Multinational research: protecting ecology means understanding people, too
Talking to a biologist about ones feelings could produce the same reactio...st mix. So say Dr. Lee Fitzgerald, a conservation biologist who has traveled through Latin America for 20 years studying reptiles, and Dr. Amanda Stronza, a cu...X-ray images help explain limits to insect body size
...racheal tubes in larger species, said Alex Kaiser, biologist at Midwestern University. They then examined the tracheal measurements of the four species to see if they could predict the largest size of currently living beetles. The head data predicted an unrealistically large, foot-long beetle. In contrast, t......d shorten the animals life, said co-author and USC biologist Steven Finkel. A research team led by John Tower, associate professor of molecular and computational biology at USC, compared normal fruit flies to ones kept in an axenic (bacteria-free) environment. The surprise was that the flies grown under a...Biologist traces coconut's history through DNA
...on and dispersal around the world. Now, a biologist at Washington University in St. Louis is embarking on the task of understanding the plants history by exploring the genetics of the coconut (Cocos nucifera L.). Kenneth Olsen, Ph.D., Washington University assistant professor of biology in ...Not all embryonic stem cell lines are created equal
...eases. The research team was led by UCLA stem cell biologist Yi Sun and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Thomas Sdhof at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. Embryonic stem cells are developmentally immature cells that are capable of self-renewal and of differentiating int......a predictive model that was consistent with what a biologist sees through the microscope. To test what should be seen, given a specific radiation dose, I set out to turn NASA's high-resolution DNA damage simulator" a model based on data from gel electrophoresis "into artificial microscope images of a nucleus...Testing the force of a shark's bite
...ipment used in the marine environment." US shark biologist Dan Huber is working with the Australian team to learn whether sharks such as the Great White are responsible for damaging submarine cables and communication systems on US Navy submarines. ...Cell damage caused by brushing may help keep gums healthy
... patch the hole, says Dr. Katsuya Miyake, MCG cell biologist and the papers co-first author. But in the seconds...ision or growth, says Dr. Paul L. McNeil, MCG cell biologist and corresponding author. Its very clear that brushing your teeth is a healthy thing to do; no one...Smithsonian's National Zoo researchers use electronic eggs to help save threatened species
...ta we couldnt get any other way, said National Zoo biologist Sara Hallager. The information we gather helps us both understand more about the biology of these birds and how to better incubate them artificially. Understanding the normal activities of breeding is essential for improving husbandry practices for...Camera-shy deer caught for first time
...n Laos, in a small town near Nakai-Nam Theun, by a biologist working for WCS, Robert Timmins (Timmins was also involved in the discovery of the muntjac). The rabbit was subsequently photographed a few times in Vietnam, but this is the first wild photograph from Laos. This region is extraordinary for its d...Nicotine rush hinges on sugar in neurons
...and brings news of nicotines arrival. Structural biologist Raymond Stevens of The Scripps Research Institute, who was not involved in the study, called it a landmark accomplishment for the fields of structural biology and neuronal cell signaling. Besides substance addiction, Stevens pointed to epilepsy, sc...Sequencing method yields fuller picture
... mosaic of two chromosomes, said USC computational biologist Lei Li. A mosaic means its not real, Li said. Lead author and former graduate student Jong Hyun Kim, advised by Li and USC University Professor Michael Waterman, was able to infer a complete sequence of the chromosomes of Ciona intestinalis, a ...MIT, BU team builds viruses to combat harmful 'biofilms'
...terized by other researchers such as MIT synthetic biologist Drew Endy, an assistant professor of biological engineering. Though phages are not approved for use in humans in the United States, recently the FDA approved a phage cocktail to treat Listeria monocytogenes on lunchmeat. This makes certain applic...Sea anemone genome provides new view of our multi-celled ancestors
... thanks in large part to the urging of late marine biologist and UC Berkeley zoology professor Cadet Hand Jr. All animals comprised of more than one cell are lumped together as "metazoan." But scientists usually distinguish between the sponges - strange animals unlike any other - and all the rest, which are ...Amoebae control cheating by keeping it in the family
...stic neighbors" Strassmann and Rice evolutionary biologist David Queller have previously investigated how Dictyostelium colonies control cheating. For example, a study on D. discoideum showed that one gene governing cooperative behavior was also tied to reproduction. In another study, mutants that were genet...Reap what your ancestors sowed
...ve long-term consequences, reports an evolutionary biologist from The University of Texas at Austin in a new study. There is a historical dimension to cooperation, says Dr. Sam Brown, the Human Frontier Science Foundation Fellow in the Section of Integrative Biology. The act of a cooperator can continue to ...Loss of cell's 'antenna' linked to cancer's development
...ling connection, Fox Chase Cancer Center molecular biologist Erica A. Golemis, Ph.D., points out. In the new study, Golemis and her Fox Chase colleagues found that two proteins with important roles in cancer progression and metastasis, HEF1 and Aurora A, have an unexpected role in controlling the temporary di...Pairing nanoparticles with proteins
... survive, which has been studied by Brookhaven Lab biologist Huilin Li. The researchers suggest that gold nanoparticles might also be tailored to inactivate this enzyme complex, thereby thwarting drug-resistant TB -- a research avenue they may explore in future studies. In another part of the study, the rese...Ancient retrovirus sheds light on modern pandemic
...authors Harmit Singh Malik, Ph.D., an evolutionary biologist and an assistant member of the Center's Basic Sciences Division, and Shari Kaiser, a graduate student in Emerman's laboratory, used DNA sequences from the chimp genome to reconstruct a small part of the PtERV1 virus. They reassembled about one-fifth ......ur own lungs," explains the Bonn-based development biologist Professor Dr. Michael Hoch. "Our lungs also consist of a system of tubes that branch out like trees, finally ending in the air cells called alveoli. This is where the inhaled oxygen enters the blood." Analogies have also been discovered in the way th...