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Tag: "reason" at biology news

More species in the tropics because species have been there longer

...e in the tropics (perhaps more than half), but the reason has been debated for more than 100 years. Many researchers have hypothesized that climatic factors somehow cause species to originate more quickly in tropical regions. In a paper appearing in the November issue of The American Naturalist, John Wien...

One-of-a-kind imaging probe reveals secrets useful for drug discovery

... improve the properties of the spray or some other reason we haven't yet considered. It's the kind of thing that may provide hints about drug discovery in future." More than 40 years ago, Jerrold Meinwald, Ph.D., an emeritus professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Cornell University, led landmark ch...

Invasive ants territorial when neighbors are not kin

...dreds of miles. Researchers have disagreed on the reason for the lack of aggression between ants from different nests in the same colony. "Some ecologists have hypothesized that environmental factors act to reduce aggression among Argentine ants in California," said David Holway, an assistant professor...

Math model predicts cancer behavior

... little: why is that"" Quaranta said. "I think the reason is that we need additional tools, and those are the tools of mathematics." The team's model is an initial effort. It is sophisticated enough to begin capturing tumor behavior, without being so complicated that computing power and running time for s...

Uncovering DNA's 'sweet' secret

...on" than the tightly twisted ladder of DNA. "The reason that DNA was 'picked' is not because it's thermodynamically extremely stable," Egli said. "There are others - including homo-DNA - that are actually superior in that regard." Egli's structure also shows that homo-DNA has more flexibility in how the...

Peering into the shadow world of RNA

...ing regions of DNA, the so-called junk DNA.? One reason for this, Nishikura and others speculate, may be that the majority of these non-coding regions are composed of repetitive sequences of DNA called transposons. The largest class of transposons, known as retrotransposons, have the remarkable ability to...

Newts which regrow their hearts

...ll number of different cell types. This could be a reason why the regeneration of heart tissue does not require a blastema." The researchers in Bad Nauheim found no indication that stem cells were involved in repairing newt hearts. he process of regenerating lost extremities is different. Unlike in the ...

Sea urchin genome suprisingly similar to man and may hold key to cures

...at originated more than 540 million years ago. The reason for the great interest in sequencing the sea urchin genome is because it shares a common ancestor with humans. Sea urchins are closer to human and vertebrates from an evolutionary perspective than other more widely studied animal models, such as frui...

Giant insects might reign if only there was more oxygen in the air

...ygen flow by closing their spiracles. In fact, one reason insects are so hardy is that they can close their spiracles and live off the oxygen they already have in their tracheae. Kaiser recalled a caterpillar that fell into a bucket of water in his lab. When the creature was discovered the next day, lab wor...

Leading reason for corneal transplants comes into focus

... form of Fuchs corneal dystrophy, FCD, the leading reason for corneal transplantation in the United States. In one form or another, FCD's trademark deterioration of the cells covering the clear, outermost lens of the eye affects more than 4 percent of the population over 40. Late in life, the dystrophy cau...

Molecular structure reveals how botulinum toxin attaches to nerve cells

...ns leads to an often-fatal paralysis, which is one reason they are considered among the highest biodefense research priorities by the U.S. government. As part of its overall biodefense program, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)...

Exposure to dioxins influences male reproductive system, study of Vietnam veterans concludes

... hypospadias (abnormality of the urethra). The reason for this increase is not known, but it is thought that these disorders might be caused by environmental chemicals that are estrogenic and have endocrine-disrupting effects, Dr. Gupta said. Dioxins are among the most toxic substances known and are ...

Does natural selection drive the evolution of cancer?

...ells. This is the central problem in oncology. The reason we haven't been able to cure cancer is that we're selecting for resistant tumor cells. When we spray a field with pesticide, we select for resistant pests. It's the same idea." Maley notes that there are three necessary and sufficient conditions f...

UVa researchers seek to unlock broccoli's cancer fighting secret

... we can determine that this specific enzyme is the reason the compounds in broccoli work to prevent cancer, then these nutrients or similar chemicals could be turned into anti-cancer compounds," she says. The incorporation of these compounds into a cancer prevention treatment that comes in a pill or liqui...

A natural chemical found in strawberries boosts memory in healthy mice

...rbie dolls and power rangers. Now, there's another reason to reach for colorful fruits past adolescence. Fisetin, a naturally occurring flavonoid commonly found in strawberries and other fruits and vegetables, stimulates signaling pathways that enhance long-term memory, report researchers at the Salk Insti...

PNAS study reveals why organs fail following massive trauma

...njury, causing multiple organ failure. That is one reason why trauma is the leading cause of death for Americans aged 44 and younger. A nationwide team of researchers is working urgently on the problem of post-trauma immune system and organ failure, and has discovered several new biochemical pathways that ...

Effective HIV control may depend on viral protein targeted by immune cells

... of infection in those with no Gag responses. The reason why patients?particular HLA Class I molecules are linked to different HIV disease outcomes now appears to be related to the number of Gag fragments displayed by different versions of the Class I molecule. Mechanisms underlying the different effect...

How brain injury leads to seizures, memory problems

... activity, in turn, is thought to be an underlying reason for seizures and memory defects experienced by people who have suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI). "A traumatic brain injury occurs to someone in the United States every 23 seconds," said study team leader Akiva S. Cohen, Ph.D., of The Children...

Cigarette smoking impedes tendon-to-bone healing

... Medicine in St. Louis have identified yet another reason not to smoke. Studying rotator cuff injury in rats, the research team found exposure to nicotine delays tendon-to-bone healing, suggesting this could cause failure of rotator cuff repair following surgery in human patients. Smoking is implicated in ...

Study: Living coral reefs provide better protection from tsunami waves

...e, Oppenheimer said the findings offer yet another reason to protect these fragile offshore ecosystems. "This study shows yet another way that protecting the environment relates to humanity in a very tangible way," he said. "Villages get built behind coral reefs for good reasons, and this is one of them....

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