Corals that can fight global warming may one day help fragile reefs
...nt but can also boost their cellular and enzymatic defenses to fight lethal microorganisms as temperatures ris.... However, not all corals are able to produce such defenses under thermal stress. "Some corals show unusual resilience to the double threat [of pathogens and wa...Can a taste for poison drive speciation?
...t an herbivore will evolve resistance to the toxic defenses of plants. The fruit fly Drosophila sechellia, for example, has a penchant for the fruit of a Polynesian shrub called Tahitian Noni (Morinda citrifolia) that smells so foul it's nicknamed 'vomit fruit.' Other Drosophila species treat the rank odor, w...'Insulator' helps silence genes in dormant herpes virus
...ut in nearby nerve cells where the victim's immune defenses cannot reach it, causing no symptoms at all. In order to escape detection by the body's immune system, the latent virus works to silence genes that would cause it to replicate. In this dormant state, only a tiny fragment of the virus genome a sing...Anthrax paralyzes immune cells with lethal toxin, UF research shows
...w the inhaled form of anthrax paralyzes the body's defenses and prevents immune cells from reaching the site of infection. Anthrax killed five people in 2001 when letters containing the bacteria's spores were sent through the mail. The UF findings, published last week in the EMBO Journal, may lead to quicke...Lipoic acid explored as anti-aging compound
...ow-level stressor that turns on the basic cellular defenses of the body, including some of those that naturally decline with age," said Tory Hagen, an LPI researcher and associate professor of biochemistry and biophysics at OSU. "In particular, it tends to restore levels of glutathione, a protective antioxida...FSU researchers reap $1-million grant to make medical implants safer
...ew blockages in some patients as the bodys natural defenses attempt to wall off the foreign substance. In our research project, were looking for ways to camouflage biomedical devices so that the body doesnt even know theyre there." "Our investigations of how cells interact with various synthetic surfaces wi...UT Southwestern joins national clinical trial to uncover long-term effects of West Nile virus
...lar level how the disease evades the body's immune defenses in hopes of finding a vaccine to protect against the harmful North American strain of the West Nile virus. For now, avoiding mosquito bites is the best prevention. Physicians recommend wearing insect repellant that contains the chemical DEET when p...Plants that produce more vitamin C may result from UCLA-Dartmouth discovery
... said. "The only organisms that survived developed defenses against it, and one of the best defenses is vitamin C. Plants learned how to make vitamin C to protect themselves." Prior to the new resear...Promising protein may prevent eye damage in premature babies
...tified a protein that is part of the bodys natural defenses in oxygen-deprived conditions, said Maria B. Grant, M.D., a professor of pharmacology and therapeutics at UFs College of Medicine. When babies are born before levels of this protein are normal, blood vessels spread abnormally throughout the retina. B...Ancient retrovirus sheds light on modern pandemic
...co-author Malik, "if we want to understand why our defenses are the way they are, the answers inevitably lie in these ancient viruses more so than the ones that have affected us only recently, such as HIV."...Antibody linked to MS significantly higher in spinal fluid of blacks
...se in the immune system that misdirects the body's defenses against myelin, a protective sheath that surrounds many nerve cells. To help clinch a diagnosis of MS, clinicians often test the spinal fluid for elevated levels of IgG. Since everyone makes IgG as a part of normal immune function, scientists have t...Elevated CO2 in atmosphere weakens defenses of soybeans to herbivores
...conomies. Many plants have inherent enzyme-based defenses that are released during insect attack. This study found that when soybeans (Glycine max) were exposed to elevated amounts of CO2 the plants became more susceptible to attack by Japanese beetles (Popillia japonica). Furthermore, as these beetles co...Study explains how pathogens evolve to escape detection
...battle in which plants are trying to beef up their defenses against the innovative strategies of pathogens. The latest example of this war is a bacterium ( Pseudomonas syringae ) that infects tomatoes by injecting a special protein into the plant's cells and undermines the plant's defense system. "Plant breed...Charting ever-changing genomes
...nse, plants mobilize physiological and biochemical defenses that help them survive. We expected certain classes of genes to be highly variable due to natural selection in different environments. Both studies revealed precisely which gene family members indeed were shaped by evolution, says Justin Borevitz, Ph...High-intensity ultrasound may launch attack on cancer, wherever it lurks
...t to leak can trigger an alarm that enlists immune defenses against the cancerous invasion, according to a study led by researchers at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering. The new findings from animal experiments suggest that once activated by the ultrasound, the immune system might even seek and ...