Disabling a set of genes in a strain of the tuberculosis bacteria surprisingly led to a mutant form of the pathogen that multiplied more quickly and was more lethal than its natural counterpart, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.
As early as two weeks after infection, researchers found significantly more bacteria from the organs of mice infected with the mutated tuberculosis (TB) bacteria than for mice infected with the unmodified, or “wil
Study Shows Why Each Parasite Species Often Infests a Favorite Host Species
University of Utah biologists twirled louse-infested bird feathers on an electric fan and flew pigeons and doves like kites on strings in a study that found small lice stick to small birds and big lice prefer big birds.
The study also showed why size matters to parasites: Lice infest bird species with feathers that are just the right size so the insects can hide between individual “barbs” – the hair
Scientists have found the gene that sends a signal through plant immune systems, saying, in effect: “Take two aspirin and call out the troops – we’re under attack!”
Discovery of the salicylic acid-binding protein 2 (SABP2) gene, by scientists at Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research (BTI) at Cornell University, is being called an important step toward new strategies to boost plants’ natural defenses against disease and for reducing the need for agricultural pesticides.
New insight into the molecular-level interactions between bacteria and minerals may some day help scientists design bacteria with the express purpose of cleaning up toxic waste.
Hazardous waste experts know that certain bacteria can essentially eat toxic waste, reducing it to less noxious substances. But until now they didn’t know what mechanisms allowed these bacteria to devour chemicals.
A new study by Ohio State and Virginia Tech universities showed how a particular b
Genetically engineered stem cells can find tumors and then produce biological killing agents right at the cancer site, say researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, who have performed a number of successful “proof of concept” experiments in mice.
Their novel treatment, presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), may offer the first gene therapy “delivery system” capable of homing in on and then attacking cancer that has metastasize
One of the first global-scale simulations of dust and climate from preindustrial times to the year 2100 projects a worldwide decrease in airborne dust of 20–63% by the end of this century. The computer model studies show less wind, more moisture, and enhanced vegetation in desert areas as carbon dioxide increases over the next century, keeping more of the world’s dust on the ground. Coauthor Natalie Mahowald of the National Center for Atmospheric Research presented the results this week at the A
An image of an elliptical galaxy by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has revealed a trail of black holes and neutron stars stretching more than fifty thousand light years across space. The trail of intense X-ray sources is evidence that this apparently sedate galaxy collided with another galaxy a few billion years ago.
“This discovery shows that X-ray observations may be the best way to identify the ancient remains of mergers between galaxies,” said Lars Hernquist of the Harvard-Smithsonia
One of the world’s fastest-moving glaciers is speeding up and retreating rapidly, a recent study has revealed.
The finding has surprised scientists, because while the margins of the Jakobshavn (pronounced “yah-cub-SAH-ven”) Glacier had been slowly retreating from the southwest coast of Greenland since before 1900, this retreat appeared to have stopped by the early 1990s when the first accurate measurements were made. Now the glacier is accelerating.
The glacier, one of the m
Recent studies suggest that an atmospheric compound derived primarily from coal combustion may have contradictory effects on the earth’s climate.
Under many conditions, sulfuric acid may cool the earth’s atmosphere. Sulfuric acid particles seem to scatter ultraviolet light back into space before it has a change to enter the troposphere – the bottom layer of earth’s atmosphere. But if conditions are right, this same chemical can warm the earth by combining with other compounds
First map of an entire global biome at useable level of detail
Researchers publish vegetation map of the Arctic Tundra Biome
Institute of Arctic Biology (IAB) researcher Donald (Skip) Walker and an international team of Arctic vegetation scientists have published the Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Map (CAVM) – the first map of an entire global biome at such a level of detail.
The 11-year CAVM project, directed by Walker, who also heads IAB’s Alaska Geobotany Ce
A new way to manufacture a low-cost superconducting material should lead to cheaper magnetic resonance imaging machines and other energy-efficient applications, say Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists.
Hot isostatic pressing of wires made of magnesium diboride, or MgB2, significantly increased the amount of electrical current the wires can carry without electrical resistance. Wires made from MgB2 would reduce the costs of such products as MRIs and electrical generators, say the researc
Vanderbilt University researchers believe a slow electrochemical wave, known as a damped wave, may be one of the reasons that low-voltage defibrillation shocks fail to halt fibrillation in cardiac patients.
The findings by Vanderbilt University researchers John Wikswo, Veniamin Sidorov, Rubin Aliev, Marcella Woods, Franz Baudenbacher and Petra Baudenbacher were published in the Nov. 14 issue of Physical Review Letters.
Fibrillation is a series of rapid, disorganized contractions i
More than 40% of bacteria found in chicken on sale in Switzerland is resistant to at least one antibiotic, says research published this week in BMC Public Health. The findings could have implications for treating food poisoning.
The bacteria, Campylobacter, causes between 5 and 14 percent of all diarrhoeal illness worldwide. The most common sources of infection are inadequately cooked meat, particularly poultry, unpasteurised milk and contaminated drinking water. The illness normally clea
People who tend to experience psychological distress are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than people who are less prone to experience distress, according to a study published in the December 9 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
In the study, those who most often experience negative emotions like depression and anxiety were twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease as those who were least prone to experience negative emotions.
The drug rituximab significantly prolonged the lives of some people with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), the most common form of leukemia in adult Americans.
The findings come from a comparative analysis of two completed national phase II and phase III clinical trials that will be presented Dec. 8, 8:00 a.m. PT, at the 45th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in San Diego, Calif.
The two multicenter clinical trials compare the antibody rituximab plus flud
Marine seismology reveals Hawaiian volcano’s past, sheds light on future dangers
The Hawaiian Islands are home to the largest documented shoreline collapse in history, an ancient seaward landslide that sent rocks from the island of Oahu to sites more than 100 miles offshore. The avalanche of debris from the northeast shore of Oahu probably occurred between 1.5 and 3 million years ago, and it undoubtedly created one of the largest tsunamis in Earth’s history, a wave large enough t
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