First research to show that diabetes damages DNA in men's sperm and may affect fertility
... be carried out in order to understand the precise nature of the diabetes-related damage, the causal mechanisms and the clinical significance. Given the global rise in the prevalence of diabetes, it is also vital to examine the reproductive outcomes of pregnancies fathered by diabetic men, and the prevalenc...'Supermap' of avian flu yields new info on source/spread
...the process, they also tested hypotheses about the nature of specific strains of the virus that appear to be heading westward and have the ability to infect humans. A team of biomedical experts, led by Daniel Janies, an assistant professor in the department of biomedical informatics, used special softwar...Puzzling plankton yield secrets to role in evolution/global photosynthesis
...ed perspective, we are learning some of the tricks nature has employed to engineer an extremely small eukaryote to thrive in naturewhich may well find applications in bioengineering," said Palenik. "It was particularly interesting to see the predicted use of selenium-containing enzymes as one of the tricks ...Vaccine hope for sufferers of potentially fatal stomach bug
...t to be due to several factors including the toxic nature of the infecting strain, the genetic susceptibility of the host, and environmental factors. The project, due to start in September, aims to advance scientific understanding of the relationship between bacterial factors and cellular immunity, and h...Genome-wide search unearths surprising clues for diabetes and triglycerides
...eotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Due to the block-like nature of the human genome, certain SNPs can serve as signposts, highlighting pieces of nearby DNA that may play a causal role in disease. Using this approach, the DGI team and their collaborators identified and confirmed three novel regions of the genom...Scientists unravel clue in cortisol production
... continuous, the molecular production is cyclic in nature involving a rhythmic binding and unbinding of a protein essential to its production. The research, which increases understanding of how the brain and the endocrine system work together to regulate health, appears in the February issue of the journal...Mosquito genes explain response to climate change
...chers to simulate climatic conditions occurring in nature anywhere in the world, from the tropics to the polar regions. The newly created map contains 900 million DNA base pairs. There are three billion base pairs in humans. As various genome maps are being completed, scientists now face the task of deter...How much nitrogen is too much for corn?
...s for corn producers. Excess levels of nitrogen in nature also pose serious threats to environment. Agricultural application of nitrogen has been linked to rising nitrate levels and subsequent death of fish in the Gulf of Mexico and North Carolinas Neuse River. "Although offsite nitrogen contamination of...Can a taste for poison drive speciation?
The endless struggle for survival in nature inevitably boils down to finding food and eluding predators. To avoid the latter, many plants produce chemical weapons to discourage predators. A sound strategy overall, but the rules of co-evolutionary war suggest that an herbivore will evolve resis......rmanently slim. 'Like those people who are lean by nature even though they overeat ? like we all do they will tend to be inefficient in terms of using energy,' says Mike Cawthorne, who heads the Metabolic Research group at Clore. Cawthorne's group has already demonstrated that supplementing infant rats'...Researchers from the UGR use a bacterium to obtain biopreservatives from food
...lved in biological activity and in the hydrophobic nature and thermodynamic stability of the molecule. We made this study by changing the amino acids into others with different properties." The results of this work made it possible to conclude that while some of the mutated amino acids are essential for b...New methods and tools needed to measure exposure to airborne nanomaterials
..." capable of providing detailed information on the nature of airborne engineered nanomaterials to which people are exposed. Maynard, Aitken and 12 other experts included development of such a versatile measurement tool among five grand challenges that they viewed as essential to achieving the safe handling...University of Alberta researchers unravel intricate animal patterns
... complex spatial group patterns that we can see in nature and the different ways animals communicate, has not been stated explicitly." For decades people have puzzled about how animalsfish schools, locust swarms, large flocks of birds--form large complex dynamical groups. It is clear individuals in the gr...AGU Journal Highlights -- April 16, 2007
...n continental shields. They found that the fractal nature of the land surface topography in riverine and glacial systems tends to produce fractal patterns in groundwater circulation over a wide range of spatial scales. This means that groundwater flow is influenced to some extent by the entire spectrum of s...New diagnostic technologies offer non-invasive means
... nanoscale, about a millionth of a meter long. The nature of the individual components allows the researchers to modify the size of the holes in the lattice to form sponge-like pores small enough to catch a single protein biomarker. To entice biomarkers into the pores, Luchini and her colleagues are using...ATR checkpoint-activating DNA structure
...The ability to precisely define and manipulate the nature of the checkpoint activating structure in an experimental system will enable us to control, quantitative and probe checkpoint signaling responses in unprecedented ways." Using Xenopus egg extracts as a cell-free system, the researchers found that s...Macaque genome analysis will help find human disease genes
... have changed more than you'd expect it's possible nature has responded to some environmental effect," Siepel explains. For example, the researchers found the most evidence for positive selection in a gene coding for keratin, a protein involved in the formation of hair shafts. Perhaps humans are less hairy ...Gene that governs toxin production in deadly mold found
... good idea that (the gene) is central to the toxic nature of the fungus," Keller says. The LaeA gene, she believes, is like a maestro, directing the mold's toxin-producing genes in an orchestrated chorus that, in the right host, can be fatal. Knowing this, Keller explains, "suggests that if you can find...New study sheds light on long-term effects of logging after wildfire
...r sites were initially logged or not. "The exact nature of fuel accumulation over time is the key to understanding fire hazard," explains Ottmar. "Each forest, each fire, and each logging operation affects fuels differently, and variation exists within any forest stand. It is also important to consider ...Life-long learning -- nature provides natural inspiration for education
...tion and Knowledge Transfer The interdisciplinary nature of Biomimetics, which can combine natural sciences, engineering, architecture and design is being used for the first time in German schools to promote the value of knowledge transfer and life-long learning. By introducing modules which teach the use ...