Genetic analysis of giant pandas has shown that features of their landscape have a profound effect on the movement of genes within their population. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Genetics found that physical barriers, such as areas lacking bamboo plants and other forest foliage, can separate giant pandas into isolated genetic groups. [...]
Archive for the ‘Animals’ Category
Hijacked Supplies for Pathogens: Legionnaire’s Disease Bacteria Tap Into the Material Transport in Immune Cells
July 26th, 2010 Legionnaire’s disease bacteria tap into the material transport in immune cells. When it infects the lungs, the Legionnaire’s bacterium Legionella pneumophila causes acute pneumonia. The pathogen’s modus operandi is particularly ingenious: it infiltrates deliberately into cells of the human immune system and injects a host of proteins which then interfere in the normal cellular processes. [...]
Human Sperm Gene Is 600 Million Years Old, Scientists Discover
July 16th, 2010 Just as styles in sexy clothes or fashion change from year to year and culture to culture, “sexy” genes, or genes specific to sex, also change rapidly. But there is one sex-specific gene so vital, its function has remained unaltered throughout evolution and is found in almost all animals, according to new research from Northwestern [...]
Incidence of Malaria Jumps When Amazon Forests Are Cut, Study Finds
June 17th, 2010 Now, however, a team of scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, writing in the current (June 16, 2010) online issue of the CDC journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, presents the most enumerated case to date linking increased incidence of malaria to land-use practices in the Amazon. The report, which combines detailed information on the incidence of malaria [...]
Yellow Fever Vaccine Modified to Fight Malaria
June 15th, 2010 There is no vaccine for malaria, which sickens almost a quarter of a billion people each year and kills a child every 30 seconds. That could be changing: researchers at The Rockefeller University have genetically transformed the yellow fever vaccine to prime the immune system to fend off the mosquito borne parasites that cause the [...]
Citizen Science: Birders Contribute Valuable Data on Invasive Plant Species
June 10th, 2010 In an effort to assess ties between birds’ feeding habits and the spread of nonnative invasive plants, researchers provided ornithologists from four U.S. states with questionnaires on daily bird-plant encounters. The 1,143 unique interactions reported by the birders laid the groundwork for a study on the role of native birds in the seed dispersal of [...]
Dinosaur-Chewing Mammals Leave Behind Oldest Known Tooth Marks
June 9th, 2010 Paleontologists have discovered the oldest mammalian tooth marks yet on the bones of ancient animals, including several large dinosaurs. They report their findings in a paper published online June 16 in the journal Paleontology. Nicholas Longrich of Yale University and Michael J. Ryan of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History came across several of the bones [...]
Gene Discovery Potential Key to Cost-Competitive Cellulosic Ethanol
June 5th, 2010 Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are improving strains of microorganisms used to convert cellulosic biomass into ethanol, including a recent modification that could improve the efficiency of the conversion process. Biofuels researchers and industrials have generated improved mutant microorganisms previously, but authors of a paper in Proceedings of the National Academy [...]
Frogs, Foam and Fuel: Solar Energy Converted to Sugars
March 18th, 2010 For decades, farmers have been trying to find ways to get more energy out of the sun. In natural photosynthesis, plants take in solar energy and carbon dioxide and then convert it to oxygen and sugars. The oxygen is released to the air and the sugars are dispersed throughout the plant — like that sweet [...]
Posted in Agriculture, Animals, Solar System, Space 
Tags: Frogs Foam and Fuel, Solar Energy, Solar Energy Converted to Sugars 
Comments OffBiologists Find Proof of First Confirmed Species of Monogamous Frog
March 15th, 2010 Amphibians may be a love ‘em and leave ‘em class, but one frog species defies the norm, scientists have found. A trio of biologists, including two from East Carolina University, have discovered in Peru the first confirmed species of monogamous amphibian, Ranitomeya imitator, better known as the mimic poison frog — a finding that provides [...]