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Biology RSS FeedsStudy unmasks how ovarian tumors evade immune system - Scientists at Johns Hopkins have determined how the characteristic shedding of fatty substances, or lipids, by ovarian tumors allows the cancer to evade the body's immune system, leaving the disease to spread unchecked. Ovarian cancer is considered to be one of the most aggressive malignancies, killing more than 70 percent of diagnosed women within five years, including an estimated 15,000 this year. ...Feed Source: feeds.biologynews.net Persistent pollutant may promote obesity - Tributyltin, a ubiquitous pollutant that has a potent effect on gene activity, could be promoting obesity, according to an article in the December issue of BioScience. The chemical is used in antifouling paints for boats, as a wood and textile preservative, and as a pesticide on high-value food crops, among many other applications.
... World AIDS Day offers a reflection on the past, hopeful look to the future - On Dec.1, the global community commemorates the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day by remembering the millions of people lost to AIDS and renewing the commitment to fight the disease. Since the inception of World AIDS Day in 1988, considerable progress has been made in the fight against HIV/AIDS. This included the development of more than two dozen drugs to treat HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and the implementation of scientifically proven strategies to prevent people from becoming infected with HIV. Furthermore, programs such as the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and others have given millions of people in low and mid-income countries access to HIV treatments and services where none existed.
... Brain's magnetic fields reveal language delays in autism - Faint magnetic signals from brain activity in children with autism show that those children process sound and language differently from non-autistic children. Identifying and classifying these brain response patterns may allow researchers to more accurately diagnose autism and possibly aid in developing more effective treatments for the developmental disorder.
... Antibiotics: Single largest class of drugs causing liver injury - Antibiotics are the single largest class of agents that cause idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury (DILI), reports a new study in Gastroenterology, an official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute. DILI is the most common cause of death from acute liver failure and accounts for approximately 13 percent of cases of acute liver failure in the U.S. It is caused by a wide variety of prescription and nonprescription medications, nutritional supplements and herbals.
... McGill researcher on a quest to cure disfiguring parasitic disease - Eating a meal in a restaurant is one of those trivial, everyday activities we take for granted in the developed world. For Canadian aid worker Louisette Pouliot, however, the simple act of grabbing a quick bite at an outdoor eatery in Ouagadougou, the capital of the African nation of Burkina Faso, had profound implications for her life and health.
... Biofuel plantations on tropical forestlands are bad for the climate and biodiversity, study finds - Keeping tropical rain forests intact is a better way to combat climate change than replacing them with biofuel plantations, a study in the journal Conservation Biology finds.
... Can you hear me now? How the inner ear's sensors are made - A UCLA study shows for the first time how microscopic crystals form sound and gravity sensors inside the inner ear. Located at the ends of cilia ? tiny cellular hairs in the ear that move and transmit signals ? these crystals play an important role in detecting sound, maintaining balance and regulating movement.
... Tool helps identify gene function in soybeans - In the race for bioengineered crops, sequencing the genome could be considered the first leg in a multi-leg relay. Once the sequence is complete, the baton is passed forward to researchers to identify genes' functions. A draft sequence of the soybean genome is now available, and the complete genome will be available soon. Taking the next step in a new study, University of Missouri Interdisciplinary Plant Group researchers have demonstrated the applicability of a genomic tool for identifying gene function in soybeans. Understanding gene function in soybeans will ultimately benefit crop performance.
... Sex life of killer fungus finally revealed - Biologists at The University of Nottingham and University College Dublin have announced a major breakthrough in our understanding of the sex life of a microscopic fungus which is a major cause of death in immune deficient patients and also a cause of severe asthma.
... Evidence from dirty teeth: Ancient Peruvians ate well - Starch grains preserved on human teeth reveal that ancient Peruvians ate a variety of cultivated crops including squash, beans, peanuts and the fruit of cultivated pacay trees. This finding by Dolores Piperno, staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the National Museum of Natural History, and Tom Dillehay, professor of archaeology at Vanderbilt University, sets the date of the earliest human consumption of beans and pacay back by more than 2,000 years and indicates that New World people were committed farmers earlier than previously thought.
... Brown chemist finds gray mold's killer gene - Gray mold is a gardener's nightmare. The fungus, also known by its scientific name Botrytis cinerea, is a scourge to more than 200 agricultural and ornamental plant species, including staples such as tomatoes, strawberries, snap and lima beans, cabbage, lettuce and endive, peas, peppers, and potatoes. Gray mold envelops its target in a velvety vise, releasing a toxin that poisons the host plants' cells, eventually causing the plant to die.
... Viral DNA in bacterial genome could hold key to novel cystic fibrosis treatments - The bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa is well known for its environmental versatility, ability to cause infection in humans, and its capacity to resist antibiotics. P. aeruginosa is the most common cause of persistent and fatal lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients. In a study published online today in Genome Research (www.genome.org), researchers have used genomic techniques to study a particularly virulent strain of P. aeruginosa, uncovering genetic clues to its success that will aid in the design of novel therapeutic strategies.
... No place like home: New theory for how salmon, sea turtles find their birthplace - How marine animals find their way back to their birthplace to reproduce after migrating across thousands of miles of open ocean has mystified scientists for more than a century. But marine biologists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill think they might finally have unraveled the secret.
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