New research confirms that natural selection is acting on the current human population
...ral selection - the process where successful genes pass on to successive generations through evolution. These findings are different from previous studies of pre-industrialised populations (3), where the age at women start their periods is the best predictor of the number of children that they will event...UC San Francisco patents method for delivering normal genes in a pill
... the surface of the gastrointestinal tract as they pass through the body, even as the protein drugs that a...nto the blood stream. As a consequence, the genes pass relatively quickly through the body creating less opportunity to access the blood stream or to enter......nally, the intention had been that this gift would pass to the Institutes endowment after the deaths of both Mr. and Mrs. Stowers. They decided to make the transfer now to provide added financial stability to the Institute at a critical time in the recruitment of scientists to fill the laboratories of the...Study finds wind, currents play key role where young fish settle
...ater from close to shore, expelling it through the pass in a jet and then sucking the water back into the inlet, he said. Brown said this information could help fishery managers better identify essential fish habitats that are important to preserve. By knowing where tides and currents will carry fish larv......cells. Listeria can then cross the intestine and pass into the bloodstream, scientists said. Studying this mechanism in animals proved difficult, however, because rats and mice produce a form of cadherin that doesn't bind with internalin. Fortunately, guinea pigs generate a suitable version of the prote...Biologists: Cell nucleus surface more complicated than expected
...a may allow more molecules and chemical signals to pass quickly back and forth. The nucleus contains the cell's DNA, the genetic instruction manual that tells a cell how to operate and replicate itself. Chemical signals, molecules and ribosomes specialized cell particles that synthesize proteins conti...Polluted clouds might bring patchy cooling in a warming world
...on, "clean" clouds reach a point at which droplets pass a certain size threshold and begin to gather more water and grow spontaneously to ever-larger sizes. But the new study shows the chemical effects of pollution can trigger the formation of clouds or fog with tinier droplets, as small as a micron (one-...Amazon rainforest could be unsustainable within a decade
...mining and logging practices, the rainforest could pass "the point of no return" in 10 to 15 years. When all is said and done, the model indicates that the rainforest could essentially disappear within 40 to 50 years. That is a far cry from the common belief among researchers that the forest is still 75 t...Scientists decipher "fail-safe" system that limits gene copying in cells
...to each generation of cells," Li says. "Failure to pass on genetic information stably can lead to cell death, or possibly to an accumulation of genetic lesions that ultimately may give rise to cancer." If some genes are copied more than once before the cell divides, daughter cells may inherit faulty instr...Research team unlocks secrets of the firefly flash
...p by the mitochondrial gatekeepers, oxygen can now pass freely through the photocyte to activate light production. "So, amazingly enough," says Barry Trimmer, "it's a temporary cut in the power supply that probably triggers the firefly flash." As the NO signal decays, the mitochondria power up and begin ...'Gene pill' patent extended to include all proteins secreted into blood
... the surface of the gastrointestinal tract as they pass through the body, even as the protein drugs that a...nto the blood stream. As a consequence, the genes pass relatively quickly through the body creating less opportunity to access the blood stream or to enter...Arctic ecosystems being nibbled away
...ermanently damage tundra: for instance, the single pass of a heavy tank-like tracked vehicle can drain an Arctic meadow. "In the increasingly accessible Artic, we need to be wary of relatively small and seemingly insignificant disturbances. Some of the most productive landscapes are being slowly 'nibble...Supercomputer paints electric landscape of cellular structures
...ependently solve their portion of the equation and pass the results along to a "master processor" that gathers and processes the data. Blue Horizon completed the calculations for the equation relating to the microtubule in less than an hour using 686 processors available out of 1,152. The researchers esti...Berkeley chemist wins national award for work with new polymers
...ow so quickly. That means even large molecules can pass through holes in tumor vasculature. "Some anti-cancer dugs are hard to administer because they are very insoluble and toxic," said Frechet. "So what we do is attach them to a dendrimer." They then escape the bloodstream only in the vicinity of tumor...Fight between GMOS and the bugs they repel may not be over
...sured protected for the susceptibility genes they pass on to the next generation. It has never been good ...of letting a few otherwise doomed bugs survive and pass their vulnerability or susceptibility on to future generations is called the refugia strategy the p...A small genetic change makes flu virus deadly
...transmit the virus to pigs or chickens, which then pass it on to people. The deadly outbreak of influenza virus subtype H5N1 in Hong Kong in 1997 was the first documented case of an influenza virus jumping directly from chickens to people. Public health authorities responded by ordering the slaughter of ...Purple potato boost for organic food industry
...r Leifert points out that the variety still has to pass the taste-test and admits there may be marketing issues to address before supermarkets would include purple potatoes in their displays of organically-grown produce. Facts about potato blight: * Potato blight is one of the most devastating plant disea...Study: Infected people need not carry AIDS virus long before passing it on
... who contract HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, can pass that virus on to others within a week or two of pi...d in Switzerland shows. Infectious people also can pass the virus on to others through a single sexual contact, the study found. In some cases, viral transm...Mountain cloud forests imperiled by lowland deforestation, says Science study
... place where clouds first form. As Caribbean winds pass over these areas, the amount of moisture and heat transferred from the lowland surface to the atmosphere affects both the overall number of clouds formed and the height at which clouds form, says Lawton. Previous observational data and computer model......face and permits the polymer and its drug cargo to pass into the cell, the researcher said. Sinko and his collaborators, Michael Leibowitz and Stanley Stein of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, have also shown that without the targeting ligands, the drug-polymers are unable to penetrate cells,...