dark

Glow-in-the-dark zebrafish at UH hold keys to biological clocks

Using genetically altered zebrafish that glow in the dark, University of Houston researchers have found new tools that shed light upon biological clock cycles. Gregory M. Cahill, associate professor of biology and biochemistry at UH, and Maki Kaneko, a fellow UH researcher who is now at the University of California-San Diego, presented their findings in a paper titled "Light-dependent Dev...

Scientists find viruses can't stick to sea bugs in the dark

Blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, in the seas are as vital to the survival of life on earth as the oxygen producing plants are on land. But marine bacteria are attacked by viruses, which can seriously affect their life-sustaining abilities but mow a researcher at the University of Warwick has discovered that these viruses don't work in the dark, according to research presented today (Monday, 04...

Expanding forests darken the outlook for butterflies, study shows

Changing environmental conditions in the Canadian Rockies are stifling the mating choices of butterflies in the region, say University of Alberta researchers. Smaller and less abundant alpine meadows--largely the result of human activities--are diminishing the alpine butterfly gene pool, creating a pattern that could lead to the butterflies being less able to survive, said Dr. Jens Roland,...

Opiate cocktail may spare cells from morphine's dark side

Although morphine is well known as a highly effective analgesic, its clinical utility is severely limited by the development of drug tolerance, the requirement for increasing doses to maintain analgesic effect, and the development of physical dependence. In the June 7 issue of Current Biology, researchers report a new study showing that the administration of a drug cocktail containing morphine al...

New clues to the dark side of a key anti-tumor guardian

Although researchers over recent years have established a foothold in understanding how p53 protects against cancer, the mechanisms by which it might contribute to aging and lifespan are not well studied. In work reported this week, researchers studying p53 function in fruit flies show new evidence that despite the protective role of p53 as a guardian against tumor formation, normal levels of p53...

Study Unlocks Insects?Secret for Love in the Dark

Could improve prediction of patient outcomes, lead to tailored treatmentsWhen it comes to inflammation, too much of a good thing can be deadly. In some severely injured patients, this normal healing process can develop into a lethal, whole-body response, including bloodstream infection (sepsis) and multiple organ failure. How and why inflammation turns from healing to harming is still mysterious,...

Darkness unveils vital metabolic fuel switch between sugar and fat

Constant darkness throws a molecular switch in mammals that shifts the body's fuel consumption from glucose to fat and induces a state of torpor in mice, a research team led by scientists at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston reports in the Jan. 19 edition of Nature. While their findings could provide new insight into mammalian hibernation, researchers note that the pivota...

Illuminating the dark side of plants

Plant poisoning is a significant problem around the world. In the United States, exposures to plant toxins account for approximately ten percent of the annual calls to the nation's Poison Control Centers. Responding to the need for a useful guide to the harmful potential of plants, Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants provides portable, comprehensive information to the toxic plants encoun...

New study sheds light on 'dark states' in DNA

Chemists at Ohio State University have probed an unusual high-energy state produced in single nucleotides -- the building blocks of DNA and RNA -- when they absorb ultraviolet (UV) light. This is the first time scientists have been able to probe the "dark" energy state -- so called because it cannot be detected by fluorescence techniques used to study other high-energy states created in DN...

Exploring the dark matter of the genome

Now members of the Drosophila Heterochromatin Genome Project (DHGP), headed by Gary Karpen of the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Labor...