Showing 20 articles starting at article 1
Categories: Biology: Microbiology, Ecology: Nature
Published A leaky sink: Carbon emissions from forest soil will likely grow with rising temperatures
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The soils of northern forests are key reservoirs that help keep the carbon dioxide that trees inhale and use for photosynthesis from making it back into the atmosphere.
Published Chlamydia can settle in the intestine
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Chlamydiae are sexually transmitted pathogens that can apparently survive in the human gut for a long time.
Published Mosquitoes sense infrared from body heat to help track humans down
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source While a mosquito bite is often no more than a temporary bother, in many parts of the world it can be scary. One mosquito species, Aedes aegypti, spreads the viruses that cause over 100,000,000 cases of dengue, yellow fever, Zika and other diseases every year. Another, Anopheles gambiae, spreads the parasite that causes malaria. The World Health Organization estimates that malaria alone causes more than 400,000 deaths every year. Indeed, their capacity to transmit disease has earned mosquitoes the title of deadliest animal.
Published Revealing DNA behavior in record time
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Studying how single DNA molecules behave helps us to better understand genetic disorders and design better drugs. Until now however, examining DNA molecules one-by-one was a slow process. Biophysicists have developed a technique that speeds up screening of individual DNA molecules at least a thousand times. With this technology, they can measure millions of DNA molecules within a week instead of years to decades.
Published Creature the size of a dust grain found hiding in California's Mono Lake
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Mono Lake is a beautiful but harsh environment, its salty and arsenic-laced water home to brine shrimp, alkali flies and little else. Scientists recently discovered an unsuspected resident, however, a microscopic creature -- a choanoflagelatte -- that forms colonies that harbor their own unique bacterial microbiomes. The creature, part of the sister group to all animals, could shed light on the evolution of animals' intimate interactions with bacteria and the rise of multicellular life.
Published Engineers design lookalike drug carrier to evade lung's lines of defense
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Managing hard-to-treat respiratory illnesses like asthma and pulmonary fibrosis just got easier if a new drug-carrying molecule is as sneaky as its inventors think.
Published From pets to pests: How domestic rabbits survive the wilderness
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source How do rabbits go from fluffy pets to marauding invaders? Rabbits have colonized countries worldwide, often with dire economic and ecological consequences, but their secret has until now been a mystery. Biologists sequenced the genomes of nearly 300 rabbits from across three continents to unveil the key genetic changes that make these animals master colonizers.
Published Universal flu vaccine candidate protects against infection in mice
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new flu vaccine candidate incorporates proteins from 8 strains of influenza.
Published Next time you beat a virus, thank your microbial ancestors
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source When you get infected with a virus, some of the first weapons your body deploys to fight it were passed down to us from our microbial ancestors billions of years ago. According to new research, two key elements of our innate immune system came from a group of microbes called Asgard archaea.
Published Life from a drop of rain: New research suggests rainwater helped form the first protocell walls
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research shows that rainwater could have helped create a meshy wall around protocells 3.8 billion years ago, a critical step in the transition from tiny beads of RNA to every bacterium, plant, animal, and human that ever lived.
Published A deep dive for environmental data on coastal oceans
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study addresses the lack of data on how much human-generated carbon dioxide is present in coastal oceans -- the saltwater ecosystems that link the land and sea. Capturing this data is crucial to calculating how much emissions must be cut in the future.
Published COPD and BPD: Inhalation of live Lactobacilli lessens lung inflammation and improves lung function
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In preclinical models, the inhalation of a mixture of living Lactobacilli bacteria attenuated pulmonary inflammation and improved lung function and structure for the chronic lung diseases bronchopulmonary dysplasia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This study determined the mechanism of this live biotherapeutic product -- a powder mixture of living Lactobacilli bacteria -- to reduce neutrophilic inflammation and reduce a broad swath of inflammatory markers in BPD and COPD.
Published Honey bees may play key role in spreading viruses to wild bumblebees
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Honey bees may play a role in increasing virus levels in wild bumble bees each spring, according to researchers who analyzed seasonal trends of parasite and virus transmission in bees.
Published Human-wildlife overlap expected to increase across more than half of land on Earth by 2070
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Human-wildlife overlap could increase across about 57% of the global lands by 2070 and could lead to more conflict between people and animals. Understanding where the overlap is likely to occur -- and which animals are likely to interact with humans in specific areas -- will be crucial information for urban planners, conservationists and countries that have pledged international conservation commitments.
Published Pilot study uses recycled glass to grow plants for salsa ingredients
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Tortilla chips and fresh salsa are tasty, but they could be even more appealing if you grow the ingredients yourself. Now, researchers report that some salsa ingredients -- cilantro, bell pepper and jalapeno -- can be more sustainably cultivated with recycled glass. Their pilot study found that partially substituting soil in a planter with recycled glass fragments speeds up plant development and reduces unwanted fungal growth.
Published A new pandemic could ride in on animals we eat, researchers warn
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers warn the animals we eat could be the gateway for a pandemic in the form of antimicrobial resistance, unleashing a wave of deadly superbugs. The World Health Organization estimates that drug-resistant diseases could cause up to 10 million deaths each year by 2050.
Published 'DNA scavengers' can stop some antibiotic resistance from spreading
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source For nearly a century, scientists have waged war on antibiotic-resistant microbes. Researchers say they've found a new way to prevent it -- by unleashing 'DNA scavengers' in wastewater treatment plants.
Published Engineered Bacteria make thermally stable plastics similar to polystyrene and PET
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Bioengineers around the world have been working to create plastic-producing microbes that could replace the petroleum-based plastics industry. Now, researchers have overcome a major hurdle: getting bacteria to produce polymers that contain ring-like structures, which make the plastics more rigid and thermally stable. Because these molecules are usually toxic to microorganisms, the researchers had to construct a novel metabolic pathway that would enable the E. coli bacteria to both produce and tolerate the accumulation of the polymer and the building blocks it is composed of. The resulting polymer is biodegradable and has physical properties that could lend it to biomedical applications such as drug delivery, though more research is needed.
Published Benefits and downside of fasting
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers identified a signaling pathway in mice that boosts intestinal stem cells' regeneration abilities after fasting. When cancerous mutations occurred during this regenerative period, mice were more likely to develop early-stage intestinal tumors.
Published Mobile species are 'glue' which connect different habitats together
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A groundbreaking study conducted across 30 field sites in the southwest UK has revealed the importance of incorporating varied habitats into the landscape at large.