Biology News

Chemists Develop Faster, More Efficient Protein Labeling Monday, February 6, 2012 - 00:06

North Carolina State University researchers have created specially engineered mammalian cells to provide a new “chemical handle” which will enable researchers to label proteins of interest more efficiently, without disrupting the normal function of the proteins themselves or the cells in which they are found.

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UGA discovery uses ‘fracture putty’ to repair broken bone in days Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 12:28

Broken bones in humans and animals are painful and often take months to heal. Studies conducted in part by University of Georgia Regenerative Bioscience Center researchers show promise to significantly shorten the healing time and revolutionize the course of fracture treatment.

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How spider webs achieve their strength Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 11:23
It’s not just the strength of the silk itself, a new study finds; the silk’s way of stretching and the structure of the whole web help it resist damage.

 

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Severe Declines in Everglades Mammals Linked to Pythons Saturday, February 4, 2012 - 19:11

Precipitous declines in formerly common mammals in Everglades National Park have been linked to the presence of invasive Burmese pythons, according to a study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

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Location key to calculating biofuel carbon footprint Saturday, February 4, 2012 - 08:03

The US government has set a target for producing cellulosic ethanol of nearly 40 billion litres each year by 2020. The perennial grass Miscanthus x giganteus is one potential source, and is less likely to affect food prices than using crops such as corn to make bioethanol.

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Right Hand or Left? How the Brain Solves a Perceptual Puzzle Saturday, February 4, 2012 - 06:33

When you see a picture of a hand, how do you know whether it’s a right or left hand? This “hand laterality” problem may seem obscure, but it reveals a lot about how the brain sorts out confusing perceptions. Now, a study which will be published in a forthcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal published by the Association for Psychological Science, challenges the long-held consensus about how we solve this problem.

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Chaos in the cell's command center Saturday, February 4, 2012 - 06:27

New research from Whitehead Institute scientists reveals the critical role one enzyme, lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1), plays as embryonic stem cells differentiate into other cell types. Their research is published online this week in the journal Nature.

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Discovery of extremely long-lived proteins may provide insight into cell aging Friday, February 3, 2012 - 15:02

One of the big mysteries in biology is why cells age. Now scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies report that they have discovered a weakness in a component of brain cells that may explain how the aging process occurs in the brain.

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