Still in Biological News

Arctic governments and industry still unprepared for oil spills 20 years after Exxon Valdez

Two decades after the Exxon Valdez oil spill devastated a vast stretch of the Alaskan coast, governments and industry in the Arctic would be unable to effectively manage a large oil spill, according to a new report by World Wildlife Fund. As the 20th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez spill approache...

This grass is still greener

CLEMSON, SCIn areas of the U.S. where golfers can enjoy the game year-round, winter temperatures, foot and equipment traffic, and frost can wreak havoc on healthy greens and present challenges for course managers and owners. Creeping bentgrass ( Agrostis stolonifera var. palustris Huds. ), a tu...

What we don’t know still hurts us, environmental researchers warn

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Knowledge gaps continue to hobble scientists' assessments of the environment, a Michigan State University researcher and colleagues warn. Their warning follows sobering conclusions drawn from what they do know and could help set the global agenda for research funding in the ...

UGA study may give hope that ivory-billed woodpeckers still around

Athens, Ga. Until credible sightings popped up three years ago, the scientific world was in agreement that ivory-billed woodpeckers had gone the way of the dodo. A new study conducted by University of Georgia researchers reveals that the ivory-billed woodpecker could have persisted if as few as f...

Study: Elderly Women can increase strength but still risk falls

DURHAM, N.H. Elderly women can increase muscle strength as much as young women can, a new study from the University of New Hampshire finds, indicating that decline in muscle function is less a natural part of the aging process than due to a decline in physical activity. The research, publish...

People with heart disease still have trouble controlling blood lipid levels

Irvine, Calif., Aug. 7, 2008 Despite some improvements to lower "bad" cholesterol levels, people with cardiovascular diseases still need to do a better job controlling overall blood lipid levels, according to a UC Irvine Heart Disease Prevention Program study. Researchers found that 37 percent...

Colorectal cancer screening rates still too low

PHILADELPHIA Although colorectal cancer screening tests are proven to reduce colorectal cancer mortality, only about half of U.S. men and women 50 and older receive the recommended tests, according to a report in the July 2008 issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention , a journal o...

Study shows mercury levels from products decreasing, though still at dangerous levels

Chicago, Ill. May 6, 2008 A recent study shows that mercury releases from products in the U.S. declined dramatically between 1990 and 2005, but that they continue to be a significant source of environmental contamination. Mercury released from products contributes nearly one-third of total mercu...

American food: Still the best deal in the world

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30, 2008 -- Although food prices rose 4.8% last year, eating nutritiously is still well within reach of the American family, according to the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) statistics. Analysis done by USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP) indic...

Species still have more viable offspring if they can choose their best mate

Athens, Ga. -- When it comes to picking a mate, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young had an answer: If you cant be with the one you love, love the one youre with. As it turns out, that may be a cardinal rule in the animal kingdom, too. New research that crosses several species boundaries shows that ...

Fat still on the children's menu

Parents should think twice before offering a low-fat menu to youngsters, despite concerns over obesity. Children burn more body fat than adults for each calorie spent, according to research in the online open access publication, Nutrition Journal, evidence that fat can be included as part of a chi...

Massive herds of animals found to still exist in Southern Sudan

Aerial surveys by the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society confirm the existence of more than 1.2 million white-eared kob, tiang antelope and Mongalla gazelle in Southern Sudan, where wildlife was thought to have vanished as a result of decades-long conflict. Despite the war, some species ...

Amur leopard still on the brink of extinction, scientists say

A new census of the world's most endangered cat, the Amur or Far Eastern leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis), shows that as few as 25 to 34 are left in the wild, renewing fears for the future of the species. In February and March, World Wildlife Fund along with the Wildlife Conservation Society ...

History-hunting geneticists can still follow familiar trail

As the world's first explorers branched away from humanity's birthplace in east Africa some 65,000 years ago, distinct mutations accumulated in the DNA of each population, essentially providing a genetic trail for modern researchers to follow. Recently some scientists have raised doubts about thi...

Ten years later, Dolly is still making headlines

The lead researcher for the team who - 10 years ago - created the cloned sheep "Dolly," will kick off the 2006 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists' (AAPS) National Biotechnology Conference in Boston, June 18-21. At the meeting, nearly two-thousand of the world's leading scientists wi...

Despite acidity, orange juice could still be a source of foodborne disease

Orange juice and other foods traditionally not associated with foodborne disease outbreaks can still be a source of disease, although rare. Public health officials should be aware of this possibility and on guard, say scientists presenting today at the 106th General Meeting of the American Society...

Mice lacking key immune component still control chronic viral infections

Despite lack of a key component of the immune system, a line of genetically engineered mice can control chronic herpes virus infections, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found. Scientists can't prove it yet, but they suspect the missing immune system comp...

One-third of adults with diabetes still don't know they have it

The prevalence of diagnosed diabetes in U.S. adults age 20 and older has risen from about 5.1 percent to 6.5 percent, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), who analyzed national survey data from two periods--198...

DNA conclusive yet still controversial, Carnegie Mellon professor says

Although the odds that DNA evidence found at a crime scene will match by chance the DNA of a person who was not there are infinitesimal, controversy continues about DNA identification and its use in criminal investigations, says Carnegie Mellon University Statistics Professor Kathryn Roeder. Roeder...

Tuberculosis still a risk for patients receiving HIV drugs

People taking highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) for HIV infection remain susceptible to tuberculosis, though the risk is lower than for HIV-infected patients not on HAART, according to an article in the Dec. 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online. Opportunistic...

Genetic testing still smart choice, despite uncertainties

Screening embryos for genetic diseases during in vitro fertilization offers couples the best chance for a healthy child, but a genetic glitch could potentially cause doctors to misdiagnose a small fraction of them, University of Florida researchers say. Citing concerns about the accuracy of prei...

Human brain is still evolving

Researchers who have analyzed sequence variations in two genes that regulate brain size in human populations have found evidence that the human brain is still evolving. They speculate that if the human species continues to survive, the human brain may continue to evolve, driven by the pressures o...

South Africa still debating how to tackle HIV/AIDS when 5 million are infected

A national conference in South Africa was dominated this week by the continuing debate over HIV/AIDS drugs. Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang repeated yet again that drugs were not the only way to fight HIV/AIDS, and that eating habits were also important. After previously denying links b...

HIV Infection Still On The Rise

Preventive measures are failing to stem the rising rate of HIV infection, warn two senior doctors in an editorial in this week's BMJ. An estimated 38 million people worldwide, including over 2 million children, are now infected with HIV, and a record 4.8 million became infected in 2003. The u...

Carnegie donates landmark clones to biology

... this simpler mutation not succeed? The researchers believe that there must still be selective pressure on the system. The simplest explanation is that the mechanism is still necessary today, probably to control uptake and prevent toxicity. "The ...

Climbing to new heights in the forest canopy

...f encountering a support. Exactly what allows the plants to circumnutate is still poorly-understood and is a topic of much ongoing research involving biophys...ssels, allow them to maintain this flexibility and withstand breakage while still effectively transporting water and nutrients throughout the plant. Re...

First human gets new antibody aimed at hepatitis C virus

...orize, that the antibody could be used in combination with new antiviral drugs for treatment in patients with newly diagnosed HCV infection. "There is still more work to be done, but we are encouraged by the progress of this program to date," Dr. Ambrosino noted. "And we are grateful to the people who have...

New DNA and RNA aptamers offer unique therapeutic advantages

...enhance their therapeutic potential, and the different types of aptamers that are currently in development. They also discuss the challenges that must still be overcome for aptamer technology to achieve its full potential. "This is a comprehensive and timely review of aptamer development and therapeuti...

Hormone levels contribute to stress resilience

...re, compounds like DHEA might be used to protect military personnel from the negative impact of operational stress." Clearly, additional research is still needed but these findings are a step forward in the quest to help prevent or better treat the symptoms of stress-related disorders that these high-ris...

Scary ancient spiders revealed in 3-D models, thanks to new imaging technique

...heir last common ancestor, who probably used the growths at the base of their limbs to help them grind their food. These coxal endite-type growths can still be seen today in species such as horseshoe crabs, which use them to grind up their prey before pushing it into their backward-facing mouths. The co...

UBC researchers find first-ever 'wanderlust gene' in tiny bony fish

...icklebacks' 'invasion' of freshwater habitats," says Barrett. "The new behavioural association we've identified may also shed light on why there's still a small but constant population of armour-less sticklebacks in the sea despite the high predation there. Sticklebacks with the mutant allele just like...

Lead-based consumer paint remains a global public health threat

... in the United States since 1978, University of Cincinnati (UC) environmental health researchers say in major countries from three continents there is still widespread failure to acknowledge its danger and companies continue to sell consumer paints that contain dangerous levels of lead. In a new study,...

Animal and plant communication at the ESA Annual Meeting

...cate with one another, she also wondered if the bugs were mimicking the scent of the ants. When she and her colleagues immobilized the bugs, the ants still did not attack them. But when the researchers washed the bugs in a chemical solvent and returned them to the plants, the ants immediately swarmed the ...

La Jolla Institute discovers novel tumor suppressor

... indicating that these diseases also use this mechanism (low expression of PLC-beta 3 and high STAT5 activity)." Dr. Kawakami added that much work still needs to be done. "Our findings need to be explored in other tumors. And, of course, its application in human disease needs further study. But we ho...

Martin Hensen, head of e-strategies, UCB Germany: Making e-marketing more than just an add-on

...f our marketing efforts focused squarely on the sales force, e-marketing is still an add on, says Martin Hensen, head of e-strategies, UCB Germany. But succe...nd more people in Legal than in e-Business, pharma companies themselves are still at Pharma 1.0. And its strictly Product managers 1.0, Hensen says, consider...

New hope for fisheries

...systems are improving" says Hilborn. "Yet there is still a long way to go: of all fish stocks that we examined sixty-three percent remained below target and still needed to be rebuilt." "Across all regions we are still seeing a troubling trend of increasing stock colla...

August 2009 Geology and GSA Today media highlights

... history of Mars, and how much of that water might still be trapped below the surface. This study by Adams ... The emerging picture is that the Martian regolith still may be rich in water. A lacustrine carbona...ks buries the crater, the outline of the crater is still visible at the surface by a semicircular ring of w...

Global curbs on overfishing are beginning to work

...ems are improving," says Dr Hilborn. "Yet there is still a long way to go: of all fish stocks that we examined 63 per cent remained below target and still needed to be rebuilt." According to Dr Worm, there is still a troubling trend of increasing stock collapse acr...

K-State researcher, collaborators study virulence of pandemic H1N1 virus

... type includes drugs like Tamiflu that target the neuraminidase protein. He said that this pandemic H1N1 is already resistant to the M2 inhibitors but still is sensitive to Tamiflu. "Some pandemic flu isolates from humans have now shown resistance to the Tamiflu," Richt said. "So the big issue now is if...

Jet-propelled imaging for an ultrafast light source

...t a time. And the nozzle won't clog, because even a particle bigger than the sample protein or virus bigger than the stream of liquid itself can still fly through the glass nozzle without hitting the walls and getting stuck. The frequency at which the droplets emerge can be controlled by an oscil...