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Categories: Biology: Biotechnology, Paleontology: General

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Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Botany Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science
Published

The world's most prolific CO2-fixing enzyme is slowly getting better      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research has found that rubisco -- the enzyme that fuels all life on Earth -- is not stuck in an evolutionary rut after all. The largest analysis of rubisco ever has found that it is improving all the time -- just very, very slowly. These insights could potentially open up new routes to strengthen food security.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology
Published

Revealing the evolutionary origin of genomic imprinting      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Some of our genes can be expressed or silenced depending on whether we inherited them from our mother or our father. The mechanism behind this phenomenon, known as genomic imprinting, is determined by DNA modifications during egg and sperm production.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular
Published

Synthetic gene helps explain the mysteries of transcription across species      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

'Random DNA' is naturally active in the one-celled fungi yeast, while such DNA is turned off as its natural state in mammalian cells, despite their having a common ancestor a billion years ago and the same basic molecular machinery, a new study finds.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular
Published

Decoding the language of epigenetic modifications      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Epigenetic changes play important roles in cancer, metabolic and aging-related diseases, but also during loss of resilience as they cause the genetic material to be incorrectly interpreted in affected cells. A major study now provides important new insights into how complex epigenetic modification signatures regulate the genome. This study will pave the way for new treatments of diseases caused by faulty epigenetic machineries.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Tiny worms tolerate Chornobyl radiation      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study finds that exposure to chronic radiation from Chornobyl has not damaged the genomes of microscopic worms living there today -- which doesn't mean that the region is safe, the scientists caution, but suggests that these worms are exceptionally resilient.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General
Published

Researchers explore non-invasive method for sampling drug response      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Harnessing a pervasive type of cellular messenger shows early experimental promise as a routine way of sampling and monitoring the body's response to prescription drug exposure. Experiments have successfully isolated drug-metabolizing enzymes from extracellular vesicles (EVs), which are widely secreted throughout the body for cellular communication.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Zoology
Published

Lab-grown liver organoid to speed up turtle research, making useful traits easier to harness      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers developed protocols for growing organoids that mimic a turtle liver, the first organoids developed for a turtle and only the second for any reptile. The discovery will aid deeper study of turtle genetics, including the cause of traits with potential medical applications for humans such as the ability to survive weeks without oxygen.

Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Extinction Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Fossil named 'Attenborough's strange bird' was the first in its kind without teeth      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new fossil, named 'Attenborough's strange bird' after naturalist and documentarian Sir David Attenborough, is the first of its kind to evolve a toothless beak. It's from a branch of the bird family tree that went extinct in the mass extinction 66 million years ago, and this strange bird is another puzzle piece that helps explain why some birds -- and their fellow dinosaurs -- went extinct, and others survived to today.

Anthropology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Modeling the origins of life: New evidence for an 'RNA World'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists provide fresh insights on the origins of life, presenting compelling evidence supporting the 'RNA World' hypothesis. The study unveils an RNA enzyme that can make accurate copies of other functional RNA strands, while also allowing new variants of the molecule to emerge over time. These remarkable capabilities suggest the earliest forms of evolution may have occurred on a molecular scale in RNA, and also bring scientists one step closer to re-creating autonomous RNA-based life in the laboratory.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Endangered Species Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

An evolutionary mystery 125 million years in the making      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Plant biologists have uncovered an evolutionary mystery over 100 million years in the making. It turns out that sometime during the last 125 million years, tomatoes and Arabidopsis thaliana plants experienced an extreme genetic makeover. Just what happened remains unclear. But the mystery surrounds CLV3, a gene key to healthy plant growth and development.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular
Published

Photosynthetic secrets come to light      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Secrets of photosynthesis have been discovered at atomic level, shedding important new light on this plant super-power that greened the earth more than a billion years ago.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Marine Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular Ecology: Sea Life Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Convergent evolution of algal CO2-fixing organelles      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers identified the proteins of a CO2-fixing organelle, namely, 'pyrenoid,' in the marine algal group Chlorarachniophyta and revealed various pyrenoid-associated proteins among algal groups, suggesting the independent evolution of pyrenoids in different algal groups.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular
Published

How virus causes cancer: Potential treatment      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have discovered a key mechanism used by Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), also known as human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8), to induce cancer. The research points to effective new treatment options for KSHV-associated cancers, including Kaposi's sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma, and HHV8-associated multicentric Castleman disease.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geology Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
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Mercury rising: Study sheds new light on ancient volcanoes' environmental impact      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Massive volcanic events in Earth's history that released large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere frequently correlate with periods of severe environmental change and mass extinctions. A new method to estimate how much and how rapidly carbon was released by the volcanoes could improve our understanding of the climate response, according to an international team.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Molecular
Published

Scientists identify new 'regulatory' function of learning and memory gene common to all mammalian brain cells      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Neuroscientists say they have found a new function for the SYNGAP1 gene, a DNA sequence that controls memory and learning in mammals, including mice and humans.