Tag: "feature" at biology news

Penn researchers link cell's protein recycling systems

...umulation of toxic proteins is a common underlying feature of age-related neurodegeneration.” Taylor and his group study fruit flies in which the proteasome is disabled by a genetic mutation, which results in neurodegeneration. They use the fly eye, a neuron-rich tissue, as a surrogate for the brain beca...

Lessons from the orangutans: Upright walking may have begun in the trees

...or bipedalism, has long been considered a defining feature of humans and our closest ancestors. One of the most popular explanations, known as the savannah hypothesis, suggests that the ancestors to chimps, gorillas and humans descended from the trees and began walking on the ground on all fours. Over ti...

Invasion of the island bats

... this article shows that reverse colonization is a feature of the entire Caribbean bat community, encompassing groups of bats as different from each other as aerial insectivores, nectarivores, and frugivores. The evolution of Caribbean bats suggests that far from being isolated destinations, the West Ind...

Dinosaur hearing, listening to muscle noise, quieter cubicles

...ture on the first day of the meeting (June 4) will feature the Salt Lake City Jazz Orchestra. Uwe Hansen of Indiana State University ( u-hansen@indstate.edu ) will describe the basic science of each instrument family: strings, brasses, woodwinds, piano and percussion. Orchestra director Jerry Floor and his ...

Iowa State scientists demonstrate first use of nanotechnology to enter plant cells

...ease the cargo inside of animal cells. This unique feature provides total control for timing the delivery The team’s first attempt to use the porous silica nanoparticle to deliver DNA through the rigid wall of the plant cell was unsuccessful. The technology had worked more readily in animals cells becaus...

Fused nasal bones helped tyrannosaurids dismember prey

...pon." "Fused, arch-like nasal bones are a unique feature of tyrannosaurids," said Dr. Eric Snively, a post doctoral research fellow at the University of Alberta. "This adaptation, for instance, was keeping the T. rexes from breaking their own skull while breaking the bones of their prey." Snively and co...

Rare cell prevents rampant brain activity

...rain disorders like epilepsy. "A characteristic feature of epilepsy is the hyperactivation of cortical pyramid cells, which is exactly what this mechanism inhibits. It is possible that epilepsy is related to a deficit of Martinotti cells or a deficiency of Martinotti activity in the brain." ...

Tundra disappearing at rapid rate

...est and tundra ecosystems is a prominent landscape feature in both Arctic and mountain environments. As global temperatures continue to increase, the treeline is expected to advance but the new research shows that this shift will not always occur gradually but can surge ahead. "The conventional thinking ...

Gut research yields new anti-cancer approach

...r colorectal cancer, current chemotherapy regimens feature 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in combination with other chemotherapy drugs (oxaliplatin, irinotecan) and antibodies (bevacizumab, cetuximab). Once again, response rates of current drugs are low (less than 30 percent as single agents). Tumors generally begin ...

'Marathon mice' elucidate little-known muscle type

...s) they contain and by their metabolic capacity, a feature largely determined by the number of energy-producing mitochondria they house. Myosins are motor proteins that consist of both "heavy" and "light" amino acid chains. While most muscles in mammals contain a mixture of slow- and fast-twitch fiber typ...

Loss of a universal tRNA feature reported

...he loss of a universal and apparently ancient tRNA feature in two members of the alphaproteobacteria was part...ecial interest to examine if the loss of this tRNA feature has resulted from the presence of an RNase P enzyme that is no longer capable of catalyzing abnormal...

UTSA researchers examine effects of global warming on Antarctic

...s honored him by naming Ackley Point, a geographic feature in Antarctica, after him. "In the Antarctic, we are seeing some regional increases in the sea ice along with regional decreases," said Ackley. "If you look at the totality of it, it appears as if it hasn't changed very much over the last 30 year...

Analysis of rhesus monkey genome uncovers genetic differences with humans, chimps

...more rapidly and that small duplications are a key feature of primate evolution. The analysis also revealed a few instances in which whole families of genes were radically different in the rhesus, containing more copies of certain genes than in the chimp or human. These gene families include important i...

New mechanism for nutrient uptake discovered

...his activity, the scientists believe that the same feature could occur across species. The discovery, publish... acts as a switch. "The terminus is an arm-like feature that physically grabs a neighboring short-chain molecule, binds with it, and changes the shape of it...

Fighting to keep Darwin in the classroom

...address these concerns. Each quarterly issue will feature peer-reviewed articles on evolution, "letters from the trenches," interviews with prominent scientists and educators, lesson plans, critical essays, cartoons, puzzles, reviews on evolution in the media (books, movies, museum openings and exhibitions)...

MicroRNAs as tumor suppressors

... vitro. "Overexpression of HMGA2 is an important feature of many medically important tumors like uterine fibroids,?explains Dr. Dutta. “It is very exciting to realize that microRNAs have an important role in suppressing the overexpression of HMGA2, and so may have a role in the causation and perhaps the cu...

Homing pigeons get their bearings from their beaks

... receptor system ?might turn out to be a universal feature of all birds? Equally, this concept might not only exclusively apply to birds, since it has been shown that many animals display behavior that is modified or controlled by the Earth’s magnetic field. The meaning of these minute iron oxide crystal...

Cancer vaccines -- Taking a jab at cancer by stimulating the immune system

...types, since p53 loss of function is such a common feature of many cancers." ...

Paleontologists discover new mammal from Mesozoic Era

...tures. The new mammal also has lumbar ribs, a rare feature among modern mammals. "The discoveries of exquisitely preserved Mesozoic mammals from China have built the evidence such that biologists and paleontologists are able to make sense of how developmental mechanisms have impacted the morphological evo...

Prenatal cocaine's lasting cellular effects

...to set up an animal model that recapitulates a key feature of human abuse -- that being intravenous exposure to low doses of cocaine," Stanwood said. A few years ago, Stanwood and Levitt, professor of Pharmacology and director of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, established such a model in rabbits. They fo...

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