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Tag: "tool" at biology news

Humpback whales have brain cells also found in humans

...-formation, cooperation, cultural transmission and tool usage," the authors state. "It is thus likely that some of these abilities are related to comparable histologic complexity in brain organization in cetaceans and in hominids." The authors conclude: "Cetacean and primate brains may be considered as...

Singing for survival

..."Vocal behaviour appears to function as a powerful tool to deal with immense sexual competition under which these primates operate, and it may not be surprising that they have evolved unusually complex vocal skills to deal with these social challenges. "Not unlike humans, gibbons assemble a finite numbe...

Circadian gene helps the brain predict mealtime

...udy point out that the work they report provides a tool for investigating the brain's cerebral clockwork responsible for predicting mealtime--with this tool in hand, it will be possible to anatomically localize areas of the brain that are involved in food a...

Researchers use multiphoton microscopy to watch chromosomes in action

...transcription. The technique also may offer a new tool for researchers across the biological sciences. We..." said Webb. "And it's becoming more powerful as a tool for advancing our understanding of the life sciences." Better understanding transcription in lower ...

Detecting explosives with honeybees

...biology, the new techniques could become a leading tool in the fight against the use of improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, which present a critical vulnerability for American military troops abroad and is an emerging danger for civilians worldwide. By studying bee behavior and testing and improving ...

Stormy days ahead for coral reefs

...ble climate, the researchers say. "The predictive tool we have developed allows managers to assess the vulnerability of their reefs to extreme wave events," says Dr. Madin. "The ability to estimate the potential damage on a reef for different disaster scenarios could help managers plan for economic losse...

How many genes does it take to learn? Lessons from sea slugs

...genes in Aplysia, suggesting it will be a valuable tool for developing treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. "The authors have assembled a tremendous amount of data on gene transcripts associated with neuronal signaling pathways in Aplysia that sheds new light on evolutionary relationships of this...

AIDS study challenges conventional treatment guidelines for HIV patients

...nown as the viral load) is much less reliable as a tool for determining the rate at which he or she will lose infection-fighting CD4 cells than previously thought. HIV targets CD4 cells, a type of white blood cell, and as they decline after HIV infection, the complications that characterize the Acquire...

Scientists' cell discovery unearths evolutionary clues

...rate multicellularity. It also provides a powerful tool to identify core ancestral processes that regulate the most basic aspects of development." Professor Baldauf, of the Department of Biology at York, said: "We have investigated the evolution of plants and animals for a very long time but our whole ...

Bacterial 'switch gene' regulates how oceans emit sulfur into atmosphere

...d as a nutrient. "This new gene offers a powerful tool to study the question of how these plankton are involved with sulfur exchange between the ocean and atmosphere," said Mary Ann Moran, marine microbial ecologist at the University of Georgia. Moran and her colleagues published their findings in the Oc...

Genetic 'roadmap' charts links between drugs and human disease

...uman cells. Called the "Connectivity Map," the new tool and its uses are described in the September 29 iss...useful in another. "This is a powerful discovery tool for the scientific community," said Justin Lamb, the lead author of the Science paper and a senior s...

Analysis of breast-cancer gene role offers promising target

...sion of the disease and could serve as a screening tool for assessing which types of drugs a patient will respond to. The gene launches a biochemical process in which a molecule called plasmin perforates the membranes of tissues, causing the membranes to break down and allowing the cancer cells to esc...

Study defines effective microbicide design for HIV/AIDS prevention

...ity biomedical engineers have developed a computer tool they say could lead to improvements in topical mic...articles. The researchers demonstrated their new tool by applying it to the promising microbicide Cyanovirin-N, a protein with anti-HIV activity that has ...

Embryos exposed in 3-D

...s found to have the potential to become a valuable tool to help realize the promise of regenerative medicine, a field that scientists believe could produce significant breakthroughs in the treatment of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, bone injury and many other acute and chronic conditions. Lisa Bradbury...

New technology enables faster, more efficient cell harvest: Cell therapy meeting study

...s found to have the potential to become a valuable tool to help realize the promise of regenerative medicine, a field that scientists believe could produce significant breakthroughs in the treatment of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, bone injury and many other acute and chronic conditions. Lisa Bradbury...

Interfering RNA silences genes in 'slippery' immune cells

... interference has recently emerged as an important tool in studying how genes function in normal biological processes and in disease. Writing in the Journal of Immunological Methods, published online on March 24, a research team from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia combined laboratory technologie...

Gardenia fruit compound starting point for diabetes therapy

...pin represents an extremely useful investigational tool for studying a number of aspects of UCP2 biology," Lowell added. UCP2 plays a role in the process by which food is converted into energy storage molecules by cellular powerhouses called mitochondria in cells throughout the body. ...

Origen publishes in Nature a robust and versatile method for creating transgenic chickens

...or the somatic lineages provides a very useful new tool for understanding some of the earliest and most fundamental events in developmental biology on a molecular level," said Robert J. Etches, Ph.D., D.Sc., vice president of research at Origen Therapeutics. "This work addresses a major biomedical issue...

K-Staters design and build a low-cost remote sensing tool for environmental studies

...tation near Manhattan this summer. If the sensing tool performs as the team hopes, it will be made availa...and reliable data. The development of the sensing tool is part of a three-year research instrumentation project that began in fall 2005 with a $597,000 Nat...

New method confirms importance of fungi in Arctic nitrogen cycle

...nitrogen-poor ecosystems--and will be an important tool for future studies of plant nitrogen supply. It has long been known when soil nitrogen is in short supply, mycorrhizal fungi (those living symbiotically on the roots of plants) transfer nutrients to their host plants in exchange for plant sugars der...

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