Biotechnology news

Australian researchers first in the world to solve the genetic code of canola

Biology / Biotechnology

Nov 06, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Until recently, the genetic code of canola was a mystery. Australian researcher Dr David Edwards, in collaboration with Bayer CropScience and Keygene N.V., is the first in the world to have solved the code, ...

DNA molecules in moss open door to new biotechnology

Biology / Biotechnology

Nov 06, 2009 | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

Plasmids, which are DNA molecules capable of independent replication in cells, have played an important role in gene technology. Researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden have now demonstrated that plasmid-based methods, ...

Genome sequence for the domestic horse unveiled

Biology / Biotechnology

Nov 05, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (2) | 0

The whole genome sequence of the domestic horse has been completed by the genome-sequencing center of The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, in collaboration with an international team of researchers that ...

Researchers sequence swine genome

Biology / Biotechnology

Nov 02, 2009 | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A global collaborative has produced a first draft of the genome of a domesticated pig, an achievement that will lead to insights in agriculture, medicine, conservation and evolution.

Cucumber genome published

Biology / Biotechnology

Nov 02, 2009 | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

The genome of the cucumber has been sequenced by an international consortium lead by Chinese and U.S. institutions. The annotated genome is published online Nov. 1 by the journal Nature Genetics.

Scientists create fruit fly model to help unravel genetics of human diabetes

Biology / Biotechnology

Nov 02, 2009 | 3 / 5 (1) | 0

As rates of obesity, diabetes, and related disorders have reached epidemic proportions in the US in recent years, scientists are working from many angles to pinpoint the causes and contributing factors involved ...

Researchers to perform sex change operation on papaya

Biology / Biotechnology

Nov 02, 2009 | 3 / 5 (2) | 0

The complicated sex life of the papaya is about to get even more interesting, thanks to a $3.1 million grant from the National Science Foundation. The grant will fund basic research on the papaya sex chromosomes ...

Slimming gene regulates body fat

Biology / Biotechnology

Nov 02, 2009 | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

Scientists at the University of Bonn, Germany, have discovered a previously unknown fruit fly gene that controls the metabolism of fat. Larvae in which this gene is defective lose their entire fat reserves. Therefore the ...

'Moonlighting' molecules discovered

Biology / Biotechnology

Oct 29, 2009 | 5 / 5 (3) | 0

Since the completion of the human genome sequence, a question has baffled researchers studying gene control: How is it that humans, being far more complex than the lowly yeast, do not proportionally contain in our genome ...

Of mice and men: Stem cells and ethical uncertainties

Biology / Biotechnology

Oct 29, 2009 | not rated yet | 1

The recent creation of live mice from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) not only represents a remarkable scientific achievement, but also raises important issues, according to bioethicists at The Johns Hopkins University's ...

Circadian surprise: Mechanism of temperature synchronization in drosophila

Biology / Biotechnology

Oct 28, 2009 | 4 / 5 (1) | 0

New research reveals a pathway that links peripheral sensory tissues with a "clock" in the brain to regulate molecular processes and behaviors in response to cyclical temperature changes. The research, published by Cell Press ...

Scientists discover gene that 'cancer-proofs' rodent's cells

Biology / Biotechnology

Oct 26, 2009 | 5 / 5 (47) | 13

(PhysOrg.com) -- Despite a 30-year lifespan that gives ample time for cells to grow cancerous, a small rodent species called a naked mole rat has never been found with tumors of any kind—and now biologists ...

A solution to Darwin's 'mystery of the mysteries' emerges from the dark matter of the genome

Biology / Biotechnology

Oct 26, 2009 | 4.2 / 5 (14) | 0

Biological species are often defined on the basis of reproductive isolation. Ever since Darwin pointed out his difficulty in explaining why crosses between two species often yield sterile or inviable progeny (for instance, ...

Researchers discover mechanism that prevents two species from reproducing

Biology / Biotechnology

Oct 26, 2009 | 5 / 5 (6) | 3

Cornell researchers have discovered a genetic mechanism in fruit flies that prevents two closely related species from reproducing, a finding that offers clues to how species evolve.

Modified crops reveal hidden cost of resistance

Biology / Biotechnology

Oct 26, 2009 | 4.8 / 5 (5) | 1

Genetically modified squash plants that are resistant to a debilitating viral disease become more vulnerable to a fatal bacterial infection, according to biologists.

New study reveals first ever method to genetically identify all 8 tuna species

Biology / Biotechnology

Oct 26, 2009 | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

A new paper published October 27 in PLoS ONE, the online, open-access scientific journal, unveils for the first time a method to accurately distinguish between all eight tuna species from any kind of processed tissue using ...

Algae may be secret weapon in climate change war

Biology / Biotechnology

Oct 22, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (8) | 4

Driven by fluctuations in oil prices, and seduced by the prospect of easing climate change, experts are ramping up efforts to squeeze fuel out of a promising new organism: pond scum.

Reprogramming a patient's eye cells may herald new treatments against degenerative disease

Biology / Biotechnology

Oct 22, 2009 | 5 / 5 (3) | 1

Scientists have overcome a key barrier to the clinical use of stem cells with a technique which transforms regular body cells into artificial stem cells without the need for introducing foreign genetic materials, which could ...