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Tag: "harmful" at biology news

Living anti-HIV gel shows early promise

...ng an important role in defending the body against harmful organisms. The researchers hope that adding modified bacteria to these existing microbes could help prevent HIV transmission, especially in developing countries. They point out that if the bacteria successfully colonise and reproduce, protection can...

Cornell finds natural selection in humans

... may vary show evidence of slightly deleterious or harmful mutations in human populations; these include gene...tive selection eliminates from the population very harmful changes to proteins that kill or stop reproduction. But mutations that have led to slightly deleteri...

New antifreeze protein found in fleas may allow longer storage of transplant organs

...s system very quickly, reducing the possibility of harmful antibodies forming." An ancient species related to modern insects, snow fleas are also known as "springtails" because of the distinctive springing organ under their abdomen which allows them to leap hundreds of times their one-millimeter length. Dr....

Breath of the dragon: ERS-2 and Envisat reveal impact of economic growth on China's air quality

...ding eight to 16 kilometres in height) is itself a harmful toxic pollutant, a major ingredient of photochemical smog. "While nitrogen dioxide vertical column concentrations above central and eastern Europe and parts of the East Coast of the United States have been either static or exhibiting a small decrea...

NJIT study shows nanoparticles could damage plant life

...th nanoparticles such as alumina, which can have a harmful effect on seedlings and perhaps stunt the growth of plants. "Other nanoparticles included in the study, such as silica, did not show this effect," Watts added. He did the study with Ling Yang, a doctoral student who recently graduated from NJIT. T...

Seaweed yields new compounds with pharmaceutical potential

... compounds required to kill the bacterium would be harmful to humans. The compound that was isolated in the greatest abundance -- named bromophycolide A by the researchers -- killed human tumor cells by inducing programmed cell death (called apoptosis), a mechanism that is promising for development of new a...

Double trouble: Cells with duplicate genomes can trigger tumors

...ous cells vulnerable to doses of drugs that aren't harmful to the normal cells and tissues. " In other experiments, we identified genes in a model organism-- yeast-- that are essential for the survival of tetraploid cells but not for cells with a normal number of chromosomes" Pellman says. "You knock out tho...

New technique multiplies life span in simple organisms

... efforts. All organisms have the ability to repair harmful mutations in their DNA, whether caused by age, radiation, diet or other environmental factors. Cancer often begins when DNA mutations outstrip a cell's ability to remain differentiated. Many researchers believe DNA repair systems are already running...

Same-sex mating by fungi spawned infection outbreak, evidence suggests

Same-sex mating between two less harmful yeast strains might have spawned an outbreak of di...e researchers suggest that mating between two less harmful fungal strains of the same sex or "mating type" produced the more virulent form. That strain has now...

Recreating 'Flowers for Algernon' with a happy ending

...Ras and overcome its hyperactivity without causing harmful side effects over long-term use. "It became something of a Quixotic quest -- an impossible dream," Silva admitted. "We thought, 'Wouldn't it be nice to find a drug that is already FDA-approved, safe for lifetime use and could be tested in mice and ...

Greasing interferon's gears may pave way to greater therapeutic benefits, fewer side effects

.... "It's possible that the maximal setting would be harmful in the long term, because too much interferon could lead to inflammatory diseases. But we may find advantages to increasing Stat1 action in the short term using drug treatments." Such therapies could allow physicians to turn up the effect of interf...

Effective, safe anthrax vaccine can be grown in tobacco plants

...s an expensive fermentation process that can cause harmful side effects such as inflammation, flu-like sympto...ation but lacks the bacterial toxin that can cause harmful side effects. Researchers then injected the vaccine into mice to immunize them against anthrax and ...

DNA technique measures suitability of soil for onion crops

...de, and fungi, such as white rot, are particularly harmful for onion crops in the Netherlands: they cause rot...ms the basis for the technique developed to detect harmful nematodes. The Technology Foundation STW filed a patent for this technology, and this patent was rec...

Common alternative treatment for liver disease is found to be ineffective

...ion where we can exclude a potential beneficial or harmful effect." In this study, researchers aimed to determine the exact benefits or harm in using milk thistle to treat affected patients. Over 900 patients with the aforementioned types of liver disease were studied in these trials over a period of six m...

T-rays: New imaging technology spotlighted by American Chemical Society

...hrough a sealed envelope and detect tumors without harmful radiation, was the focus of a recent symposium at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society. The session was organized and chaired by experts Charles A. Schmuttenmaer , professor of chemistry at Yale, and Xi-Cheng Zhang, professor and...

Plants give pests sock in the gut

...llar growth by 70 percent, Luthe says. Mir1-CP is harmful to caterpillars mainly because of its damaging effect on their peritrophic matrix. This is a membrane that lines the gut of most insects and aids digestion. It also protects the insects from being invaded by microorganisms and parasites through the f...

Climate change: The rice genome to the rescue

...We need to be able to protect poor people from the harmful effects of climate change, and rice is especially important because most of the world's poor depend on it," he added. "We also need to ensure that the world community is not adversely affected by greenhouse gas emissions from rice production systems....

Detection of DNA on nanotubes offers new sensing, sequencing technologies

...placed in living cells and detect trace amounts of harmful contaminants. In a paper accepted for publication in the journal Nano Letters, and posted on its Web site, the researchers report they have taken the technique a significant step further. "We have successfully demonstrated the optical detection of s...

Marine mammals are on the frontline of failing ocean health

...y are associated with toxins and bacteria that are harmful to humans. "We need to figure out what is causing this increase," says Bossart. "It's in our own best interest." Mammals Are What They Eat Land-based pollutants are so prevalent in the ocean that scientists are using them to trace the diets and...

Invasive species harms native hardwoods by killing soil fungus

...s, and other hardwood trees by releasing chemicals harmful to a soil fungus the trees depend on for growth and survival, scientists report this week in the Public Library of Science. The tree-stifling alien, garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), first introduced into the U.S. in the 1860s, has since spread to...

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