Which came first, the moth or the cactus?
...stand how the structure of mutualistic communities influences their stability and dynamics, both of individual species and of whole networks of species." The results suggest that the structures of mutualistic communities compliment those of predator-prey food webs, a finding that presents the tantalizing possib...Female gender provides an advantage in renal diseases
Gender influences the prevalence and progression rate of many renal diseases, such as polycystic kidney disease (PKD). The physiology behind gender differences and renal disease is still uncertain, but the distinct characteristics of male and female kidney size, along...Weizmann Institute scientists discover a control mechanism for metastasis
... scientists showed that the growth factor directly influences levels of both proteins, and that these, in turn, control the cells ability to migrate. Blocking production of the short tensin protein kept cells in their place, while overproduction of this protein plug increased their migration. Next, the scien...Gene predicts better outcome as cortex normalizes in teens with ADHD
... first glimpse of how variation in a specific gene influences both brain development and clinical prognosis in ADHD, said NIMH Director Thomas R. Insel, M.D. When the NIMH researchers first reported last year that normalization of right cortex thickening was associated with better clinical outcomes in ADHD, t...Disabling a sensory organ prompts female mice to act like male mice
...t its cause, they've looked at everything from the influences of hormones such as testosterone to anatomy, positing that there may be a region of the brain that organizes gender-based behavior. The sensory-controlled neural switch that governs the circuit is most likely different in male and female mice, Dula...JCI table of contents: August 1, 2007
... Vector integration is nonrandom and clustered and influences the fate of lymphopoiesis in SCID-X1 gene therapy AUTHOR CONTACT: Christof von Kalle National Center for Tumor Diseases, Heidelberg, Germany. Phone: 49-6221-56-6990; Fax: 49-6221-56-6967; E-mail: christof.kalle@nct-heidelberg.de . View the PDF o...Reading a face is tricky business
... in those prone to anxiety may thus lead to larger influences on social evaluation. Although people can do their best to avoid situations that they perceive as threatening, their brains may still be highly attuned to subtle environmental signals of threat, Paller said. A heightened sensitivity to sublimina...Strength of connections between brain regions may affect an adolescent's response to peer influence
...ttains the right balance between acknowledging the influences of others and maintaining ones independence, says Paus. Future research will involve follow-up studies with the same children to determine whether their resistance to real-life peer influence is related to the differences in brain wiring observed i...New clue into how diet and exercise enhance longevity
...d higher insulin levels might be the environmental influences that promote these diseases, he said....Gene identified for Crohn's disease in children
...ies to affect disease symptoms. Understanding gene influences gives us a more targeted way to look at disease physiology, and also may suggest targets for treatment. Baldassano and Hakonarson said that they will continue to search for other gene variants associated with Crohns disease and the closely related bo...Sour taste make you pucker? It may be in your genes
...elative contributions of genetic and environmental influences on sour taste sensitivity. The models estimated that genes played a more important role than environment in determining individual differences in sour taste sensitivity, accounting for 53 percent of the variation. The finding that genes influ...Study identifies a common genetic risk factor for colorectal and prostate cancer
...omething fundamental occurring in this region that influences not only colorectal and prostate cancer, but perhaps cancers in general. (Another recently published study, in which USC researchers also were involved, identified variants in this same chromosomal region as playing a predictive role relative to the......CC is, indeed, the brain center through which pain influences the LOC. By contrast, they found a working memory load affects the LOC through a different region, the inferior parietal cortex. The researchers noted that the modulation of visual processing by pain that they observed in their fMRI studies is beha...Gene variant increases risk for alcoholism following childhood abuse
... aim was to test whether this low activity variant influences the impact of childhood sexual abuse on alcoholism and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) in women, says Dr. Ducci. She and her colleagues analyzed DNA samples from a group of American Indian women living in a community in which rates of alcoho...Fine particulate matter from traffic may influence birth weight
...ate matter reaches the blood through the lungs and influences the placenta or other organs which are responsible for regulating the growth of the foetus. Studies from the US and Poland have for example shown that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), which are produced during incomplete combustion processes, ...Gene responsible for common hearing loss identified for first time
...ude that we were the first to identify a gene that influences the susceptibility for otosclerosis, said Ms Thys. And, as further evidence, we were also able to show that a more active variant of this gene is protective against the disease....NSF funding to advance research on interplay between biology and society
...ial and important reciprocal impacts. These mutual influences have been growing for decades and are rapidly accelerating." A project by the American Council for Learned Societies and led by Frederick Burkhardt will continue work on editing the correspondence of Charles Darwin. Darwin's correspondence is a pri...'Wurst' ensures that the respiratory system works
...4,000 metres. "We believe that the 'Wurst' protein influences the absorption of liquid from the lung," Michael Hoch speculates. "If that's true, there may also be mutations that make individuals more prone to respiratory diseases and altitude sickness."...Daddies' girls choose men just like their fathers
...d clothing were not visible, removing any external influences which could potentially skew results. The male stimulis facial measurements were taken and compared with each daughters fathers measurements, so that the researchers knew which faces correlated most closely with the fathers faces. The daughters wer......rcumstances their progeny will encounter. Maternal influences like this probably occur in many species, but are ... of an interaction between genes and environmental influences on traits," Lancaster said. "Females provide an estradiol-rich prenatal environment to their entire ...