Condition

Plant genes identified that can form basis for crops better adapted to environmental conditions

Roots are crucial for the development of strong, healthy crops. But until recently, exactly which genes are involved in the development of roots was still a mystery. Scientists from the Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) connected to Ghent University have now analyzed a complete plant genome in order to identify the genes that are essential for the formation of capillary r...

Life in deadly conditions

Max Planck researchers sequence the genome of a microbiological master of adaptationArchaea, small single-celled organisms, are particularly interesting for scientists because they are able to live under extreme environmental conditions, for instance under high salt concentrations, high pH-values, or high temperatures. Nature's masters of adaptation, they are model organisms from which researcher...

New vaccine for condition that kills 500,000 children a year

In a study of more than 68,000 infants published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine, the investigational vaccine Rotateq demonstrated that it can safely prevent 98 percent of severe cases of viral diarrhea and vomiting that account for 2 million hospital visits and 500,000 pediatric deaths each year worldwide. In one of the largest pre-licensure vaccine clinical trials ever con...

UF scientists test improved gene therapy method for hereditary heart conditions

A new way of delivering corrective genes with a single injection into a vein holds promise for long-lasting treatments of hereditary diseases of the heart, University of Florida researchers report. UF researchers used the approach to successfully reverse symptoms in mice with a form of muscular dystrophy that damages the heart. They also tested the virus-based delivery method in monkeys a...

Food-crop yields in future greenhouse-gas conditions lower than expected

Open-air field trials involving five major food crops grown under carbon-dioxide levels projected for the future are harvesting dramatically less bounty than those raised in earlier greenhouse and other enclosed test conditions ?and scientists warn that global food supplies could be at risk without changes in production strategies. The new findings are based on on-going open-air research a...

Chronic jet-lag conditions hasten death in aged mice

Researchers have found that aged mice undergoing weekly light-cycle shifts--similar to those that humans experience with jet lag or rotating shift work--experienced significantly higher death rates than did old mice kept on a normal daylight schedule over the same eight-week period. The findings may not come as a great surprise to exhausted globe-trotting business travelers, but the research none...

How badger culling creates conditions for spread of bovine TB

A stable social structure may help control the spread of bovine tuberculosis (TB) among badgers, ecologists have found. The findings ?published online in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Animal Ecology ?have important implications for the role of badger culling as part of the strategy to control bovine TB in the UK. According to the authors from the Central Science Laboratory an...

Tropical forests -- Earth's air conditioner

Planting and protecting trees—which trap and absorb carbon dioxide as they grow—can help to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But a new study suggests that, as a way to fight global warming, the effectiveness of this strategy depends heavily on where these trees are planted. In particular, tropical forests are very efficient at keeping the Earth at a happy, healthy temperature. Th...