Natural enemies help scientists untangle tropical forest food webs
...eir experimental fieldwork plots, alongside a 6-km stretch of track, in December 2001. In control plots the same biomass of plant material was removed from randomly chosen plant species that were not attacked by leaf miners. Ten to 12 months, or five to six leaf miner generations, later, the scientists retu...Gene variants may increase susceptibility to type 2 diabetes
...t disease and mental illness." Homing in on a wide stretch of chromosome 20 flagged by earlier studies as a likely location for a type 2 diabetes susceptibility gene, the teams identified four genetic variants, called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), which are strongly associated with type 2 diabetes ...Duke study gives first worldwide measure of sea turtle casualties by longline fishing
...are lengths of monofilament fishing lines that can stretch for 40 miles and dangle thousands of individually baited hooks. They are set at optimal depths and times to catch tuna and swordfish. Because the environmentally protected loggerheads and leatherbacks frequent the same zones where these longlines are...RNA inner workings partly unveiled in Stanford study
...o understand how the enzyme locates a gene along a stretch of DNA. At the level of detail the group obtained, some intriguing structures came to light, offering the first real understanding of the defining events of transcription. They saw a docking site that might reveal the starting point of transcriptio...New technologies reveal mysteries of marine megafauna
...oks by the million each night, on lines that would stretch from Seattle to Tacoma. Some are targeted, but many are innocent bystanders--caught incidentally." "The problems we face in the ocean are vast unless we intervene soon, we're going to see a huge reduction in these species," says Andy Read of Duke U...Purdue chemist 'mussels' in on secrets of natural adhesives
... filaments - often referred to as its beard - that stretch from a mussel, attaching it to its home turf. A mussel has an organ called a "foot" that it extends, attaching each filament to a stationary object with a tiny dab of glue. The foot then repeats the process until it is secure enough to resist the pul...OXiGENE launches significant expansion of its R&D program in ophthalmology
... all of the tissues continue to grow; rather, they stretch and thin out. The retina and Bruch's membrane (th...ssels of the choroids) are two of the tissues that stretch and become thin. The thinning of the retina in the macula can result in gradual decrease in vision ...Unraveling a protein, researchers uncover mechanics of anti-cancer agent
...t 10 times its initial size," he said. "The first stretch reaches a rather stable intermediate. Other fibronectin type-three modules reach their extended length more quickly." All fibronectin type-three modules consist of a sandwich structure containing two sheets, but Schulten and his colleagues found that...Philippines: Park expansion creates nation's largest contiguous protected area
...he Sierra Madre Mountain Range. It also protects a stretch of unique coastal and marine ecosystems, rich in endangered species like whale sharks, giant clams and sea turtles. "The Peablanca expansion is a huge conservation achievement for this nation," said DENR Secretary Elisea Gozun. "But when one takes i...Stepping way out: Scripps scientists watch clam feet elongate far from the shell
...nder low sulfide conditions, which forced clams to stretch their feet farther. While they had expected some extension, Dufour says the results were "amazing." She found clams with shells measuring 4.5 millimeters that had elongated their feet some 13 centimeters from the shell. "What I find the most interes...Researchers create 'supersized' molecule of DNA
... were able to synthesize a double helix that could stretch just enough to hold the expanded base pairs intact. The result was a stable new form of DNA that's about 20 percent wider than natural DNA. The researchers named the new molecule ''expanded DNA,'' or xDNA. ''Previously, scientists have worked on maki...Multiphoton microscope observes cell membrane action
...shifting vesicles. "For one thing, rubber balloons stretch and vesicle membranes don't, but seeing these shapes from a distance, we can imagine some of the same forces at work," he says. Zooming in with the multiphoton microscope, Baumgart and his colleagues looked at a simplified model of cell membranes. In...Researchers discover new genetic link to common colon cancer
...ciences (PNAS article #2286) identifies a specific stretch of DNA on chromosome 9 that houses a "susceptibility" gene. "Previous studies have shown that colon cancer risk can be inherited," says Sanford Markowitz, MD, principal investigator for the study. "By analyzing blood samples from 53 families, in wh...Snowy plover 'nursery' success earns Resource Stewardship Award
...ence to beach users. The proposed enclosure would stretch from wet sand to dry areas above the tidal zone, but allowed people to walk at the water's edge along the beach. The University of California protects 34 natural reserves in California for its research, education and public service missions. Coal Oi...New gene for rare inherited paralysis may aid other spinal cord research, too
...d his lab had been searching for genes in the same stretch of DNA. Sharing of information and materials between the two laboratories resulted in the discovery that NIPA1 mutations cause this particularly severe form of HSP. In their paper, the researchers describe the gene and its encoded protein, as well as...Built-in eyeshade offers clue to prehistoric past
...s or have extensions of their palpebral lobes that stretch outward above the eye. "These lobes would have acted like a lens shade on a camera or a baseball hat brim on humans. They prevented unwanted light from entering the lenses which would otherwise bounce around and cause a fuzziness in the image seen by...Ancient Inca road in desperate need of protection
...rail were laid out end-to-end, the Gran Ruta would stretch from Cape Town, South Africa to southern France. In addition, some 30,000 km of lateral roads branch off of it, including the world-renowned Inca Trail, which leads from near the empire's spiritual capital in Cusco, Peru to the iconic ruins of Machu ...Chicken embryo research tunes into inner ear
...used for balance also have single, long cilia that stretch out from among the hairs. After we turned the Wnt genes on, we saw these cilia growing in places usually reserved for the non-ciliated auditory hairs." Many researchers overseas are trying to make stem cells develop into different types of adult cell...Findings in frog oocytes may help study of chromosome physiology
...es of the frog oocyte. These extended chromosomes stretch out long loops of chromatin -- regions of extensive RNA synthesis -- causing them to resemble a lampbrush, and, more importantly, allowing for detailed cytological studies of the major components implicated in both RNA transcription and chromatin org......ok at the similarities and differences of the same stretch of DNA among multiple species. This program is specifically designed to complement the efforts of larger sequencing centers, which typically sequence the entire genome of an individual species, such as the rat, and then conduct relatively broad-brush...