Coelacanth fossil sheds light on fin-to-limb evolution
... fins closely resembles the pattern in the fins of primitive living ray-finned fishes, according to the scientists. This ends intense debate about the primitive pattern for lobed fins, which involves the ancestry of all limbs, including our own, said author Mic...American Chemical Society's Weekly PressPac -- July 18, 2007
...o, the researchers say, the droplet demonstrated a primitive form of chemotaxis, one of the most basic cellular responses in which the cell directs its movement toward the presence of certain chemicals in its environment. The study could provide a blueprint for designing future locomotion systems for artificia...Has science unearthed the Holy Grail of pain relief?
...onary clock back a billion years to see how a more primitive P2X molecule functions. The team discovered that there was only a 10% similarity between human P2X and the slime mould equivalent. They were therefore able to deduce from evolutionary theory that it was these similar parts of the molecule that prob...Chickens also orient themselves by the Earth's magnetic field
...he magnetic sense of direction was already used by primitive bird-forms to move efficiently in their environment between their nests, sleeping places, and sources of food and water....Ancient retrovirus sheds light on modern pandemic
...ments with their primate cousins. Such vestiges of primitive infection, rendered inactive by eons of genetic mutation, make up about 8 percent of the human genome. Innate protection against PtERV1 in humans could be credited, the researchers believe, to the presence of an ancient, rapidly evolving antiviral de...Scientists propose the kind of chemistry that led to life
Before life emerged on earth, either a primitive kind of metabolism or an RNA-like duplicating mach...rial processes. Many researchers believe the first primitive catalysts on earth were nothing more complicated than the surfaces of clays or other minerals. In...Competition, loss of selfishness mark shift to supersociety
...tical to further understanding of how ancestral or primitive social organizations (with hierarchies and dominan...essures that mark the evolutionary transition from primitive society to superorganism and which may bring some order to the conflicted thinking about the roles o...Existence of muscle-building stem cells points to regenerative therapies for muscular disease
...entially regressed, or dedifferentiated, to a more primitive developmental state. In the new study, the researchers took a closer look at the molecular profiles of satellite cells isolated from mouse muscle. They showed that the satellite cells consist of two classes defined by the activity or inactivity of ...New genetic data overturn long-held theory of limb development
...e scientists, and that this toolkit exists in some primitive form in a living primitive bony fish, the paddlefish. "We found that the genetic capability seen in tetrapods to build limbs is...Study of protein folds offers insight into metabolic evolution
...benefited the formation of building blocks for the primitive RNA world, it makes a lot of sense that we've found this origin encased in nucleotide metabolism." ...Journal details how global warming will affect the world's fisheries
... the issues introduction. "Fisheries, due to their primitive nature, are among the human activities most exposed to climate changes." The output of fisheries, as well as their costs and benefits, are "directly and strongly affected by variations in natural conditions," Hannesson adds. "Habitat conditions, wh...Pediatric cancer stem cell identified: understanding the origin of ERMS
...a (RMS) is an aggressive cancer that arises from a primitive skeletal muscle cell called a "rhabdomyoblast". Depending upon on the histology of the cancerous cells, there are several different subtypes of RMS. Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (ERMS) is the most common subtype, usually found in children under 15, in ...Researchers publish first marsupial genome sequence
...hallenging the notion that marsupials possess only primitive immune systems. The opossum genome has an unusual structure with fewer chromosomes than the human genome (9 pairs versus 23 pairs, respectively) but a longer total length (3.4 billion versus 3 billion bases, respectively). ...Puzzling plankton yield secrets to role in evolution/global photosynthesis
...plankton from the genus Ostreococcus emerge at the primitive root of the green plant lineage, dating back nearly 1.5 billion years. Today, these microscopic, free-living creatures, among the smallest eukaryotes ever characterized, barely a micron in diameter, contribute to a significant share of the worlds to...Stanford scientists make major breakthrough in regenerative medicine
... to any of these organisms. Sea squirt larvae have primitive spinal cords, distinguishing them in the greater chain of life and on the evolutionary ladder. Specifically, sea squirts, like humans, belong to a group of animals called chordates (organisms with some level of spinal cord development), and many scie...AIBS honors outstanding contributions to the biological sciences
...d mammal populations and the proliferation of more primitive species, such as toxic algae, jellyfish, and bacteria. Weiss has been reporting on the oceans for five years for the Los Angeles Times . McFarling, who has reported on topics related to earth science and the space program, has recently expanded he...New book presents neurobiology from an evolutionary perspective
... The book starts with simpler organisms with more primitive neurological mechanisms, and shows how these mechanisms produce increasing neural complexity in higher species. It ends with a discussion of what is universal about nervous systems and what may be required, neurobiologically, to be human. "The cap...Biologists call for better choice of model organisms in 'evo-devo'
...tic tree, or as a pointer to species with presumed primitive (ancestral) characteristics. Drs Ronald Jenner a...ase of the evolutionary tree does not make it more primitive and representative. "Equally, those that became separate species further down the evolutionary li...Paleontologists discover new mammal from Mesozoic Era
...rm, in contrast to its relatively shorter and very primitive limb and foot structures. The new mammal also has lumbar ribs, a rare feature among modern mammals. "The discoveries of exquisitely preserved Mesozoic mammals from China have built the evidence such that biologists and paleontologists are able to m......ell types. Among them is a small subset of rather primitive cells that, like other stem cells in the body, are self-sustaining, self-renewing and multipotent, or capable of creating other types of cells and tissues. These cells are different from normal stem cells, however, in that injecting even as few as 10...