Biotechnology news

The Worm That Turned Evolutionary Key

Biology / Biotechnology

9 hours ago | 3 / 5 (1) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- The Keelworm, widespread in the seas and tide-pools around Scotland and the rest of the UK, is unwittingly helping scientists at the University of St Andrews to understand the evolution of modern animals.

Reference Genome of Maize Published (w/ Podcast)

Biology / Biotechnology

Nov 19, 2009 | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A four-year, multi-institutional effort co-led by three Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory scientists culminated today in publication of a landmark series of papers in the journal Science reveal ...

Scientists unlock clues for tailoring corn plant for food, energy needs

Biology / Biotechnology

Nov 19, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have long known that the offspring of two inbred strains tend to be superior to both their parents. Now, a team of researchers including a University of Florida geneticist has discovered clues ...

Researchers produce world’s first transgenic sweet sorghum

Biology / Biotechnology

Nov 09, 2009 | not rated yet | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- UQ (University of Queensland) researchers are leading green energy technology with confirmation of the world’s first transgenic sweet sorghum plants.

Researchers complete draft genome sequence for cassava

Biology / Biotechnology

Nov 09, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

A team of academic, government and industry researchers has completed a first draft of the cassava (Manihot esculenta) genome. The project is an important first step in accelerating the pace of research on this subsistence ...

Nano bubble gum for enhancing drug delivery in gut

Biology / Biotechnology

Nov 09, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

Of the many characteristic traits a drug can have, one of the most desirable is the ability for a drug to be swallowed and absorbed into the bloodstream through the gut. Some drugs, like over-the-counter aspirin, lend themselves ...

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 ...

Complete Genomics reports low-cost sequencing of 3 human genomes

Biology / Biotechnology

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

Complete Genomics, a third-generation human genome sequencing company, today announced publication of a report in the journal Science describing its proprietary DNA sequencing platform, including analysis of seq ...

Termites? gut reactions show how to improve renewable fuel, researchers say

Biology / Biotechnology

Nov 04, 2009 | 2.5 / 5 (2) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Termite damage costs the U.S. more than $1 billion each year, but that same destructive power might help solve one of the nation’s most pressing economic quandaries: sustainable fuel production.

DNA 'barcode' for tropical trees

Biology / Biotechnology

Nov 04, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

In foods, soil samples or customs checks, plant fragments sometimes need to be quickly identified. The use of DNA “barcodes” to itemize plant biodiversity was proposed during the 1992 Rio de Janeiro Summit. ...

Flemish researchers develop revolutionary technology for use in plant breeding

Biology / Biotechnology

Nov 03, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

In collaboration with researchers at VIB-UGent and the University of Antwerp (Belgium), scientists at the BioScience business group of Bayer CropScience AG in Gent have developed a technology that can significantly increase ...

Drought tolerant cowpea can improve crop yield in arid West Africa

Biology / Biotechnology

Nov 03, 2009 | 4 / 5 (1) | 0

Even the highly drought-resistant cowpea (a long type of legume) now has an increasingly difficult time surviving in the Sahel countries where climate change has resulted in shorter and less frequent rainy seasons. Wageningen ...

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.

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.

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 ...