make in Biological News

Douglas-fir, geoducks make strange bedfellows in studying climate change

NEWPORT, Ore. Scientists are comparing annual growth rings of the Pacific Northwest's largest bivalve and its most iconic tree for clues to how living organisms may have responded to changes in climate. Analyzed by themselves, the rings from a single tree or mollusk may sometimes reflect condi...

Parasitic worms make sex worthwhile

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The coevolutionary struggle between a New Zealand snail and its worm parasite makes sex advantageous for the snail, whose females favor asexual reproduction in the absence of parasites, say Indiana University Bloomington and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology biologists in ...

New way to make sensors that detect toxic chemicals

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State University researchers have developed a new method for making extremely pure, very small metal-oxide nanoparticles. They are using this simple, fast, and low-temperature process to make materials for gas sensors that detect toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) and biol...

Aussie and Kiwi researchers make double MS genetic discovery

Australian and New Zealand researchers have accelerated research into Multiple Sclerosis by discovering two new locations of genes which will help to unravel the causes of MS and other autoimmune disease. Their findings will be published today in the prestigious journal Nature Genetics . ...

Changing climate likely to make 'super weed' even more powerful

Researchers at the University of Delaware have discovered a new reason why the tall, tasseled reed Phragmites australis is one of the most invasive plants in the United States. The UD research team found that Phragmites delivers a one-two chemical knock-out punch to snuff out its victims, a...

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

Policymakers need to address equity concerns early when implementing congestion pricing to improve traffic flow, as each situation is unique and must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, according to a study issued today by the RAND Corporation. Transportation policymakers often look to conge...

Scientists explain how 'death receptors' designed to kill our cells may make them stronger

It turns out that from the perspective of cell biology, Nietzsche may have been right after all: that which does not kill us does make us stronger. In a review article published in the June 2009 print issue of The FASEB Journal ( http://www.fasebj.org ), scientists from the Mayo Clinic explain h...

MSU discoveries upend traditional thinking about how plants make certain compounds

EAST LANSING, Mich. Michigan State University plant scientists have identified two new genes and two new enzymes in tomato plants; those findings led them to discover that the plants were making monoterpenes, compounds that help give tomato leaves their distinctive smell, in a way that flies in t...

UCSD researchers make first direct observations of biological particles in high-altitude ice clouds

A team of UC San Diego-led atmospheric chemistry researchers moved closer to what is considered the "holy grail" of climate change science when it made the first-ever direct detection of biological particles within ice clouds. The team, led by Kerri Pratt, a Ph.D. student of atmospheric chemist...

Researchers find snippet of RNA that helps make individuals remarkably alike

"No two people are alike." Yet when we consider the thousands of genes with frequent differences in genetic composition among different people, it is remarkable how much alike we are. Uniformity, or singleness of form, is not unique to humans but a general property of life. Biologists have lon...

Grouping muscles to make controlling limbs easier

With more than 30 muscles in your arm, controlling movement -- whether it's grasping a glass or throwing a baseball -- is a complex task that potentially takes into account thousands of variables. But researchers at Northwestern University have shown that it could be possible to control a limb ...

Our brains make their own marijuana: We're all pot heads deep inside

U.S. and Brazilian scientists have just proven that one of Bob Dylan's most famous lines"everybody must get stoned" is correct. That's because they've discovered that the brain manufactures proteins that act like marijuana at specific receptors in the brain itself. This discovery, published online...

Genes that make bacteria make up their minds

Bacteria are single cell organisms with no nervous system or brain. So how do individual bacterial cells living as part of a complex community called a biofilm "decide" between different physiological processes (such as movement or producing the "glue" that forms the biofilm)? In the prestigio...

UCLA stem cells scientists make electrically active motor neurons from iPS cells

Stem cells scientists at UCLA showed for the first time that human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells can be differentiated into electrically active motor neurons, a discovery that may aid in studying and treating neurological disorders. Additionally, the motor neurons derived from the iPS c...

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...

Older killer whales make the best mothers

Killer whales ( Orcinus orca ) nearing the menopause may be more successful in rearing their young. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Frontiers in Zoology shows that estimated survival rates for calves born to these older mothers were 10% higher than those for other ...

When it comes to sleep research, fruit flies and people make unlikely bedfellows

You may never hear fruit flies snore, but rest assured that when you're asleep they are too. According to research published in the January 2009 issue of the journal GENETICS ( http://www.genetics.org ), scientists from the University of Missouri-Kansas City have shown that the circadian rhythms...

Hind wings help butterflies make swift turns to evade predators, study finds

ITHACA, N.Y. New tires allow race cars to take tight turns at high speeds. Hind wings give moths and butterflies similar advantages: They are not necessary for basic flight but help these creatures take tight turns to evade predators. "To escape a predator, you don't have to be fast, you just h...

Young adults need to make more time for healthy meals

January 6, 2009, St. Louis, MO As adolescents mature into young adults, increasing time constraints due to school or work can begin to impact eating habits in a negative way. In a study published in the January 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association , researchers observed...

The gold standard: Biodesign Institute researchers use nanoparticles to make 3-D DNA nanotubes

Arizona State University researchers Hao Yan and Yan Liu imagine and assemble intricate structures on a scale almost unfathomably small. Their medium is the double-helical DNA molecule, a versatile building material offering near limitless construction potential. In the January 2, 2009 issue o...

Scientists make strides toward defining genetic signature of Alzheimer's disease

Scientists have new information about the complex genetic signature associated with Alzheimer's disease, the leading cause of cognitive decline and dementia in the elderly. The research, published by Cell Press in the January issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics , uses a powerful, high...

Researchers make breakthrough in the production of double-walled carbon nanotubes

In recent years, the possible applications for double-walled carbon nanotubes have excited scientists and engineers, particularly those working on developing renewable energy technologies. These tiny tubes, just two carbon atoms thick, are thin enough to be transparent, yet can still conduct elect...

New evidence that people make aspirin's active principle -- salicylic acid

WASHINGTON, Dec. 22, 2008 Scientists in the United Kingdom are reporting new evidence that humans can make their own salicylic acid (SA) the material formed when aspirin breaks down in the body. SA, which is responsible for aspirin's renowned effects in relieving pain and inflammation, may be th...

Engineering algae to make fuel instead of sugar

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 - In pursuing cleaner energy there is such a thing as being too green. Unicellular microalgae, for instance, can be considered too green. In a paper in a special energy issue of Optics Express , the Optical Society's (OSA) open-access journal, scientists at the University of ...

UNC scientists teach enzyme to make synthetic heparin in more varieties

CHAPEL HILL Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have learned to customize a key human enzyme responsible for producing heparin, opening the door to a more effective synthetic anticoagulant as well as treatments for other conditions. Jian Liu, Ph.D., and colleagues at...

Overuse of narcotics and barbiturates may make migraine worse

November 17, 2008 (Bronx, NY) A team of researchers led by investigators at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has determined that certain commonly-prescribed medications may have the unintended consequence of increasing the frequency of migraine attacks. This importan...

MIT: A quicker, easier way to make coal cleaner

WASHINGTON, DC--Construction of new coal-fired power plants in the United States is in danger of coming to a standstill, partly due to the high cost of the requirement whether existing or anticipated to capture all emissions of carbon dioxide, an important greenhouse gas. But an MIT analysis sug...

NPL unveils new equipment to make cancer treatment safer

NPL unveils new equipment to make cancer treatment safer A new piece of medical technology unveiled at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) today will help improve the success rates of radiotherapy cancer treatments. The new clinical electron linear accelerator (linac) will help ensure patien...

TECNALIA investigates advanced biomaterials to make more reliable and hardwearing medical implants

The TECNALIA Technological Corporation is taking part in the Cnit Intelimplant project, the goal of which is to develop advanced biomaterials based on innovative technologies (microtechnologies, nanotechnologies, tissue and surface engineering) for the manufacture of a new generation of implants w...

The bonsai effect: Wounded plants make jasmonates, inhibiting cell division, stunting growth

It is well known that plants growing under unfavourable conditions are generally smaller than those growing in stress-free conditions: indeed it is estimated that in the US, abiotic stress reduces the yield of agricultural crops by an average of 22%. A spectacular example of the effect of stress ...

Stress may make you itch

Berlin, Germany Current research suggests that stress may activate immune cells in your skin, resulting in inflammatory skin disease. The related report by Joachim et al., "Stress-induced Neurogenic Inflammation in Murine Skin Skews Dendritic Cells towards Maturation and Migration: Key role of I...

Disinfectants can make bacteria resistant to treatment

Chemicals used in the environment to kill bacteria could be making them stronger, according to a paper published in the October issue of the journal Microbiology . Low levels of these chemicals, called biocides, can make the potentially lethal bacterium Staphylococcus aureus remove toxic chemical...

More research needed to make good on biofuel promise, experts say

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - While cellulosic biofuels derived from grasses, crop residues and inedible plant parts have real potential to be more efficient and environmentally friendly than grain-based biofuels like corn ethanol, more research and science-based policies are needed to reap these benefit...

New way to make malaria medicine also first step in finding new antibiotics

University of Illinois microbiology professor William Metcalf and his collaborators have developed a way to mass-produce an antimalarial compound, potentially making the treatment of malaria less expensive. Metcalf set out to understand how this compound, one of a group known as phosphonates,...

Moderate quantities of dirt make more rain

This release is available in German . Drought or deluge - scientists working with Meinrat O. Andreae, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, have now discovered how aerosols affect the when, where and how much of rainfall. Until now, the answers to these question...

Eli and Edythe L. Broad make unprecedented gift to endow Broad Institute of Harvard & MIT

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 4, 2008 Declaring the success of an unprecedented experiment in science and philanthropy, Los Angeles-based philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad announced today that they have increased their total gift to the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT to $600 million. Adding to t...

A better way to make hydrogen from biofuels

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Researchers here have found a way to convert ethanol and other biofuels into hydrogen very efficiently. A new catalyst makes hydrogen from ethanol with 90 percent yield, at a workable temperature, and using inexpensive ingredients. Umit Ozkan, professor of chemical and biom...

Chemists make beds with soft landings

RICHLAND, Wash. -- Bedsprings aren't often found in biology. Now, chemists have succeeded in making a layer of tiny protein coils attached to a surface, much like miniature bedsprings in a frame. This thin film made of stable and very pure helices can help researchers develop molecular electronics...

Sweets make young horses harder to train in Montana State study

BOZEMAN, Mont. -- Young horses may be easier to train if they temporarily lay off the sweets, says a Montana State University study where two-year-olds wore pedometers, wrist watches and Ace bandages. A commercial mixture of corn, oats, barley and molasses -- sometimes called "sweet grain" or "...

If a street tree falls... what does it take to make sound policy?

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- There's little debate that, when a tree falls near a city street, it makes a sound. But other questions are more difficult to answer: Who is affected by the falling tree and how? Who is liable for the damage? And who is responsible for deciding how to replace the tree? A p...