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Tag: "natural" at biology news

How did bilaterally symmetric flowers evolve from radially symmetric ones?

... different flower shapes affected plant fitness in natural populations of Erysimum mediohispanicum, a Mediter...lly symmetric flowers. "This study reveals that natural selection can play a key role in the evolution of flower bilateral symmetry," says Camacho. "Our dat...

Bacteria in small sea life yield new way to make potential cancer drugs

...We're hoping we can use this to find a way to make natural molecules of compounds through single mutations in DNA." To synthesize natural compounds, researchers have traditionally made them in the lab using labor-intensive routes. More re...

Genetically engineered blood protein can be used to split water into oxygen and hydrogen

... normally found combined with metals, and in their natural state in the blood they have an iron atom at their centre. The scientists modified the porphyrin molecule to swap the iron for a zinc atom in the middle, which completely changed the chemistry and characteristics of the molecule. This modified por...

Science researchers genetically transform immune cells into tumor fighters

...ng history of looking for ways to boost the body's natural immune defenses against cancer, focusing specifically on T cells, a special type of immune cell that can recognize and attack "foreign" cells such as those found in tumors. In their earlier experiments, the researchers removed tumor-fighting T cells ...

Tearing down the fungal cell wall

...l biology. For years long ignored, the function of natural products is rapidly becoming one of the hot topics in fungal biology; the findings reported in this study by Dr. Lawrence's research group further underline their importance." The AbNPS2 gene encodes a large protein known as a non-ribosomal pept...

New findings could lead to vaccine for severe malaria

...ti and her colleagues suspected, however, that the natural mechanisms are more complex than laboratory studies have shown. They therefore collected and analysed placentas on site in Uganda. "Most of the parasites we studied could bind to three different receptors in the placenta," she says. "This would mean...

New brain-chemistry differences found in depressed women

...pioid system that is a central part of the brain's natural pain and stress-reduction system. The findings als... create maps of the specific brain areas where the natural mu-opioids are more or less active at any given time. In the new study, the researchers also fou...

NHGRI aims to make DNA sequencing faster, more cost effective

...llel sequencing-by-synthesis. This method uses the natural catalytic cycle of DNA polymerase to capture just a single DNA base on an immobilized primer/template. A fluorescence scanner will be used to scan and identify hundreds of thousands of molecules at once. Then the cycle will be repeated. This phased...

Comprehensive model is first to map protein folding at atomic level

...derlying some devastating diseases, as well as how natural proteins evolved and how proteins recognize correc...and two fundamental biological questions: How have natural proteins evolved, and how do proteins interact in living cells to recognize correct partners versus ...

Ongoing collapse of coral reef shark populations

...ming so rare that they can no longer perform their natural role in the functioning of coral reef ecosystems....

Sequencing of the oyster mushroom genome

...d in agricultural waste or decomposing wood in the natural environment, may be used for designing systems to enable the elimination of these contaminants from the environment. The oyster mushroom is also a fungus the cultivation of which is widespread and so the study of its genetic organisation can give ...

Global changes alter the timing of plant growth, scientists say

...nt times. Scientists studying plant communities in natural habitats call this phenomenon "complementarity." I... change may alter this delicate balance. "In the natural world, species have evolved to be finely attuned to the seasons--timing is everything," said lead au...

Designer babies - what would you do for a 'healthy' baby?

...hological or social characteristics is legitimate, natural or ethical." We are often presented with information and speculation about what reproductive technologies might achieve in the future and with various ethical dilemmas. This new research is among the first to investigate the thoughts and feelings o...

Discovery of the first resistance gene to rice yellow mottle virus

... not bring any advantages compared with the use of natural resistance. This research can find applications in ways of improving rice production in countries hit by RYMV. Already, the IRD has transferred the gene Rymv1, by crossing, into some agronomically important varieties. The corresponding lineages hav...

Rearing an army to save wheat

With wheat stem sawfly natural enemies in demand, Montana State University entomo...r systems suggests that this is definitely true in natural settings. However, the goal of the research is to find ways to increase the supply of parasitoids fr...

Environmental toxins may cause body's defenses to worsen lung disease

...r environmental toxicants can stimulate the body's natural defense system to cause additional damage in peopl...lieve at some point that damage exceeds the body's natural ability to repair tissue," he adds. "And through the destruction of lung tissue, it may actually sta...

Archerfish tune their shots to universal properties of prey adhesion

...flies and lizards, an animal's adhesive force--its natural tendency to stick to a surface--is closely proportional to the animal's size. The researchers showed that for any given size of prey, the archerfish tune their attacks such that prey are hit with about ten times the force that adhesive organs of ...

A new approach to growing heart muscle

It looks, contracts and responds almost like natural heart muscle ?even though it was grown in the lab. And it brings scientists another step closer to the goal of creating replacement parts for damaged human hearts, or eventually growing an entirely new heart from just a spoonful of loose heart cells....

Researchers identify new weapon to fight deadly bacterial sepsis

...- the inflammatory proteins released by the body's natural defenses, and the outer membranes of the dead bacteria, mainly composed of large toxic molecules called lipopolysaccharides, which go on inducing more inflammatory immune response even though the bacteria themselves are dead." "This inflammatory ...

Fast test for low blood flow in dogs detects early heart trouble

...iters per gram per minute. "We think this is a natural evolution of the technology and a significant improvement in our ability to diagnose problems with blood flow," says George, who conducted the study from June to September 2006. George adds that larger clinical studies are planned at Hopkins to furt...

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