require in Biological News

Marine microbes creating green waves in industry

...tuned by evolution to solve problems, rather than starting from scratch every time, might seem an obvious thing to do. It does however, in many cases, require the bringing together of particular niche expertise. The value of this collaboration is in the coincidence of knowledge and expertise from academia wi...

Wastewater produces electricity and desalinates water

...llow water to pass but not salt -- or an electrodialysis process that uses electricity to draw salt ions out of water through a membrane. Both methods require large amounts of energy. "Water desalination can be accomplished without electrical energy input or high water pressure by using a source of organic...

Bioethanol's impact on water supply 3 times higher than once thought

...oethanol's water requirements can be as high as 861 billion gallons of water from the corn field to the fuel pump in 2007. And a gallon of ethanol may require up to over 2,100 gallons of water from farm to fuel pump, depending on the regional irrigation practice in growing corn. However, a dozen states in th...

Sustainable agriculture at the ESA Annual Meeting

..., ecologists will present their ideas on how our agricultural practices can take lessons from natural environments. Perennial plants produce more, require less input than annual croplands The major crops used globally to feed people and livestock wheat, rice, maize and soy are based on an annual sys...

Urban water ecology at the ESA annual meeting

...iments, mosquitoes reared in sewage overflow were larger than those reared in clean water. "In this food web, mosquitoes feed on microorganisms that require nitrogen and phosphorous to grow," Chaves says. "This translates into an input of food for the mosquitoes." When there's more organic matter, the micr...

Stem cell 'daughters' lead to breast cancer

...Dr Lindeman said. "Usually, luminal progenitor cells multiply rapidly in the presence of certain growth factors. In BRCA1 women these cells don't even require growth factors to proliferate they misbehave from the outset. "We also know that the BRCA1 gene is required for normal DNA repair. There may there...

New hope for fisheries

... a co-author from Dalhousie University. "But even low levels of fishing do change marine ecosystems and may collapse vulnerable species. That's why we require a combination of measures, including gear restrictions and closed areas, in order to meet both fisheries and conservation objectives." The authors ...

August 2009 Geology and GSA Today media highlights

... this technology for mapping areas that may contain NOA include locating roads that are surfaced with serpentine aggregate, identifying sites that may require enhanced dust control or other safety measures, and filling gaps in geologic mapping where field access is limited. GEOLOGY abstracts are available...

UCSF researchers identify new drug target for Kaposi's sarcoma

...cal halves much like a fully opened clamshell in their most stable state. Those proteases play an essential role in making the virus infectious, but require the two clamshell halves to bind together to be activated, according to the paper. The HIV protease was successfully targeted for drug development...

New computer simulation helps explain folding in important cellular protein

...ome decades but have been steadily refined. These simulations are useful for extremely complex problems with multiple variables, and though they often require considerable computer "brain power," they are able to give scientists startlingly accurate predictions of how biological processes work. In the cur...

Health benefits of physical activity more pronounced in women

...between the sexes, especially considering the extra effects seen post-menopause. The racial differences observed may stem from genetic variations that require further exploration. The authors do also note that their exercise data was assessed by questionnaire and this was non-scientific, though the parti...

Humans 'damaging the oceans'

...tially by triggering phytoplankton blooms with fertilisers to absorb more carbon from the atmosphere, or using the seabed to store CO2. However these require far more research to be sure. "It may already be too late to avoid major irreversible changes to many marine ecosystems. As history has shown us, ...

Comprehensive look at rare leukemia finds relatively few genetic changes launch disease

...nces . "Our data raise the possibility that the development of AML may require fewer genetic alterations than other cancers and that a very limited number...viously thought. Identifying the abnormality during diagnostic testing will require additional, more sophisticated screening, Downing said. ...

Disease threat may change how frogs mate

...t on animals. Whilst Ranavirus has been researched in specific relation to population dynamics, Dr Teacher has exposed previously unknown effects that require further investigation. Dr Teacher believes the next step is to observe these wild frogs over the coming years. 'The world of wildlife disease resea...

New supercomputer to reel in answers to some of Earth's problems

...s facing DOE and the nation." Chinook is fast and dexterous. Its designers tailored its architecture to handle scientific problems whose complexity require more than just power or speed. For example, climate scientists who are trying to understand the tiniest particles in the atmosphere or chemists watchi...

Results of national assessment of first responder location systems to be announced Aug. 3

...ltimately be able to locate a first responder in three dimensions with an accuracy of one foot and a range of 2,000 feet. The system is designed to require no pre-installed infrastructure, to be integrated into firefighter turnout gear and fire trucks, and to provide information about the location of all ...

Airway cells use 'tasting' mechanism to detect and clear harmful substances

...rons, which then evoke a response -- the perception of a bitter taste. In contrast, the airway cells appear to use a different mechanism that does not require nerves," said Alok Shah, a UI graduate student and co-first author of the study. "In the airways, bitter substances both activate the receptors and el...

High-tech vehicle design boosts emergency rescue capacity

...h number of victims in a very short period. In particular, there is a need to get medical teams to a disaster area rapidly with all the equipment they require and to transfer as many patients as possible to hospital or other place for treatment as quickly as possible. The 4 SAVE project therefore set out t...

Music is the engine of new U-M lab-on-a-chip device

...anisms for moving chemicals and samples around on the device." The U-M researchers use sound waves to drive a unique pneumatic system that does not require electromechanical valves. Instead, musical notes produce the air pressure to control droplets in the device. The U-M system requires only one "off-chi...

Scientists link immune system's natural killer cells to infant liver disease

...of the time and is not considered a cure, although it can allow babies to have several years of fairly good health. In more severe cases, children may require a liver transplant. To better understand the disease's apparent link to the developing and still immature infant immune system, researchers in this...

Warming climate threatens California fruit and nut production

.... The study is the first to map winter chill projections for all of California, which is home to nearly 3 million acres of fruit and nut trees that require chilling. The combined production value of these crops was $7.8 billion in 2007, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture. "O...

Researchers gain insight into mechanism underlying Huntington's

...ast 15 familial, neurodegenerative or neuromuscular disorders. The mechanism of TNR instability is poorly understood. However, because DNA expansions require DNA synthesis, DNA replication and/or DNA repair must be involved. Two key TNRs, CAG and CTG repeats associated with Huntington's disease and myo...

Research shows that 'invisible hand' guides evolution of cooperative turn-taking

... evidence for this in 2004; we have now shown it directly and found a simple explanation for it. Our findings confirm that cooperation does not always require benevolence or deliberate planning. This form of cooperation, at least, is guided by an 'invisible hand', as happens so often in Darwin's theory of na...

Faster, more cost-effective DNA test for crime scenes, disease diagnosis

...ntists describe development and testing of a new PCR method, called the universal QProbe system, that overcomes these problems. Existing PCR processes require several "fluorescent probes" to seek out DNA. QProbe substitutes a single "fluorescent probe" that can detect virtually any target, saving time and cu...

Fruit and vegetable intake in pregnant women reduces risk of upper respiratory tract infection

...is study showed that intake of higher levels, 6.71 servings per day, was associated with a moderate risk reduction for URTI. "Pregnant women may require more fruits and vegetables than usual because of the extra demands on the body," said senior author Martha M. Werler, M.P.H., Sc.D., professor at Slon...

New way to make sensors that detect toxic chemicals

...a common solvent called methyl ethyl ketone to free up the nanoparticles. At that point, the material is ready to use. Most other synthesis methods require another additional step -- a high-temperature heat treatment. Starting with a microsensor silicon chip array provided by collaborators at the Natio...

Nitrogen research shows how some plants invade, take over others

...ooking at the establishment phase of pines, and another on grassland systems and their invasive species and abundance. He said his research field does require patience and longterm funding. ...

Scientists are learning more about big birds from feathers

...and natural resources. "With eagles, the effort can be 100 to 1,000 times greater than catching chickadees." Eagles can be hard to find, they often require live bait to attract and, with sharp talons and beaks capable of snapping off human fingers, they pose a risk to their would-be captors. Instead of...

Rampant helper syndrome

...mutations, they need the help of complex enzymes. These photolyases in turn require cofactor FAD aka vitamin B2 to accomplish this function. It has long been suspected that these crucial enzymes require yet another cofactor to provide the energy that DNA repair requires. "We...

Anti-biotech groups obstruct forest biotechnology

...and bureaucratic hurdles in a number of countries, including the United States. By contrast, genetic modification studies in forest trees take longer, require work with more diverse species, and have larger environmental restrictions on research and application. "Opponents are taking advantage of the well...

DuoCort: New chronotherapy for adrenal insufficiency

...t therapy to survive. Adrenal insufficiency is a rare disease that affects patients in their active years and, because it is a chronic condition, they require this life-saving therapy throughout their lives. Treatment of adrenal insufficiency involves replacing, or substituting, the hormones that the adrenal...

Singapore nanotechnology combats fatal brain infections

...other hand, contain a membrane-penetrating component that enables them to pass through the blood brain barrier to the infected areas of the brain that require treatment. The ability of IBN's peptide nanoparticles to traverse the blood brain barrier offers a superior alternative to existing treatments for bra...

What makes a great footballer?

...all Club (UQFC) were recruited as experimental subjects, and they were made to compete against each other in one-on-one "football tennis" games, which require very similar athletic and skill sets to that required for regular football games. In parallel, the same players were evaluated for overall athleticism...

Tryptophan deficiency may underlie quinine side effects

... well with evidence that quinine reactions are more severe in malnourished individuals. Unlike yeast, humans cannot make their own tryptophan and thus require dietary tryptophan, which is abundant in meat but limited in yams, a staple food crop in the tropics where malaria is prevalent. If quinine severely r...

Taxpayer Alliance applauds bill to broaden access to federal research results

...a coalition of research institutions, consumers, patients, and others formed to support open public access to publicly funded research. FRPAA would require those agencies with annual extramural research budgets of $100 million or more to provide the public with online access to research manuscripts stemmi...

Engineering innovative solutions for 21st century medicine

... lives of patients with osteoarthritis. For example, we will create the next generation of hip and knee replacement implants that will last longer and require less invasive surgery to fit. Tissue engineering will also contribute hugely in this area, using patients' own cells to grow new cartilage for osteoar...

New research shows dinosaurs may have been smaller than we thought

...the weight of these animals. The researchers developed a new equation for calculating dinosaur mass based on bone dimensions. This equation doesn't require the transformation of data that the original equation uses. "The best way to understand the new equation is to think about a building that is built...

Novel handheld device detects anthrax with outstanding accuracy and reliability

...ume or destroy the sample being tested, allowing it to be re-analyzed later for forensic applications. In contrast, existing detection approaches require longer and more complex processing to distinguish anthrax from other substances (between 30 minutes and three days), their accuracy is inferior to the...

CSHL scientists harness logic of 'Sudoku' math puzzle to vastly enhance genome-sequencing capability

...number-placement rules used in the popular game. The method, which the CSHL team has patented, is currently best suited for genotype analyses that require only short segments of an individual's genome to be sequenced to find out if the individual is carrying a certain variant of a gene or a rare mutation...

Study on keeping nuclear bombs from US ports shows misplaced fear over cargo scanning cost

...raised security alert or actual terrorist incident require that the current inspection protocol be ramped up....fests to decide whether or not specific containers require intensive non-intrusive inspection (NII). The SFI ...ning and an additional $11-$13 for containers that require secondary inspection. This was, in part, due to th...