Enzymes allow DNA to swap information with exotic molecules
(Phys.org) —The discovery of the Rosetta Stone resolved a longstanding puzzle, permitting the translation of Egyptian hieroglyphs into Ancient Greek. John Chaput, a researcher at Arizona State...
View ArticleLeaf cutter ants inspire powerful new anti-cancer drugs
(Phys.org) —Scientists at the University of East Anglia are developing a new class of anti-cancer drugs that are not only powerful but also circumvent a primary cause of resistance to chemotherapy.
View ArticleGene network illuminates stress, mutation and adaptation responses
For much of her professional life, Dr. Susan Rosenberg has studied the puzzling response of bacteria to stress and the mutations that result. In the current issue of the journal Science, she puts...
View ArticleAccelerating cellular assembly lines
The immune system generates antibodies to mark threats that need to be eliminated, and these protein complexes bind their targets with remarkable strength and selectivity. Scientists have learned how...
View ArticleFlies of the world embrace vegetarianism
(Phys.org)—Microbe-eating flies from at least three different locations around the world recently have evolved into herbivores, feeding on some of the most toxic plants on Earth. Fly detectives and UA...
View ArticleRoots of language in human and bird biology
The genes activated for human speech are similar to the ones used by singing songbirds, new experiments suggest.
View ArticleDisease knowledge may advance faster with CRISPR gene probing tool
Scientists at UC San Francisco have found a more precise way to turn off genes, a finding that will speed research discoveries and biotech advances and may eventually prove useful in reprogramming...
View ArticlePeach genome offers insights into breeding strategies for biofuels crops
Rapidly growing trees like poplars and willows are candidate "biofuel crops" from which it is expected that cellulosic ethanol and higher energy content fuels can be efficiently extracted....
View ArticleHealing by the clock: In fruit flies, intestinal stem-cell regeneration...
Circadian rhythms keep time for all living things, from regulating when plants open their flowers to foiling people when they try to beat jet lag. Day-night cycles are controlled through ancient...
View ArticleBacterium uses natural 'thermometer' to trigger diarrheal disease, scientists...
How does the bacterium Shigella—the cause of a deadly diarrheal disease—detect that it's in a human host? Ohio University scientists have found that a biological "RNA thermometer" monitors whether the...
View ArticleBiology's drive toward engineering
Biology is on the verge of getting its versions of the lever, wheel and axle, pulley and other basic machines that enable engineers to build almost any mechanical device, a new analysis has concluded....
View ArticleVery berry study aims to improve wine quality
A gene expression study of grapevine berries grown in different Italian vineyards has highlighted genes that help buffer the plants against environmental change and may explain the different quality...
View ArticleScientists identify thousands of plant genes activated by ethylene gas
It's common wisdom that one rotten apple in a barrel spoils all the other apples, and that an apple ripens a green banana if they are put together in a paper bag. Ways to ripen, or spoil, fruit have...
View ArticleGenetic switches play big role in human evolution
(Phys.org) —A Cornell study offers further proof that the divergence of humans from chimpanzees some 4 million to 6 million years ago was profoundly influenced by mutations to DNA sequences that play...
View ArticleScientists discover molecular communication network in human stem cells
Scientists at A*STAR's Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) and the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics (MPIMG) in Berlin (Germany) have discovered a molecular network in human embryonic stem...
View ArticleTyphoid Mary case may be cracked, a century later
When Typhoid Mary died in 1938, in medical exile on a tiny New York island, she took untold numbers of Salmonella typhi to her grave. No one knew how the bacteria managed to thrive and not kill her.
View ArticleModifying rice crops to resist herbicide prompts weedy neighbors' growth spurt
Rice containing an overactive gene that makes it resistant to a common herbicide can pass that genetic trait to weedy rice, prompting powerful growth even without a weed-killer to trigger the...
View ArticleLocation map for signaling protein identifies key molecular targets in human...
Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) retain the ability to form any cell type in the body. They do this thanks to the interplay of many proteins, including one involved in cell signaling known as...
View ArticleChance determines cell death or normal sugar consumption
Some cells fail by chance, and not due to a genetic defect, to properly initiate the molecular processes for the breakdown of sugar. These cells are unable to grow and subsequently die. This discovery...
View ArticleHow bird evolution swapped snouts for beaks
Birds are among the most successful creatures on the planet, with more than 10,000 species living across the globe, occupying a dizzying array of niches and eating everything from large animals to...
View ArticleAncestors of land plants were wired to make the leap to shore
When the algal ancestor of modern land plants first succeeded in making the transition from aquatic environments to an inhospitable shore 450 million years ago, it changed the world by dramatically...
View ArticleScientists find the external environment, oxidation greatest threats to DNA
A study led by Indiana University biologist Patricia Foster and colleagues has found that forces in the external environment and oxidation are the greatest threats to an organism's ability to repair...
View ArticleResearchers provide detailed genetic information on fish commonly used in...
The fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) has long been a premier animal model for research and regulation related to environmental toxins. Unfortunately, however, genetic information about this species...
View ArticleConventional 'free diffusion' model of steroid hormone release should be...
Steroid hormones - hormones such as testosterone and estradiol - control various aspects of animal biology and are crucial for the proper functioning of the body. Produced and secreted by endocrine...
View ArticleThe secret to safe DNA repair
Michael Hendzel knows all too well that there is little that people can do to control the stability of their genetic code. But he hopes his latest research will help impact this elusive and crucial...
View ArticleStudy unveils novel crosstalk mechanism between mitochondrial translation and...
Protein is the fundamental substance of life. The genetic code directing protein synthesis is stored in DNA. When a cell is instructed, the code information transfers from DNA to mRNA. Then,...
View ArticleYou are what you eat: Biologists map genetic pathways of nutrition-based...
Biologists at Indiana University have significantly advanced understanding of the genetic pathways that control the appearance of different physical traits in the same species depending on nutritional...
View ArticleA new path to fixing genes in living organisms
A unique gene-editing method that efficiently inserts DNA into genes located in dividing and non-dividing cells of living rats has been developed by a team of international researchers, including...
View ArticleGeneticists track the evolution of parenting
University of Georgia researchers have confirmed that becoming a parent brings about more than just the obvious offspring—it also rewires the parents' brain.
View ArticleExposure to BPA potentially induces permanent reprogramming of painted...
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical that is used in a variety of consumer products, such as food storage containers, water bottles and certain resins. In previous studies, Cheryl Rosenfeld, an investigator...
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