Regardless of whether we are sitting in a loud aeroplane or walking through a quiet forest clearing, how humans perceive their environment depends on the…
The bacteria that cause the life-threatening disease cholera may initiate infection by coordinating a wave of mass shapeshifting that allows them to more…
Bacterial cells have an added layer of protection, called the cell wall, that animal cells don't. Assembling this tough armor entails multiple steps, some of…
In order to improve our understanding of the impact climate change has on plant life in the Antarctic, the Rector of the University of Freiburg/Germany, Prof….
This possibility is raised by a fundamentally new method for controlling a powerful but finicky process called the polymerase chain reaction. PCR was developed…
The cells of the mouth, nose and intestinal mucosa produce large quantities of a chemical called sialic acid. Many bacteria possess a special transport system…
About 40% of natural grasslands worldwide have potential to support increased livestock grazing, according to a new study published in the journal Global…
Wolffia globosa, a tiny, rootless duckweed, or water lens, apparently has what it takes to achieve great things.
Matthias Mann, head of the department “Proteomics and Signal Transduction” at the Max-Planck-Institute of Biochemistry has optimized, together with his…
Researchers from the Messerli Research Institute of Vetmeduni Vienna and University Vienna and University of Lincoln discovered that brumation – the period of…
Fossil conifer cones can still move their individual seed scales after millions of years. This is the finding of a study conducted by the biologists Dr. Simon…
Space travel in a reduced gravity environment can have lasting effects on the body. For example, researches clearly show that astronauts undergo a significant…
From fighting the urge to hit someone to resisting the temptation to run off stage instead of giving that public speech, we are often confronted with…
Living trees can rot from the inside out, leaving only a hollowed trunk. Wood rot in living trees can cause overestimates of global carbon pools, timber loss…
Alpha-synuclein occurs naturally in the nervous system, where it plays an important role in synaptic function. However, in Parkinson’s disease, dementia with…
Insulin is formed in the pancreas and regulates the blood glucose level. In the body it is stored as a zinc-bound complex of six identical molecules, called a…