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| Name: | Biology News Net |
| Description: | - Latest Biology Articles, News and Current Events |
| Site URL: | http://www.biologynews.net/ |
| RSS feed URL: | http://www.biologynews.net/index.xml |
| Syndic8 ID: | n/a |
| Language: | n/a |
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25 most recent entries:
New study re-emphasizes natural cocoa powder has high antioxidant content (Oct 08 2008 23:41 GMT)
Over the past ten years, dark chocolate and cocoa have become recognized through numerous studies for flavanol antioxidant benefits. In a study published this month in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, scientists from The Hershey Company and Brunswick Laboratories of Norton, MA report on the levels of antioxidants in selected cocoa powders and the effect of processing on the antioxidant levels. The study, which analyzed Hershey's Natural Cocoa Powder and nineteen other cocoa powders, reported that natural cocoa powders have the highest levels of antioxidants. Natural cocoa powders contained an average of 34.6 mg of flavanols per gram of cocoa powder, or about 3.
Protection for stressed-out bacteria identified (Oct 08 2008 23:41 GMT)
An international team of researchers is a step closer to understanding the spread of deadly diseases such as listeriosis, after observing for the first time how bacteria respond to stress.
Using living cells as nanotechnology factories (Oct 08 2008 23:41 GMT)
In the tiny realm of nanotechnology, scientists have used a wide variety of materials to build atomic scale structures. But just as in the construction business, nanotechnology researchers can often be limited by the amount of raw materials. Now, Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University researcher Hao Yan has avoided these pitfalls by using cells as factories to make DNA based nanostructures inside a living cell.
Biological alternatives to chemical pesticides (Oct 08 2008 23:41 GMT)
With increasing consumer pressure on both farmers and supermarkets to minimise the use of chemical pesticides in fruit and vegetables, a new study, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), looks at why there is currently little use of biological alternatives in the UK.
Cell protein suppresses pain 8 times more effectively than morphine (Oct 08 2008 23:41 GMT)
Image shows PAP (in red) in pain-sensing neurons. More people suffer from pain than from heart disease, diabetes and cancer combined, but many of the drugs used to relieve suffering are not completely effective or have harmful side effects.
Beavers: Dam good for songbirds (Oct 08 2008 23:41 GMT)
The songbird has a friend in the beaver. According to a study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the busy beaver's signature dams provide critical habitat for a variety of migratory songbirds, particularly in the semi-arid interior of the West.
Scientists find new insight into genome of neglected malaria parasite (Oct 08 2008 23:41 GMT)
As international health authorities step up efforts to fight malaria, leading scientists say the stealthy and increasingly debilitating Plasmodium vivax parasite deserves more attention.
Scripps research team solves structure of 'beneficial' virus (Oct 08 2008 23:41 GMT)
The 3-D structure of the virus, known as Seneca Valley Virus-001, reveals that it is unlike any other known member of the Picornaviridae viral family, and confirms its recent designation as a separate genus "Senecavirus." The new study reveals that the virus's outer protein shell looks like a craggy golf ball¬?one with uneven divets and raised spikes?and the RNA strand beneath it is arranged in a round mesh rather like a whiffleball.
Proteins in sperm unlock understanding of male infertility says new study (Oct 08 2008 23:41 GMT)
Proteins found in sperm are central to understanding male infertility and could be used to determine new diagnostic methods and fertility treatments according to a paper published by the journal Molecular and Cellular Proteomics (MCP). The article demonstrates how proteomics, a relatively new field focusing on the function of proteins in a cell, can be successfully applied to infertility, helping identify which proteins in sperm cells are dysfunctional.
Rong Li Lab probes mechanism of asymmetry in meiotic cell division (Oct 07 2008 23:43 GMT)
The Stowers Institute's Rong Li Lab has characterized a mechanism that allows for asymmetrical cell division during meiosis in oocytes. By tracking chromosome movement in live mouse oocytes, the team discovered that chromosomes can recruit to their vicinity a protein called formin-2. This protein allows the oocyte to retain the majority of the cytoplasm ? a requirement for embryonic development after fertilization ? while the other daughter cell (called a polar body) resulting from the asymmetric division gets only a minimal amount and subsequently dies.
2008 ozone hole larger than last year (Oct 07 2008 23:43 GMT)
Ozone hole during Oct. 7, 2008, as measured by the Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Cartography (SCIAMACHY) atmospheric sensor onboard ESA's Envisat. The 2008 ozone hole ? a thinning in the ozone layer over Antarctica ? is larger both in size and ozone loss than 2007 but is not as large as 2006.
Killing 'angry' immune cells in fat could fight diabetes (Oct 07 2008 23:43 GMT)
By killing off "angry" immune cells that take up residence in obese fat and muscle tissue, researchers have shown that they can rapidly reverse insulin resistance in obese mice. The findings reported in the October Cell Metabolism, a publication of Cell Press, suggest that treatments aimed at specific subsets of the so-called macrophage cells might offer a very effective new antidiabetic therapy, according to the researchers.
Scientists simulate gut reaction to arsenic exposure (Oct 07 2008 23:43 GMT)
A simulated gastrointestinal system is helping scientists test contaminated soil for its potential to harm humans. The method is likely to save time and money for people hoping to repurpose land with an industrial past.
Protein shown to play a key role in normal development of nervous system (Oct 07 2008 23:43 GMT)
A protein that enables nerve cells to communicate with each other plays a key role in controlling the developing nervous system. Research into how that protein helps precise connections to form among nerve cells may provide a basis for eventual treatments for patients who suffer injuries to their nervous system, including spinal cord injury.
Discovering drugs, biofuels in tropical seas (Oct 07 2008 15:41 GMT)
The National Institutes of Health has awarded $4 million to a group of Philippine and American scientists led by Oregon Health & Science University to aid in the discovery of new molecules and biofuels technology from marine mollusks for development in the Philippines.
'Deadly dozen' reports diseases worsened by climate change (Oct 07 2008 15:41 GMT)
Health experts from the Wildlife Conservation Society today released a report that lists 12 pathogens that could spread into new regions as a result of climate change, with potential impacts to both human and wildlife health and global economies. Called The Deadly Dozen: Wildlife Diseases in the Age of Climate Change, the new report provides examples of diseases that could spread as a result of changes in temperatures and precipitation levels. The best defense, according to the report's authors, is a good offense in the form of wildlife monitoring to detect how these diseases are moving so health professionals can learn and prepare to mitigate their impact.
Complete Genomics launches, becomes world's first large-scale human genome sequencing company (Oct 07 2008 00:47 GMT)
Complete Genomics Inc., a third-generation human genome sequencing company, today announced its formal launch as the world's first provider of large-scale human genome sequencing services.
7 Texas mammals listed as threatened on Global Mammal Assessment (Oct 07 2008 00:47 GMT)
When the Global Mammal Assessment project results are announced this week at the World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, Spain, there will be at least seven Texas species on the globally threatened list.
Battling cancer, one cell at a time (Oct 07 2008 00:47 GMT)
New research suggests that the identification and examination of key cell signaling events required for initiation and progression of cancer might be best accomplished at the single cell level. The research, published by Cell Press in the October issue of the journal Cancer Cell, provides new insight that may lead to better diagnosis and treatment of some complex cancers.
Early-stage gene transcription creates access to DNA (Oct 07 2008 00:47 GMT)
A gene contained in laboratory yeast has helped an international team of researchers uncover new findings about the process by which protein molecules bind to control sequences in genes in order to initiate gene expression, according to findings reported in the journal Nature.
Lichens function as indicators of nitrogen pollution in forests (Oct 07 2008 00:47 GMT)
Scientists have found lichens can give insight into nitrogen air pollution effects on Sierra Nevada and San Bernardino mountain ecosystems, and protecting them provides safeguards for less sensitive species.
MSU scientists find new gene that helps plants beat the heat (Oct 07 2008 00:47 GMT)
Michigan State University plant scientists have discovered another piece of the genetic puzzle that controls how plants respond to high temperatures. That may allow plant breeders to create new varieties of crops that flourish in warmer, drier climates.
H. Pylori bacteria may help prevent some esophageal cancers (Oct 06 2008 12:48 GMT)
Some bacteria may help protect against the development of a type of esophageal cancer, known as adenocarcinoma, according to a new review of the medical literature. These bacteria, which are called Helicobacter pylori, live in the stomachs of humans.
Disinfectants can make bacteria resistant to treatment (Oct 06 2008 12:48 GMT)
Chemicals used in the environment to kill bacteria could be making them stronger, according to a paper published in the October issue of the journal Microbiology. Low levels of these chemicals, called biocides, can make the potentially lethal bacterium Staphylococcus aureus remove toxic chemicals from the cell even more efficiently, potentially making it resistant to being killed by some antibiotics.
Earliest animal footprints ever found -- discovered in Nevada (Oct 05 2008 23:32 GMT)
The fossilized trail of an aquatic creature suggests that animals walked using legs at least 30 million years earlier than had been thought.
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