Showing 20 articles starting at article 861

< Previous 20 articles        Next 20 articles >

Categories: Biology: Cell Biology, Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology

Return to the site home page

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Athletes often suffer injuries to ligaments in their knees, particularly to the anterior cruciate ligament or ACL. While surgery to replace these torn ligaments is becoming increasingly common around the world it often needs to be repeated. That's because it has proved challenging to anchor fibrous, soft and wet ligament grafting material into hard bone. Now, researchers have new information from the eggshell membrane in chicken eggs that could help change this picture thanks to the potential it offers for improvements in tissue engineering and biomaterial grafts. Their findings also have the potential to reduce losses for commercial egg and poultry producers.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

From lab-grown chicken to cricket-derived protein, these innovative alternatives offer hope for a planet struggling with the environmental and ethical impacts of industrial agriculture. Now, scientists add a new recipe to the list -- cultured beef rice -- by growing animal muscle and fat cells inside rice grains. The method results in a nutritious and flavorful hybrid food that, once commercialized, could offer a more affordable protein alternative with a smaller carbon footprint.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have determined how the well-known plant hormone ethylene is crucial in controlling the angle at which roots grow. The findings can be used to engineer plants and crops that withstand the environmental stresses of climate change and drought, and perhaps to create plants that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it deep underground to help mitigate climate change.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed a new nanoparticle that can 'hitch a ride' on immune cells, or monocytes. Because of its tiny size, the particle can tag along directly into lymph nodes and help metastasis show up on MRIs where it would otherwise be too hard to detect. The process offers game-changing benefits for the early detection of cancer metastasis in the lymph nodes. While previously, metastasis could only be assessed by an increase in lymph node size; the new particles could lead to MRI contrast agents that can highlight metastatic cells in lymph nodes that may otherwise appear normal.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Babies playfully tease others as young as eight months of age. Since language is not required for this behavior, similar kinds of playful teasing might be present in non-human animals. Now cognitive biologists and primatologists have documented playful teasing in four species of great apes. Like joking behavior in humans, ape teasing is provocative, persistent, and includes elements of surprise and play. Because all four great ape species used playful teasing, it is likely that the prerequisites for humor evolved in the human lineage at least 13 million years ago.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

As temperatures rise, the bees change how they fly to decrease the heat they generate from metabolism, which helps the insects avoid overheating and save precious water.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers are further improving CRISPR's versatility to engineer new grasses and yeasts for biochemical production.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists develop novel underwater bio-adhesive patches with mussel adhesive protein.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study by researchers has revealed a sustainable method of efficiently converting waste heat into electricity using Irish wood products, while minimizing costs and environmental impact.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have created a new version of a microbe to compete economically with E. coli -- a bacteria commonly used as a research tool due to its ability to synthesize proteins -- to conduct low-cost and scalable synthetic biological experiments.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new clinical trial suggests that a combination of the drug vorinostat and immunotherapy can coax HIV-infected cells out of latency and attack them. The findings highlight how close -- yet still far -- researchers have come to developing a cure for HIV-1.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have shed new light on how viral evolution, population immunity, and the co-circulation of other flu viruses shape seasonal flu epidemics.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Sandalwood oil has been used worldwide for centuries. Now, a study is the first to demonstrate in vivo the chemo-preventive properties of a by-product of the oil in a mouse model. Results show administering alpha-santalol reduced visible prostate tumors, protected the normal tissue, and delayed progression from a precancerous condition to a high-grade form of cancer. These findings are significant because mortality in prostate cancer patients is mainly attributable to advanced stages of the disease.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The bead found at the La Prele Mammoth site in Wyoming's Converse County is about 12,940 years old and made of bone from a hare.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The capacity of intestinal stem cells to maintain cellular balance in the gut decreases upon aging. Researchers have discovered a new mechanism of action between the nutrient adaptation of intestinal stem cells and aging. The finding may make a difference when seeking ways to maintain the functional capacity of the aging gut.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists examined hundreds of birds in museum collections and discovered a suite of feather characteristics that all flying birds have in common. These 'rules' provide clues as to how the dinosaur ancestors of modern birds first evolved the ability to fly, and which dinosaurs were capable of flight.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new collaborative study analyzed fecal samples to shed light on how the fatal disease impacts the gut microbiome in deer, providing a promising tool for disease surveillance.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Snail shells are often colorful and strikingly patterned. This is due to pigments that are produced in special cells of the snail and stored in the shell in varying concentrations. Fossil shells, on the other hand, are usually pale and inconspicuous because the pigments are very sensitive and have already decomposed. Residues of ancient color patterns are therefore very rare. This makes a new discovery all the more astonishing: researchers found pigments in twelve-million-year-old fossilized snail shells.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers report the results of the first ever genome-wide association study (GWAS) of a biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) virus. The team found two key human genetic factors that could help explain why some people develop severe Lassa fever, and a set of LARGE1 variants linked to a reduced chance of getting Lassa fever. The work could lay the foundation for better treatments for Lassa fever and other similar diseases. The scientists are already working on a similar genetics study of Ebola susceptibility.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Following the arrival of the first farmers in Scandinavia 5,900 years ago, the hunter-gatherer population was wiped out within a few generations, according to a new study. The results, which are contrary to prevailing opinion, are based on DNA analysis of skeletons and teeth found in what is now Denmark.