Zebrafish's powerful heart gene could lead to transplant therapy
...yonic developmentand are genetically programmed to evolve into one of many specialized celltypes, such as skeletal muscle cells, nerve cells, blood cells, skin cells, andliver cells. Normally, the gene acts only in those embryonic cells destined to becomemyocardial cells. The research shows, however, that g...Rapid size change in introduced fruit fly indicates it is evolving as it invades North America
...sions become much more complicated if the invaders evolve rapidly. It is very likely that introduced invadi...that invading species are not set in stone but can evolve quickly in response to their new environment, thereby changing the dynamics of their interactions wi...... given a one-in-a-million opportunity to gradually evolve to the complexity it enjoys today. "The underlying theme of the book is that the Earth is a very charmed planet," he said. "We know of no other body that is even remotely like Earth." Factors that made advanced life possible include the Earth's havin...Modern-day butterflies 'invented' by bats
...o the intense pressure on all nocturnal insects to evolve methods of detecting and avoiding insect-eating bats," says co-author Fullard. "With respect to butterflies, the majority of them switched their activity from night to day, thereby avoiding bats altogether. But for some rare species of nocturnal butt...Genes pertaining to 'maleness' evolve more rapidly than their non-sexual counterparts
...male reproduction are under continuous pressure to evolve ways to outcompete other males when it comes to fa...tion, puts intense pressure on chimp male genes to evolve rapidly. Conversely, gorillas employ a harem system where one high-ranking male has access to sev...Nature's path leads scientists to new antibiotic strategy
...hat it might take a very long time for bacteria to evolve defenses against it. "We don't think our new molecules will be compromised very quickly by resistance. These beta-peptides have no precedents in nature, unlike traditional antibiotics. Chemically, they are completely unlike the kinds of things ba...Researchers find unusual protein in bacterium
...gen and that, consequently, the first organisms to evolve were anaerobic. In this environment, the earliest ...rich atmosphere. That's when the bacteria began to evolve oxygen-sensing proteins, which were eventually incorporated by other organisms, Kurtz theorizes....Ancient fossil shows earliest feathers, may end argument about birds' origin
...rly were not birds themselves and probably did not evolve into birds. The oldest known bird, Archaeopteryx, dates back 150 million years. In 1979, Feduccia made international news by publishing a paper in Science proving that the animal could fly because its wing feathers were asymmetric. Barbs on one sid...Ancient feathered animal challenges dinosaur-bird link
...at the very least they prove that feathers did not evolve in dinosaurs," said John Ruben, an OSU professor of zoology. "The supposed link between dinosaurs and birds is pretty entrenched in paleontology, but it's not as solid as the public has been led to believe." While the fossil evidence examined in th...Understanding of floral scents blossoms in Purdue laboratory
...it for fruit farmers, Dudareva says."Plants didn't evolve to produce their scents for the benefit of humans," Dudareva adds, "but floral scents sometimes influenced the decisions humans made about which plants to cultivate."...Microscopic bone evidence supports dinosaur-bird evolution link
...bone structure suggesting that birds did, in fact, evolve from a group of dinosaurs. The research will be published in the Aug. 10 issue of the journal Nature. The study shows that in a group of dinosaurs called coelurosaurs, the organization of bone canaliculi - submicron-sized channels that connect bone c...Stanford researchers win National Science Foundation grants for information technology research
... by using computers to determine how these systems evolve in space and time. Hesselink will develop topological methods based on mathematical analysis of global data. Results will be visualized using 3-D and time-dependent graphics techniques developed specifically for this purpose. "Visualization and analy...Drug overuse may make yeast infections harder to treat
...t microbes not only compete well, they are able to evolve and adapt to overcome problems or weaknesses relatively easily," adds Anderson. "In some populations, the drug resistant microbes even grew faster and started to overtake the microbes that showed no drug resistance." And that is worrisome, say the re...New species arise more quickly than previously believed, UMass researcher finds
...ion splits into two different environments, traits evolve quickly and, as a result, the two new populations ...tablished at different sites, you'd expect them to evolve different adaptations, and that's in fact what happened." Some of the differences betwe...Fish and flies caught in the act of speciation, Science researchers report
...m to study how the frequency of certain characters evolve when faced with a natural selection pressure. In a...sight as to how quickly reproductive isolation may evolve in the wild, according to Andrew P. Hendry of University of Massachusetts and colleagues. Since th......, however, is that by enabling bacteria to rapidly evolve new genetic characteristics, these enzymes are also responsible for the increasing bacterial resistance to antibiotic drugs. The recent Weizmann Institute discovery of a particular member of this enzyme family, known as DNA polymerase R1, may open a ...Changes in North American land use have had major impact on global environment
...y Biology. And understanding the how the sink will evolve and decline could be important in making plans to reduce greenhouse emissions. Negotiators from around the world are due to meet in The Hague this month in a push to resolve details of the Kyoto Protocol, which seeks to limit the production of carbo...Scientists find gene that fuels 'sexual arms race'
...s is that the male is constantly under pressure to evolve something new in order to stay competitive in the ... year's fashion - and males are probably forced to evolve new ones all the time." Accumulated over time, it is these kinds of wardrobe changes that lead to mo......could be a determinant of how plant-eating animals evolve in the two habitats, Elser says. The evolutionary implication is that a high-growth-rate lifestyle may be more feasible in phosphorus-rich environments like lakes. A fast-growing insect on land will be susceptible to unstable population fluctuations......that can handle the cold, but none has ever had to evolve for low pressure. Could traits be programmed in even if they're not available on Earth? Chris Somerville, a plant molecular biologist at Stanford University in California, thinks they can. "What's called genetic engineering right now is really just g...