown family of fishes, says a University of Washington fish expert.
Project traces the genetic roots of the earth's most ancient plants
Angiosperms, or flowering plants, are the most diverse group of plants on the planet with at least 260,000 species. They are also one of the most mysterious.
'Extinct' elephant may have been found again -- on a different island
The Borneo pygmy elephant may not be native to the island of Borneo after all. Instead, the population could be the last survivors of the Javan elephant race – accidentally saved from extinction by the Sultan of Sulu centuries ago, suggests an article co-authored by World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Many captive tigers are of purebred ancestry; finding raises their conservation value
Tigers held in captivity around the world—including those in zoos, circuses, and private homes—may hold considerable conservation value for the rapidly dwindling wild populations around the world, according to a new report published online on April 17th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. Using a new method for assessing the genetic ancestry of tigers, researchers discovered that many apparently "generic" tigers actually represent purebred subspecies and harbor genomic diversity no longer found in nature.
Evolutionary history of the comb jelly reveals surprising clues about earth's first animal
A new study mapping the evolutionary history of animals indicates that Earth's first animal--a mysterious creature whose characteristics can only be inferred from fossils and studies of living animals--was probably significantly more complex than previously believed.
Clues to ancestral origin of placenta emerge in stanford study
Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have uncovered the first clues about the ancient origins of a mother's intricate lifeline to her unborn baby, the placenta, which delivers oxygen and nutrients critical to the baby's health.
The tree of flowering plants
Over the past 20 years or so, there has been a revolution in the plant world. If you are a gardener you may have noticed that some plants are no longer where they used to be in the guide books because they have been moved into different families. As Professor Simon Hiscock, Director of the Botanic Garden, explains, the reason is 'molecular phylogenetics'.
Ancient dragon has space-age skull
A new international study has revealed how the Komodo dragon can be such an efficient killing machine despite having a wimpy bite and a featherweight skull.
Bloodless worm sheds light on human blood, iron deficiency
Using a lowly bloodless worm, University of Maryland researchers have discovered an important clue to how iron carried in human blood is absorbed and transported into the body. The finding could lead to developing new ways to reduce iron deficiency, the world's number one nutritional disorder.
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| Quotes | By convention!
cussed Tom airily.
Cmon Scully... Itll be a nice trip through the woods-Fox Mulder
But what ... is it good for?
Engineer at IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.
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