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Tag: "familiar" at biology news

A new male-specific gene in algae unveils an origin of male and female

...nal Current Biology, published by Cell Press. The familiar notion of the separate male and female sexes exhibited by animal and plant species is based in part on the anatomically and genetically distinct gametes, sperm and egg, produced by members of each sex. But the evolutionary origin of oogamy—reproducti...

Gene therapy research switches off joint inflammation; switches on genetic process of joint repair

... with moderate osteoarthritis. Glucosamine is both familiar to consumers and healthcare providers and is the primary natural product approach to osteoarthritis." The double blind randomized controlled clinical trial will assess a variety of pain, mobility and functional assessments in subjects with moderat...

Steep oxygen decline halted first land colonization by Earth's sea creatures

...s rose appreciably, before dinosaurs grew to their familiar gargantuan sizes. "Dinosaurs thrived and nothing else did. There's an explanation for that, and it is that the air sac breathing system in dinosaurs and their descendants, modern birds, is more efficient than systems used by other organisms," Ward...

Evolution reveals an independent route for diversity in animal form

...en rise to the vast majority of the animals we are familiar with, including worms, fish, molluscs, insects, and mammals. While all "higher" animals clearly either have a typical Hox system or had ancestors that did, the evolutionary origins of the Hox system are unclear, and the Hox-gene status of cnidarians ...

Fire ants: Their true story told by the scientist who loves them

...sturbing," he said. Other fun facts center on the familiar dirt mound around which smart humans cut a wide swath; it's actually a solarium that collects heat to warm its residents. The tunnels below it hold anywhere from a few dozen to several hundred thousand of the highly territorial critters (Tschinkel ha...

Zebra finch males prefer females with exaggerated maternal traits

...ic stimulus usually leads to a preference for this familiar stimulus over an unfamiliar one, it has generally been assumed that imprinting itself could not give rise to preferences for novel, exaggerated traits. In their new work, the researchers tested the sexual preferences of zebra finch males that were r...

Recent, rapid climate change is driving evolution of animal species

...igate its effects, natural communities that we are familiar with will cease to exist." ...

Pure novelty spurs the brain

...searchers assessed whether the subjects' memory of familiar images was better when presented along with novel images or very familiar images. The researchers found that the SN/VTA does, indeed, respond to novelty, and these response...

Ring-like formations in drying DNA drops could affect hybridization studies

Coffee drinkers are familiar with the ring-shaped stains that result from spilled drops that have dried, in which the brown stain is not evenly distributed, but instead concentrated at the edge. Now, a team led by Gerard Wong, a professor of materials science and engineering, ph...

Large dinosaurs were extremely hot in their day, UF study finds

...xtreme size." Tyrannosaurus rex, one of the more familiar dinosaurs considered by the researchers, probably had a cruising temperature of about 33 degrees Celsius, which is just over 91 degrees Fahrenheit, according to lead researcher James Gillooly, Ph.D., an assistant professor in UF's department of zoolo...

Surprise finding for stretched DNA

Most of us are familiar with the winding staircase image of DNA, the repository of a biological cell's genetic information. But few of us realize just how tightly that famous double helix is wound. Stretched to its full length, a single molecule of human DNA extends more ...

Genetic snooze button governs timing of spring flowers

...ystified some of the molecular underpinning of the familiar process of flowering, the biochemist emphasizes that much of the fine biochemical detail remains to be worked out. ...

Molecular DNA switch found to be the same for all life

... DNA double-helix around its exterior, causing the familiar "spiral staircase" of the DNA to deform as a first step in the separation and unwinding of its two gene-carrying strands. "It is likely that the AAA+ rings of the replication initiators are open to allow others proteins to dock onto the initiator...

Protein-coated dental implants could improve bone regeneration

...h the various stages of healing that we're already familiar with." By experimenting with treatments and discerning their effect on healing bone defects, they found some ?including some in use today ?that actually hinder tissue regeneration. "Some biomaterials like hydroxyapatite particles, which are chemi...

Everything in its place: Researchers identify brain cells used to categorize images

...arietal cortex encode the category, or meaning, of familiar visual images and that brain activity patterns changed dramatically as a result of learning. Their results suggest that categories are encoded by the activity of individual neurons (brain cells) and that the parietal cortex is a part of the brain cir...

In-home sensors spot dementia signs in elderly

...rs who like to remain as long as possible in their familiar environments," Pavel noted. The ability to continuously and discretely collect activity data over extended periods of time has given researchers a new, more accurate way of "identifying clinical changes that are difficult to get your arms around in...

Memory loss affects more of the brain than previously thought

... The test required 40 patients to recall names of familiar faces and to learn and recall unfamiliar face-name associations. All patients showed brain activation in several brain regions during the task, but, compared with the controls, the patients with MCI showed a lower level of activation in the prefronta...

New McGill research shows mice capable of empathy

...discovered that mice that were co-housed (that is, familiar to each other) and able to see one another in pain were more sensitive to pain than those tested alone. The results, which for the first time show a form of "emotional contagion" between animals, shed light on how known social factors play a role in ...

Science finds new fix for UV-damaged skin in arthritis treatment

...esulting in a duller appearance. Researchers are familiar with these processes and that has helped them focus on substances - such as n-acetyl glucosamine - that are known to interrupt the UV-triggered chemical signals that turn on melanin production. Skin care products that utilize signal-blocking ingredie...

Anemone genes reveal versatile building blocks for body plans

...ssess a radial body plan that is distinct from the familiar bilateral body plan exhibited by vertebrates and many other animals. Despite their superficial dissimilarities, Cnidarians and other animals share a common ancestor--which existed over 500 million years ago--and, consequently, many genes. As illustra...

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