Scientists discovered a strange reproductive method in primitive cycad plants: The plants heat up and emit a toxic odor to drive pollen-covered insects out of male cycad cones, and then use a milder odor to draw the bugs into female cones so the plants are pollinated. This method may represent an intermediate step in the evolution of plant pollination, the researchers report in Science.
A newly discovered molecular mechanism provides a more detailed understanding of how the normally benign Dr. Jekyll-like fungus known as Candida albicans transforms into a serious and often life-threatening Mr. Hyde-like form. It can cause serious and potentially life-threatening infections in the mouth, blood and other tissues of people who are undergoing cancer chemotherapy or radiation treatments, or who have developed AIDS or other diseases that damage the immune system.
When it comes to obesity, all fat deposits are not alike. Scientists found that individuals who were born with a particular gene variant had a significantly greater buildup of plaque in their arteries than those who were not carriers.
Diagnosing a risk of fatal lung disorders may be possible by analyzing the umbilical cords of premature babies, according to a new article. Until now, pediatricians have not been able to predict the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia because of the difficulties with obtaining lung samples.
Trace amounts of genetically engineered rice was present in two varieties of rice, Cheniere and CL131. No short- or medium-grain rice varieties tested positive for either GE strain investigated. The exact mechanism for introduction of the GE material could not be determined in either instance.
Moving away from home and adapting to a new social environment are just two of the many challenges that new students face as they enter university. A new study has found that these challenges can actually have a negative effect on a student's health. Female students who lived away from home were three times more likely to report symptoms of binge eating compared to those students living with parents during their first year of university studies.
Researchers have developed a new algorithm to help create prosthetic devices that convert brain signals into action in patients who have been paralyzed or had limbs amputated.
Attendance at swimming pools in the first year of life has been linked to the frequency of infections. Diarrhea and otitis media during the first year of life are especially noteworthy. No increased risks were found for atopic diseases during the first six years.
Physician-scientists believe identifying a genetic "fingerprint"could help predict which specific therapies will be most effective for patients with gastric cancer. This trial addresses what the researcher calls the ?future of cancer therapy?: targeted drug regimens, based on the characteristics of a patient?s specific tumor.
Researchers have uncovered a biological link between the protein whose mutation causes early-onset Alzheimer's disease and a gene variant linked to late-onset AD. The researchers said their finding could lead to new approaches to treating AD.
Researchers have found that a simple circadian clock found in some bacteria operates by the rhythmic addition and subtraction of phosphate groups at two key locations on a single protein. This phosphate pattern is influenced by two other proteins, driving phosphorylation to oscillate according to a remarkably accurate 24-hour cycle.
The theory of loss aversion is used in many contexts to explain why potential loss has a greater mitigating influence on behavior than potential gain. In trading situations, consumers will most likely opt to keep what they have, tending to place a larger value on the items already in their possession (also known as the "endowment effect"). However, these theories generally assume that consumers like what they have enough to want to keep it. What happens when we're in possession of something we hate?
Electrical cables, garden hoses and strands of holiday lights seem to get themselves hopelessly tangled with no help at all. Now research has resulted in the first model of how knots form. The study investigated the likelihood of knot formation and the types of knots formed in a tumbled string. The researchers say they were interested in the problem because it has many applications, including to the biophysics research questions their group usually studies.
The mutation in a single gene can cause epilepsy in infants. Infants are more susceptible to seizures because their brains are developing at a rapid rate, making their brain cells 'excitable'. Their neurons are growing and making new connections with other nerve cells, which can disrupt normal brain activity and results in epilepsy. Infants have protective mechanisms in their brains to control this excitability, but now the Florey scientists have uncovered that a single gene mutation prevents a specific ion channel from functioning correctly, thus causing excitability which results in epilepsy.
