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Why the thumb of the right hand is on the left hand side

This press release is available in German . It is the concentration of a few signaling molecules that determines the fate of individual cells during the early development of organisms. In the renowned journal Current Biology , a team of molecular biologists led by Pia Aanstad of the Unive...

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 ...

Neurons hard wired to tell left from right

It's well known that the left and right sides of the brain differ in many animal species and this is thought to influence cognitive performance and social behaviour. For instance, in humans, the left half of the brain is concerned with language processing whereas the right side is better at compre...

Ancient amphibians left full-body imprints

Unprecedented fossilized body imprints of amphibians have been discovered in 330 million-year-old rocks from Pennsylvania. The imprints show the unmistakably webbed feet and bodies of three previously unknown, foot-long salamander-like critters that lived 100 million years before the first dinosau...

Snails and humans use same genes to tell right from left

Berkeley -- Biologists have tracked down genes that control the handedness of snail shells, and they turn out to be similar to the genes used by humans to set up the left and right sides of the body. The finding, reported online in advance of publication in Nature by University of California,...

First-time analysis reveals millions of Europeans left at risk from influenza

A powerful analysis from this month's Vaccine 1 highlights the huge gap between current vaccination coverage across Europe and the recommendations endorsed by the European Union. Currently, only one third (35%) of all high risk populations are receiving seasonal influenza vaccine in Europe, resulti...

Forsyth scientists gain greater understanding of how embryos differentiate left from right

Researchers at the Forsyth Institute have discovered a new mechanism responsible for early left/right patterning, the process by which organs locate themselves on the left or right side of the body. The discovery of this novel mechanism, garnered through the study of three different vertebrates (...

Earliest European Farmers Left Little Genetic Mark On Modern Europe

Editor : Be sure to check out the complete report on the HIV situation worldwide , available in several languages. There is new evidence that adult HIV infection rates have decreased in certain countries and that changes in behaviour to prevent infection—such as increased use of condoms, delay ...

Tsunami-damaged coral reefs should be left to recover naturally, say scientists

Coral reefs damaged in the Asian tsunami tragedy should be allowed to recover naturally before countries launch into expensive restoration plans, according to some of the world's leading scientists. The scientists, led by a researcher from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, and who set out t...

First human gets new antibody aimed at hepatitis C virus

... transplant surgery. By giving a patient the new antibody before and during the time when the donor liver is implanted, researchers hope the HCV virus left in the bloodstream will be neutralized and rendered unable to infect the new liver. Then, because monoclonal antibodies are highly specific and typica...

Lead-based consumer paint remains a global public health threat

...standards. His team also analyzed the consumer cost of leaded and unleaded paint. Each paint sample was applied in a single layer to a wood block, left to dry and then removed and analyzed in UC laboratories for lead content. Researchers determined that 73 percent of the paint companies' products test...

After dinosaurs, mammals rise but their genomes get smaller

...observations in the literature," Lynch said. "The data we saw suggested a bulge in age distribution of transposable elements in humans and mouse." left enough time, Lynch says, transposable elements are eventually lost from the genome, sometimes by accident and sometimes, perhaps, as the result of nat...

121 breeding tigers estimated to be found in Nepal

...ted number of tigers in important range countries is frighteningly low, with a recent government census suggesting there may be as few as 1,300 tigers left in India, the species' stronghold. And tigers are facing an epidemic of poaching and habitat loss across their range. The main reason for the decli...

Disease threat may change how frogs mate

...tly to those in healthy populations. As Ranavirus is typically associated with heavy death tolls in infected populations, there are often few frogs left alive to mate. This frequently leads to inbreeding, which causes an increase in relatedness in the population. However, Dr Teacher has uncovered start...

Cancer's distinctive pattern of gene expression could aid early screening and prevention

... AUGUSTA, Ga. Distinctive patterns of genes turned off or left on in healthy versus cancerous cells could enable early screening for many common cancers and maybe help avoid them, Medical College of Georgia scien...

Iowa State University researchers develop process for 'surgical' genetic changes

..., according to Wright and Townsend. The research, published in the journal Nature , was performed in Dan Voytas' lab at Iowa State. Voytas recently left the university for a position at the University of Minnesota. In addition to the difficulty introducing changes where researchers want them using cu...

Hush little baby... Linking genes, brain and behavior in children

...For example, infants who have more activity in the left frontal cortex are characterized as temperamentall... Among children who exhibited more activity in the left frontal cortex at 9 months, those who had the long... of brain activity (that is, greater activation in left or right frontal cortex) may influence whether thi...

Playing it safe

...amete formation, and to pass on their genes to further generations. However, not every team carries out all of these tests and important questions are left unanswered, even in articles published in renowned journals. Stable original cell line With their work, Ko and his colleagues wanted to establ...

Clinical trial shows quadriplegics can operate powered wheelchair with tongue drive system

...he user issued commands to move the computer mouse left and right. Using these commands, each subject play... driving exercise. Using forward, backward, right, left and stop/neutral tongue commands, the subjects man... is allowed to steer the powered wheelchair to the left or right as it is moving forward and backward, thu...

Genetically engineered mice yield clues to 'knocking out' cancer

...roxides. The damage levied on DNA by these compounds can include lesions, breaks, cross-links and deletionserrors in our normal genetic codes that, if left unchecked, may accelerate the aging process and increase susceptibility to several disease states. In humans, DNA repair genes produce enzymes called ...

Key to evolutionary fitness: Cut the calories

...ay compromise their ability to successfully reproduce in the future. If a hare puts most of its energy into a litter of pups then it will have little left over for growth and body repairs for example, which may shorten its life or make it less able to produce or care for young in the future. By actively...

Reading the brain without poking it

...a high-quality electronic draftsman's tablet in front of them. The patients were told to reach their arm to one of two targets: one was forward to the left and the other was forward to the right. The patients' arm movements were recorded on the tablet and fed into a computer, which also anal...

Salt block unexpectedly stretches in Sandia experiments

...rittle substance appeared malleable enough to distort over surprisingly long distances by clinging to a special microscope's nanometer-sized tip as it left the surface of the salt. More intense examination showed that surface salt molecules formed a kind of bubble a ductile meniscus with the explora...

U of M study finds new insight on therapy for a devastating parasitic disease

...countries, where people become infected simply by bathing, drinking, or cooking water contaminated with the flatworm. Although not immediately deadly, left untreated, the disease can permanently damage the lungs, kidney, liver, and intestines and ultimately lead to death. A drug called praziquantel has...

Ability to literally imagine oneself in another's shoes may be tied to empathy

...ide of space. Previous research has found that the left side of the face is more emotionally expressive than the right side. Since the left side of the face would be on the right side of the.... These findings could also point to a role of the left hemisphere in empathy. The researchers also fou...

UTSA wins San Antonio Area Foundation grant to further chlamydia research

..., experts believe even more chlamydia cases exist than are reported, because the disease generally progresses without exhibiting noticeable symptoms. left untreated, chlamydia infections can do severe damage in women, causing ectopic pregnancies, pelvic inflammatory disease and even infertility. In men,...

New tracking approach will help protect polar bears

... First, a number of "hair traps" fenced enclosures baited with meat will be set up about 15 kilometres apart over a 600-kilometre area. Bits of hair left behind by the bears as they attempt to reach the meat are sent to Dr. Boag's lab, where the number and sex of the animals are determined using DNA mar...

CU-Boulder study shows Maya intensively cultivated manioc 1,400 years ago

...ble to see how ancient Maya grew and harvested manioc," said Sheets, who discovered Ceren in 1978. Ash hollows in the manioc planting beds at Ceren left by decomposed plant material were cast in dental plaster by the team to preserve their shape and size, said Sheets. Evidence showed the field was har...

Peripheral nerve repair with fat precursor cells led to wider nerves and less muscle atrophy

...ed group using nerve guides over a control group in which nerve guides were left empty. Researchers also observed the formation of a more robust nerve accom...Cs. No regeneration was observed in any of the rats in which the defect was left untreated," said Marra. Their results also showed that transplanted human...

Stress puts double whammy on reproductive system, fertility

...ssed rats showed increased RFRP levels for several hours, but that levels returned to normal by the next day. Chronically stressed rats, however, were left with longer-term elevations of RFRP levels in the dorsomedial hypothalamus area of the brain, and suppression of activity in the reproductive axis - t...

Major breakthrough in early detection and prevention of AMD

...ade the retina, the light-sensitive tissue that lines the inner surface of the eyeball. "Once the vessels invade the retina, the horse has already left the barn," Ambati said. "At that point, drugs can slow the process, but irreparable damage has often already been done. This is why finding a means fo...

What really prompts the dog's 'guilty look'

...e room. In some trials the owners were told that their dog had eaten the forbidden treat; in others, they were told their dog had behaved properly and left the treat alone. What the owners were told, however, often did not correlate with reality. Whether the dogs' demeanor included elements of the "gu...

Climate change could drive vast human migrations

...s. It says nations must agree on how to resettle populations of low-lying areas, and strengthen the ability of emigrants to send remittances to those left in affected regions. "New thinking and practical approaches are needed to address the threats that climate-related migration poses to human sec...

The secret of a snake's slither

...most friction with the ground and therefore maximize thrust. In this way, snake slithering is not unlike human walking--we, too, shift our weight from left to right to enable us to move. ...

Mars mission could ease Earth's energy supply crisis

...istics of more conventional oil deposits and make them commercially viable. The extraction process requires substantial amounts of water which is then left contaminated for extended periods of time. In just hours, the new technology can strip this water of its oily contaminants, removing a bottleneck in t...

'Shock and kill' research gives new hope for HIV-1 eradication

...sponding cell population. An important result was that the infected cells' 'awakening' was followed by cell death, whereas the non-infected cells were left intact by the drug combination. "I really hope this study may open new avenues to the development of weapons able to eliminate the HIV-infected ce...

Equity concerns raised by congestion pricing can be addressed to make approach viable

...sing parallel free lanes. Although drivers with higher incomes tend to use the tolled lanes more, studies have not shown that lower-income drivers are left worse off, in part because they may benefit from improved traffic flow in the free lanes. Researchers found little or no literature on environmenta...

Rapid approach to identify influenza A virus mutations and drug resistance developed

...neric polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with NimbleGen's unique microarray-based platform, makes use of the same RNA (ribonucleic acid) material that is left over from traditional PCR-based diagnostics and is able to recognize any novel strain of influenza A in the first pass. This enables a faster dev...

Adult bone marrow stem cells injected into skeletal muscle can repair heart tissue

...procedure increased myocytes, or heart cells, by two-fold and reduced cardiac tissue injury by 60 percent. The therapy also improved function of the left ventricle, the primary pumping chamber of the heart, by 40 percent and reduced fibrosis, the hardening of the heart lining that impairs its ability to...

Pediatric carbon monoxide poisoning linked to video games after Hurricane Ike

... Hours after Hurricane Ike roared ashore in Texas, more than two million homes were without power, which left some scrambling to preserve food and others looking for ways to entertain children, a move that proved to be, in some instances, poisonous. Researcher...