Organic compounds containing double or triple bonds can pack a powerful punch. By sharing electrons between atoms through a process called pi conjugation,…
Diversity may be the spice of life, but it’s also the key to an effective immune system, as B lymphocytes rely on extensive recombination to shuffle their…
Many species of animal have skin or fur with intricate pigmentation patterns, which they use for camouflage, communication, regulation of body heat and…
In some cases, it is so severe they have to reduce their medication or stop therapy altogether. But now, scientists in Duke University's Institute for Genome…
This metabolic minimalist is a specialist uniquely suited to performing one very important function: taking nitrogen gas from the atmosphere and "fixing" it into a form that makes this essential nutrient available to other organisms. Nitrogen fixation fertilizes the oceans, controlling overall biological productivity and thereby affecting how much carbon dioxide the oceans absorb from the atmosphere. Jonathan Zehr, the marine microbiologist who discovered the microbe, said it has stubbornly resisted efforts to grow it in the laboratory. But that…
Building on his research that the brain during sleep is fundamentally different from the brain during wakefulness, Dr. Frank has found that cellular changes in…
Transport of proteins to and from cilia is crucial for normal cell function and survival, and interruption of transport has been implicated in degenerative…
The new study, by Thomas Fazzio and Barbara Panning (University of California, San Francisco) finds that two chromatin regulatory proteins essential for ES…
Huntington’s disease occurs in patients who inherit a mutant form of a protein called Huntingtin (Htt). The protein was first identified in 1993, but how it…
Now, Hopkins scientists have shown that a healthy immune response depends on a protein called TRPV2 (pronounced trip-vee-two) which, they discovered, is the…
The research, published in Conservation Biology, revealed that over a nine year period the number of registered sex offenders in energy 'boomtowns' was two to…
Malaria remains one of the most deadly infectious diseases. Yet, how Plasmodium, the malaria parasite, regulates its infectious cycle has remained an enigma…
The study found that elite endurance athletes were more likely to have variations of the NRF2 gene than elite sprinters. Non-elite endurance athletes were also…
In the tropics, carnivorous plants trap unsuspecting prey in a cavity filled with liquid known as a “pitcher.”The moment insects like flies, ants and beetles…
It's another source of variation for scientists to consider. “Researchers have been exploring whether organisms evolve different ways to cope with genetic and…
The recently published findings that Group B streptococcus could be a zoonotic disease – transmitted between different species – may have significant public…
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