Developing in Biological News

Scientists track impact of DNA damage in the developing brain

Switching off a key DNA repair system in the developing nervous system is linked to smaller brain size as well as problems in brain structures vital to movement, memory and emotion, according to new research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists. The work, published in the Aug...

Scientists closer to developing salt-tolerant crops

An international team of scientists has developed salt-tolerant plants using a new type of genetic modification (GM), bringing salt-tolerant cereal crops a step closer to reality. The research team based at the University of Adelaide's Waite Campus in Australia has used a new GM technique to ...

Sugar, spice and puppy dog tails: Developing sex-typed personality traits and interests

A new longitudinal study of children's personality traits and interests tells us that sex-typed characteristics develop differently in girls and boys. The study, by researchers at The Pennsylvania State University, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Purdue University, appears in the March/Apri...

Nutrigenomics -- developing personalized diets for disease prevention -- part 2 just published in OMICS

New Rochelle, NY, March 17, 2009The relationships between food, nutrition science, and health outcomes have been intensively analyzed over the past century. Genomic variation among individuals and populations is a new factor that enriches and challenges our understanding of these complex relations...

Iowa State researchers developing clean, renewable energy for ethanol industry

AMES, Iowa Iowa State University researchers are working to produce clean, renewable energy by developing a new, low-emissions burner and a new catalyst for ethanol production. Both technologies will use the synthesis gas a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen produced by the gasification...

Veterinarians developing model to help producers, vets make cattle more comfortable

Using equipment not all that different from what a runner might take on a jog, veterinary researchers at Kansas State University are working to make life more comfortable for cattle. A jogger's heart rate monitor and an instrument similar to a pedometer are a few of the tools K-State researcher...

Preventing rangeland erosion: Developing better management practices in Iran

Madison, WI, February 9, 2009 -- The rangelands of Iran have one of the world's longest history of agriculture development, with a deep tradition of technological developments and knowledge of the soil that has produced centuries of fertile crops. Currently, however, new pressures to feed an incre...

Researchers examine developing hearts in chickens to find solutions for human heart abnormalities

COLUMBIA, Mo. When it is head versus heart, the heart comes first. The heart is the first organ to develop and is critical in supplying blood to the rest of the body. Yet, little is known about the complex processes that regulate the heartbeat. By studying chickens' hearts, a University of Missou...

Nutrigenomics -- developing personalized diets for disease prevention

New Rochelle, NY, December 29, 2008The emerging field of nutrigenomics, which aims to identify the genetic factors that influence the body's response to diet and studies how the bioactive constituents of food affect gene expression, is explored in a series of provocative, interdisciplinary report...

Pigs and dogs can bridge gap between mice and humans in developing new therapies

Human and veterinary medicine could receive a big boost through use of larger animals, especially pigs and dogs, in research, with Europe at the forefront. There is the prospect of bringing drugs to the market more quickly at less cost, as well as accelerating progress in other forms of therapy, n...

Scientists developing food allergy treatment

A team of scientists from across Europe are embarking on new research to develop a treatment for food allergy. "Food allergy affects around 10 million EU citizens and there is no cure," says Dr Clare Mills of the Institute of Food Research, a lead partner in the Food Allergy Specific Therapy (F...

Carnegie Mellon developing automated systems to enable precision farming of apples, oranges

PITTSBURGHTwo groups of researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute have received a total of $10 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to build automated farming systems. One is for apple growers and one is for orange growers, but both are designed to ...

Space researchers developing tool to help disoriented pilots

HOUSTON (Nov. 13, 2008) -- Not knowing which way is up can have deadly consequences for pilots. This confusion of the senses, called spatial disorientation, is responsible for up to 10 percent of general aviation accidents in the United States, with 90 percent of these being fatal, according to t...

Repair in the developing heart

If the heart becomes diseased during its embryonic/fetal development, it can regenerate itself to such an extent that it is fully functional by birth, provided some of the heart cells remain healthy. Dr. Jrg-Detlef Drenckhahn of the Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch made ...

HPV DNA test identifies cervical pre-cancerous disease in developing countries with 90% success rate

Results of the first study to determine the accuracy of a new rapid screening test for HPV (Human Papilloma Virus), created specifically for use in the developing world, have shown it to be 90 per cent accurate in detecting precancerous cervical disease when tested on a group of local women in Sha...

ASM and FIND to partner on strengthening infectious disease diagnosis in developing nations

The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) and the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding today confirming their agreement to work in partnership for projects aimed at strengthening infectious disease diagnosis and service integration in resourc...

Fertility treatment in developing countries; a cycle of IVF for less than $200

Barcelona, Spain: After 30 years of IVF, the rewards of treatment are still largely confined to industrialised countries and those who can afford it. Now, a Special Task Force of ESHRE has set about the immeasurable task of making fertility treatment more accessible to developing countries through...

New treatment approach promising for lymphoma patients in the developing world

Preliminary results suggest that patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in the developing world might benefit from a modified chemotherapy regimen, researchers say. At the ESMO Conference Lugano (ECLU) organized by the European Society for Medical Oncology, a group headed by Prof. Hamd...

Biotechnology key to developing sustainable industries says international panel

SAN DIEGO, CA (June 18, 2008): Despite recent controversies over crop-based biofuels, biotechnology offers some of the best opportunities to create a more sustainable world, with applications as diverse as new sources of energy, new materials for industrial and consumer uses, and high quality agri...

Molecular 'clock' could predict risk for developing breast cancer

DALLAS May 14, 2008 A chemical reaction in genes that control breast cancer provides a molecular clock that could one day help researchers more accurately determine a womans risk for developing breast cancer and provide a new approach for treatment, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers hav...

Stanford researchers developing 3-D camera with 12,616 lenses

The camera you own has one main lens and produces a flat, two-dimensional photograph, whether you hold it in your hand or view it on your computer screen. On the other hand, a camera with two lenses (or two cameras placed apart from each other) can take more interesting 3-D photos. But what if ...

Major scientific push to tackle agricultural productivity and food security in developing world

7M of new research is being launched today to tackle some of the most damaging and widespread pests, diseases and harsh environmental conditions which can devastate crop yields across the developing world. Three out of four poor people in developing countries live in rural areas and most depend on...

New way to produce high-vitamin corn could improve nutrition in developing countries

Scientists have developed a potentially powerful new tool in the fight against deficiencies in dietary vitamin A, which cause eye diseases, including blindness, in 40 million children annually, and increased health risks for about 250 million people, mostly in developing countries. This tool c...

University-industry team developing coal cleaning technology in India

Blacksburg, Va. In support of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, the U.S. Department of State has awarded more than $1 million to a university-industry team led by the Center for Advanced Separation Technologies at Virginia Tech to help India increase energy production...

Sweet potato shines as new promise for small enterprise and hunger relief in developing countries

WASHINGTON, DC -- Sweetpotatoes, often misunderstood and underrated, are receiving new attention as a life-saving food crop in developing countries. According to the International Potato Center ( www.cipotato.org ), more than 95 percent of the global sweetpotato crop is grown in developing coun...

Hand hygiene initiative aims to decrease healthcare-associated infection in developing countries

An open-access commentary in the December 2007 issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology examines a recently launched a global initiative by the World Health Organization (WHO) to combat healthcare-associated infection by improving hand hygiene in health care. The commentary is part of ...

Leading experts cite poor health and nutrition as major barrier to education in developing world

The book (School Health, Nutrition and Education for All) argues that the education of children will greatly improve if the programmes to improve health and nutrition, which have reduced major diseases in poor communities, are replicated across the developing world. Matthew Jukes, one of the ...

Iowa State University conference examines developing bioeconomy

AMES, Iowa Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla told last years Biobased Industry Outlook Conference at Iowa State University why he believes fuel blends containing 85 percent ethanol can replace the countrys gasoline supply. Khosla who last year told The New York Times hes invested tens of milli...

Researchers developing device to predict proper light exposure for human health

Troy, N.Y. Scientists have long known that the human body runs like clockwork, guided by a circadian system that responds to daily patterns of light and darkness. Now a team of researchers is developing a personal device to measure daily light intake and activity, which could allow them to predic...

M2SYS Partners With Gnosis Medical Services to Provide Accurate Patient Identification in Developing Countries Through Innovative Biometrics Solution

Biometric Fingerprint Technology used to Identify Patients and Retrieve Crucial Medical Records ATLANTA, Aug. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- M2SYS Technology, an award-winning biometric technology research and development firm, announced today that they have partnered with Gnosis Me...

Cheaper, better disease treatments expected from faster approach to developing antibodies

A method of mass-producing disease-fighting antibodies entirely within bacteria has been developed by a research group at The University of Texas at Austin. The group led by Dr. George Georgiou developed the new antibody-production approach to improve upon processes used previously to identify n...

New test helps identify hepatitis C patients at high risk of developing cirrhosis

A researcher at the Stanford University School of Medicine has helped confirm the reliability of a new test for liver disease that is ushering in the long-promised era of personalized medicine based on each individual's genetic makeup. The Stanford group was one of the five sites that helped d...

Replacing insulin is top-ranked breakthrough foreseen for health in developing world

Eliminating the need for costly insulin injections for diabetics, regenerating heart muscle after it fails, and improving resistance to disease by engineering immune cells top a list of 10 potential breakthroughs for health in developing countries seen emerging from the new world of regenerative me...

DOE publishes research roadmap for developing cleaner fuels

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today released an ambitious new research agenda for the development of cellulosic ethanol as an alternative to gasoline. The 200-page scientific "roadmap" cites recent advances in biotechnology that have made cost-effective production of ethanol from cellulose, ...

Neurons find their place in the developing nervous system with the help of a sticky molecule

The brain, that exquisite network of billions of communicating cells, starts to take form with the genesis of nerve cells. Most newborn nerve cells, also called neurons, must travel from their birthplace to the position they will occupy in the adult brain. Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biol...

Free access to a digital library for developing countries

As of 2006 more than 130 environmental journals from the scientific publisher Springer will be part of the initiative Online Access to Research in the Environment (OARE), a digital library for developing countries. Public and non-profit institutions in underdeveloped nations in Africa, Asia, Latin ...

Elusive salamanders have role in developing new sampling models

Rare salamanders at a Georgia military base are the guinea pigs for Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers whose goal is to develop methods to better determine whether a species has vanished. After not finding any flatwoods salamanders since 2001, Fort Stewart biologists were a bit concerned ...

UIC developing drug for SARS

A prototype drug created by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago shows promise in slowing replication of the virus responsible for severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. Currently, there are no effective antiviral agents or vaccines for SARS, which killed almost 800 people i...

Active Vaccine Prevents Mice From Developing Prion Disease

NYU School of Medicine scientists have created the first active vaccine that can significantly delay and possibly prevent the onset of a brain disease in mice that is similar to mad cow disease. The new findings, published online this week in the journal Neuroscience, could provide a platform for t...

Emergence of cancer as major cause of childhood death in developing countries is not being adequately addressed

The emergence of cancer as a major cause of death among children in developing regions of the world is not being adequately addressed by national or international health organizations and charities, according to investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. This growing rate of pediatric ...