New research shows plants can shuffle and paste gene pieces to generate genetic diversity
... go to an astounding 95 percent or even higher for some plants, such as the lily. "Normally transposable elements just copy themselves, said Wessler, "But there were a few anecdotal reports of plant TEs that contained fragments of plant genes that the TE had apparently captured while it was copying its...4 October press briefing to focus on minority recruitment to science and engineering programs
...emag.org ). AAAS was founded in 1848, and includes some 262 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world, with an estimated total readership of one million. The non-profit A...Study: Emission of smog ingredients from trees is increasing rapidly
...-produced varieties have increased dramatically in some parts of the country, the study found. The increas...help explain why ozone levels have not improved in some parts of the country as much as was anticipated with the enactment of clean-air laws, Purves said. E...Gene clusters predict atherosclerosis severity, susceptibility
...s of this study, I am extremely encouraged that at some point after further research we will be able to help fulfill the promise of personalized medicine," Goldschmidt. "This would not have been possible without the collaborations across this institution, as well as the support of the National Institutes ...Far more men than women favor routine paternity testing at birth
...their husbands of their faithfulness, he said, and some wanted to make sure that, for health reasons, their children had correct information about their genetic heritage. Of the men who favored testing, it was unclear just how strongly they were in favor of finding out their children's paternity...UCSF scientist Joe Derisi named MaCarthur Fellow
...is, which is believed to have a viral component in some cases. Funding for developing this microarray and carrying out the ongoing respiratory studies is sponsored by an award from the Sandler Program for Asthma Research. While microarray technology draws on the latest ...DNA barcode finds four new bird species
...ification methods such as morphology and behavior, some taxonomists had already suspected that these species should be split. The DNA barcode data confirmed the suspicions. In the future many more species will be discovered both by splitting currently described species and by identifying the mi...Researchers devise potent new tools to curb ivory poaching
... countries are considering seeking exemptions, and some hope to obtain permanent exemptions. "Once the door is cracked open, they try to force it open all the way," Wasser said. He noted that a number of countries have kept ivory stockpiles since the 1989 ban, and the small central-African nation of Bur...Punching the timeclock of life
...s wrong. We're just saying that there appear to be some big missing pieces in his theory," Longo said. "We're also not saying that humans are, for sure, undergoing programmed aging. But, most likely, most organisms undergo programmed longevity. Life is programmed. Whether death is programmed o...Indiana University, EPA to study airborne PCBs
...pe the next few years of data will provide us with some answers." The EPA will give Hites and Basu $3.5 mi...and other environmental scientists have found that some of these airborne PCBs waft toward the Great Lakes and dissolve into them. "Input from the air is on...Tracing genes, biologists show lizard migration is traced to Florida
...ative to the state. It has been noted, also, that some Florida populations of the introduced brown lizards have gotten larger than the usual brown lizard size. And the brown lizards have become prey to the Nile Monitor, a seven-foot-long lizard native to Africa, but also introduced in Florida, most like...Marijuana use could cause tubal pregnancies
...ucts, the researchers found the embryos, which for some reason were unable to reach the uterus. This strain of mouse lacks the gene for the CB1 receptor. When the researchers gave a drug that blocked CB1 in normal mice, they observed the same phenomenon in most of the mice the embryos failed to reach th...Knock knock knocking on rhythm's neural doors
...ovement rehabilitation. And perhaps it even offers some insight into the effect of music. Dr. Stefan Schaal, an associate professor in the computer science department of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering led the international team that used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) scans to test a ...Fortifying food with folic acid benefits babies
...vernment introduced the mandatory fortification of some foods with folic acid to help ensure that all wome... childbearing age should continue." There has been some debate about whether an increased intake of folic acid could mask the symptoms of vitamin B12 defici...Rice finds 'on-off switch' for buckyball toxicity
...el cells, batteries, pharmaceuticals and coatings, some scientists and activists have raised concerns about their potential toxicity to humans and animals. CBEN's study is the first cytotoxicity study of human cells exposed to buckyballs. Cytotoxicity refers to toxic effects on individual cells. The study...Researchers create nanotubes that change colors, form 'nanocarpet' and kill bacteria
...ons with living cells. In the presence of E. coli, some strains of which are food-borne pathogens, the nanotubes turned shades of red and pink. Moreover, with the aid of an electron microscope, the researchers observed the tubes piercing the membranes of the bacteria like a needle being inserted into the ......ft the hadrosaur (duckbill) dinosaur that includes some of the skull and large areas of very well-preserved skin impressions around the hips and tail. The specimen is 70 percent complete, making it one of the most complete large dinosaur skeletons ever found in the Monument. This is only the second airl...Alaska scientists find Arctic tundra yields surprising carbon loss
...d a silver lining in the global warming cloud that some people had hoped for. Apparently not. "The broadest implication of this research is that climate warming could lead to a much greater release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and a greater positive feedback to further warming than we originally th...New sequence involved in DNA replication timing may aid in cancer detection
... of Roswell Park Cancer Institute. "In both cases, some portions of DNA molecules are nearly always duplicated early in S phase while other portions are nearly always duplicated late." Until recently, very little was known about how cells control replication timing. Studies in budding yeast ( Saccharomyce......to reproduction," Pei said. "And it was known that some of these pathways integrate external environmental signals, such as daily and seasonal changes in light, while others are autonomous pathways that act independently of external cues. "However, nobody knew that nitric oxide was involved in these path...