but in Biological News

Carbon nanoparticles toxic to adult fruit flies but benign to young

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] Carbon nanoparticles are widely used in medicine, electronics, optics, materials science and architecture, but their health and environmental impact is not fully understood. In a series of experiments, researchers at Brown University sought to determine how ...

After dinosaurs, mammals rise but their genomes get smaller

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Evidence buried in the chromosomes of animals and plants strongly suggests only one group -- mammals -- have seen their genomes shrink after the dinosaurs' extinction. What's more, that trend continues today, say Indiana University Bloomington scientists in the first issue of ...

Smaller than expected, but severe, dead zone in Gulf of Mexico

NOAA-supported scientists, led by Nancy Rabalais, Ph.D., from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON), found the size of this year's Gulf of Mexico dead zone to be smaller than forecasted, measuring 3,000 square miles. However the dead zone, which is usually limited to water just abo...

Not 1, but 2 kinds of males found in the invasive round goby

Scientists have found the existence of two types of males of a fiercely invasive fish spreading through the Great Lakes, which may provide answers as to how they rapidly reproduce. The research, published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research , looks at the aggressive round goby, a bottom-dw...

Muscle atrophy through thick but not thin

During desperate times, such as fasting, or muscle wasting that afflicts cancer or AIDS patients, the body cannibalizes itself, atrophying and breaking down skeletal muscle proteins to liberate amino acids. In a new study published online June 8 and in the June 15, 2009 print issue of the Journal...

Rabbits on the back foot -- but naturally they're fighting back

Australian rabbits have had everything but the kitchen sink thrown at them over the years. Myxomatosis knocked them about but they bounced back. The same with rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) or the calicivirus. Now Dr Tanja Strive from CSIRO Entomology and the Invasive Animals Cooperative Rese...

People of higher socioeconomic status choose better diets -- but pay more per calorie

St. Louis, MO, May 1, 2009 As people become more educated, studies have demonstrated that they tend to choose foods that are lower in calories but higher in nutrients. They also pay more. In a study published in the May 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association , researchers...

Social separation stops flu spread, but must be started soon

A disease spread simulation has emphasized that flu interventions must be imposed quickly, if they are to be effective. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Public Health have shown that staying at home, closing schools and isolating infected people within the home should reduce in...

Nanoneedle is small in size, but huge in applications

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a membrane-penetrating nanoneedle for the targeted delivery of one or more molecules into the cytoplasm or the nucleus of living cells. In addition to ferrying tiny amounts of cargo, the nanoneedle can also be used as an ele...

Caffeine appears to be beneficial in males -- but not females -- with Lou Gehrig's disease

NEW ORLEANSAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal disease that damages key neurons in the brain and spinal cord. The disease causes progressive paralysis of voluntary muscles and often death within five years of symptoms. Although ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) was discovered over a century ag...

Caffeine appears to be beneficial in males -- but not females -- with Lou Gehrig's disease

NEW ORLEANSAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal disease that damages key neurons in the brain and spinal cord. The disease causes progressive paralysis of voluntary muscles and often death within five years of symptoms. Although ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) was discovered over a century ag...

A dirty job but ...

Byproducts from the electronics, fuel, chemical and defense industries can be far from benign. Toxic heavy metals like cadmium and lead can seep into our food chain and cause cancer. And if found in the soil, these dangerous materials can render parks off-limits and real estate worthless. For e...

Distinguishing single cells with nothing but light

Researchers at the University of Rochester have developed a novel optical technique that permits rapid analysis of single human immune cells using only light. Availability of such a technique means that immunologists and other cellular researchers may soon be able to observe the responses of in...

Tiny but toxic: MBL researchers discover a mechanism of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease

WOODS HOLE, MATiny, toxic protein particles severely disrupt neurotransmission and inhibit delivery of key proteins in Alzheimer's disease, two separate studies by Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) researchers have found. The particles are minute clumps of amyloid beta, which has long been kno...

Coffee cultivation good for diversity in agrarian settlements but not in forests

Coffee shrubs, both in themselves and because they are most often cultivated in the shade of large trees, can have a positive impact on plant and animal diversity in those parts of the landscape that are deforested and dominated by agriculture. What constitutes a dilemma for consumers wishing to ...

African-Americans aware and accepting, but often do not receive, the HPV vaccine

CAREFREE, A.Z. - Although only 25 percent of eligible African-American adolescents have received the HPV vaccine, a new survey presented at the American Association for Cancer Research conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities, suggests they have a positive view of the treatment and m...

Vaccines and autism: Many hypotheses, but no correlation

An extensive new review summarizes the many studies refuting the claim of a link between vaccines and autism. The review, in the February 15, 2009 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases and now available online, looks at the three main hypotheses and shows how epidemiological and biological stud...

Stress disrupts human thinking, but the brain can bounce back

A new neuroimaging study on stressed-out students suggests that male humans, like male rats, don't do their most agile thinking under stress. The findings, published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , show that 20 male M.D. candidates in the middle of preparing fo...

Consumers desire more genetic testing, but not designer babies

A new study by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center found a high desire for additional genetic testing among consumers for life altering and threatening medical conditions including mental retardation, blindness, deafness, cancer, heart disease, dwarfism and shortened lifespan from death by 5...

Dogs chase efficiently, but cats skulk counterintuitively

DURHAM, N.C. -- A Duke University study suggests that evolution can behave as differently as dogs and cats. While the dogs depend on an energy-efficient style of four-footed running over long distances to catch their prey, cats seem to have evolved a profoundly inefficient gait, tailor-made to cre...

Worker ants of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your fertility

This release is available in French . The highly specialized worker castes in ants represent the pinnacle of social organization in the insect world. As in any society, however, ant colonies are filled with internal strife and conflict. So what binds them together? More than 150 years ago...

Forgotten but not gone -- how the brain takes care of things

This release is available in German . Thanks to our ability to learn and to remember, we can perform tasks that other living things can not even dream of. However, we are only just beginning to get the gist of what really goes on in the brain when it learns or forgets something. What ...

Survey highlights support for nanotech in health fields but disapproval elsewhere

A landmark national survey on the use of nanotechnology for "human enhancement" shows widespread public support for applications of the new technology related to improving human health. However, the survey also shows broad disapproval for nanotech human enhancement research in areas without health...

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...

As sticky as a gecko... but 10 times stronger!

The gecko's amazing ability to stick to surfaces and walk up walls has inspired many researchers to manufacture materials that mimic the special surface of a gecko's foot. The secret behind the gecko's ability to stick so well is a forest of pillars at the micro-/nano-scale on the underside of the...

Farmers can spot lame sheep, but fail to prevent footrot spread

Sheep farmers are highly able to spot even mildly lame sheep, but many do not take steps to prevent the spread of lameness in their flocks by catching and treating these animals. A study in the open access journal BMC Veterinary Research is the first to provide evidence for the accuracy of farme...

Migratory moths may hitch their rides, but they're anything but drifters

Night-traveling migratory moths may hitch a ride on the wind, but a new study in the October 14th issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, confirms that they are anything but drifters. A previous report also in Current Biology offered the first evidence that Silver Y moths rely o...

Robotic surgery lowers risk of a rare but serious complication of gastric bypass

The use of a robot to assist with the most commonly performed weight-loss surgery appears to significantly lower a patient's risk of developing a rare but serious complication, according to a study published in the most recent edition of the Journal of Robotic Surgery. Minimally-invasive surg...

Why some primates, but not humans, can live with immunodeficiency viruses and not progress to AIDS

Key differences in immune system signaling and the production of specific immune regulatory molecules may explain why some primates are able to live with an immunodeficiency virus infection without progressing to AIDS-like illness, unlike other primate species, including rhesus macaques and humans...

No more big stink: scent lures mosquitoes, but humans can't smell it

DAVIS--Mosquito traps that reek like latrines may be no more. A University of California, Davis research team led by chemical ecologist Walter Leal has discovered a low-cost, easy-to-prepare attractant that lures blood-fed mosquitoes without making humans hold their noses. The synthetic mix...

TVA fertilizer technology used worldwide -- but few new products since 1970s

About 75% of fertilizers and fertilizer technology used around the world today were developed or improved during the 1950s to 1970s by scientists and engineers at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in the United States, says John Shields, a former TVA official. Shields is now Interim Director of...

Anything but modest: The mouse continues to contribute to humankind

Cambridge, UK, 07 August 2008 - "Big things come in small packages," the saying goes, and it couldn't be more true when discussing the mouse. This little creature has become a crucial part of human history through its contributions in understanding human genetics and disease. In a review publish...

MSU researcher uses grant to study little-known but largely useful microbes

BOZEMAN Montana State University microbiologist Matthew Fields spends his days studying a microscopic world that most people take for granted. Fields studies the physiology and behavior of microbes the tiny organisms that have inhabited virtually every square inch of the earth's surface for t...

Fungi the cause of many outbreaks of disease but mostly ignored

Fungi can cause a number of life-threatening diseases but they also are becoming increasingly useful to science and manufacturing every year. However, many people, scientists among them, are largely unaware of the roles fungi play in the world around us. Research on fungi and fungal diseases are ...

Birds migrate earlier, but some may be left behind as the climate warms rapidly

Many birds are arriving earlier each spring as temperatures warm along the East Coast of the United States. However, the farther those birds journey, the less likely they are to keep pace with the rapidly changing climate. Scientists at Boston University and the Manomet Center for Conservation ...

No sex, but plenty of gene transfer

MBL, WOODS HOLE, MA Where do you get your genes? If you are an animal, you inherit them from your parents at the moment of conception, and that's about it. No later incorporation of environmental DNA for you, unless you become host to a parasite or an endosymbiont that somehow transfers bits ...

Life, but not as we know it?

Researchers at The University of Nottingham have taken some important first steps to creating a synthetic copycat of a living cell, a leading science journal reports. Dr Cameron Alexander and PhD student George Pasparakis in the University's School of Pharmacy have used polymers long-chain mol...

Absinthe uncorked: The 'Green Fairy' was boozy -- but not psychedelic

A new study may end the century-old controversy over what ingredient in absinthe caused the exotic green aperitifs supposed mind-altering effects and toxic side-effects when consumed to excess. In the most comprehensive analysis of old bottles of original absinthe once quaffed by the likes of...

New chemotherapy combo produces side effects, but no extra efficacy, in early breast cancer patients

Berlin, Germany: Adding capecitabine, a drug that inhibits DNA synthesis and slows the growth of tumour tissue, to docetaxel, in patients with early breast cancer, leads to more toxicities and does not improve the efficacy of treatment, a German scientist told the 6th European Breast Cancer Confe...

Chesapeake Bay ecosystem health remains poor, but slightly improved in 2007

An independent scientific analysis led by University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science researchers gives the Chesapeake Bay a C-minus in 2007, indicating that Bay ecological conditions were slightly better than the previous year, but far below what is needed for a healthy Bay. The C...