Biotechnology news

Grass to gas: Researchers' genome map speeds biofuel development

Researchers at the University of Georgia have taken a major step in the ongoing effort to find sources of cleaner, renewable energy by mapping the genomes of two originator cells of Miscanthus x giganteus, a large perenn ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created 13 hours ago | popularity 3.8 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Deadly bird parasite evolves at exceptionally fast rate

A new study of a devastating bird disease that spread from poultry to house finches in the mid-1990s reveals that the bacteria responsible for the disease evolves at an exceptionally fast rate. What's more, ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Feb 09, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Transformational fruit fly genome catalog completed

Scientists searching for the genomics version of the holy grail – more insight into predicting how an animal's genes affect physical or behavioral traits – now have a reference manual that should ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Feb 08, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New study sheds light on genetics of rice metabolism

A large-scale study analyzing metabolic compounds in rice grains conducted by researchers at the RIKEN Plant Science Center (PSC) and their collaborators has identified 131 rice metabolites and clarified the ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Feb 08, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Entire genome of extinct human decoded from fossil

(PhysOrg.com) -- In 2010, Svante Pääbo and his colleagues presented a draft version of the genome from a small fragment of a human finger bone discovered in Denisova Cave in southern Siberia. The ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Feb 07, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (55) | comments 41 | with audio podcast


Brazil to lead world in biotech crops: association

Brazil is on course to dislodge the United States as the world's top producer of biotech crops in the coming years, a leading promoter of farm biotechnology said Tuesday.

Biology / Biotechnology

created Feb 07, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

New insight from whole-genome sequencing of Europe's 2011 E. coli outbreaks

Using whole-genome sequencing, a team led by researchers from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and the Broad Institute has traced the path of the E. coli outbreak that sickened thousands and killed over 50 people in Ger ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Feb 06, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Neurons from stem cells could replace mice in botulinum test

(PhysOrg.com) -- Using lab-grown human neurons, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have devised an effective assay for detecting botulinum neurotoxin, the agent widely used to cosmetically smooth the wrinkles ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Feb 06, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Steroids control gas exchange in plants

Plants leaves are sealed with a gas-tight wax layer to prevent water loss. Plants breathe through microscopic pores called stomata (Greek for mouths) on the surfaces of leaves. Over 40% of the carbon dioxide, CO2, in the ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Feb 05, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Genetic information migrates from plant to plant

Plant scientists were confounded by the fact that the DNA extracted from the plants’ green chloroplasts sometimes showed the greatest similarities when related species grew in the same area. They tried ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Feb 03, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Parasites or not? Transposable elements in fruit flies

The problem of parasitism occurs at all levels right down to the DNA scale. Genomes may contain up to 80 percent "foreign" DNA but details of the mechanisms by which this enters the host genome and how hosts attempt to combat ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Feb 03, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Making the worms turn

To biophysicist Aravinthan Samuel, the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans provides a pathway to understanding the brain and nervous system, first of the worm, then of higher animals, and even, perhaps, of humans.

Biology / Biotechnology

created Feb 03, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Using plants to silence insect genes in a high-throughput manner

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Germany, are now using a procedure which brings forward ecological research on insects: They study gene functions in moth larvae by manipulating ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Feb 02, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Corn gene helps fight Multiple Leaf Diseases

(PhysOrg.com) -- A specific gene in corn seems to confer resistance to three important leaf diseases, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists and their university colleagues.

Biology / Biotechnology

created Feb 02, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

New RNA-based therapeutic strategies for controlling gene expression

Small RNA-based nucleic acid drugs represent a promising new class of therapeutic agents for silencing abnormal or overactive disease-causing genes, and researchers have discovered new mechanisms by which ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Feb 02, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

More News

Making nature's best better to produce biofuels

If a tree falls in the forest and there are no enzymes to digest it, does it break down?

New studies show promise for biological control methods against insects

(PhysOrg.com) -- For years, scientists have tried to use environmentally friendly fungi to control fire ant infestations.

Transgene insects: Scientists call for more open data

While genetically modified plants have already been introduced into the wild on a large scale in some parts of the world, the release of genetically modified animals is still at a relatively early stage. A ...

Early action tipped to save tonnes of Aussie avocados

Researchers at UQ's Queensland Alliance for Food and Agriculture (QAAFI) have acted swiftly to ensure Australia's next $180 million avocado crop won't be crippled by a fungus.

Something old, something new: Evolution and the structural divergence of duplicate genes

(PhysOrg.com) -- Gene duplications are arguably the driving force of organismal evolution – and if they survive, such duplicate genes will diverge in both regulatory and coding genomic regions. Coding ...

Other News

Anonymous knocks CIA website offline (Update)

Google users warned of threat to smartphone wallets

New error-correcting codes guarantee the fastest possible rate of data transmission

Humans may have helped the decline of African rainforests 3000 years ago

New power source discovered

Small modular reactor design could be a 'SUPERSTAR'

The power of estrogen -- male snakes attract other males

Complex wiring of the nervous system may rely on a just a handful of genes and proteins

Could Venus be shifting gear?

Advanced power-grid model finds low-cost, low-carbon future in West

Fool's gold may prove an unlikely alternative to overexploited catalytic materials

Japan scientist makes 'Avatar' robot

A frank discussion of the power law and linking correlation to causation

NASA budget will axe Mars deal with Europe: scientists

Putting the squeeze on planets outside our solar system



Weightlessness weighs heavy on genes -- a fly's perspective

On Earth all biology is subjected to gravity. Some biological systems require gravity for correct orientation (geotropism: plants grow up, roots grow down). In the absence of gravity even human biology is affected: astronauts ...

Automated cDNA preparation system accelerates CAGE analysis on a single molecule sequence

Researchers at the RIKEN Omics Science Center (OSC) have developed a robotic workflow for sample preparation on the HeliScope single molecule sequencer which drastically reduces sample preparation time to ...

Genetic mutations that boost individual's adaptability have greater chances of getting through to X chromosomes

One of the most important questions for evolution researchers is how a species develops and adapts during the course of time. An analysis of the genes of twelve chimpanzees has now demonstrated that the chimpanzee X chromosome ...

Researchers identify novel regulatory network within legumes

(PhysOrg.com) -- Three collaborating laboratories in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at the University of Delaware -- those of professors Blake Meyers, Janine Sherrier and Pamela J. Green -- recently ...

MSU geneticist helps find butterfly gene, clue to age-old question

(PhysOrg.com) -- Years after sleeping in hammocks in the wilds of Peru and Panama, collecting hundreds of thousands of samples of colorful insects, Mississippi State assistant professor Brian Counterman now ...


Anonymous knocks CIA website offline (Update)

Google users warned of threat to smartphone wallets

New error-correcting codes guarantee the fastest possible rate of data transmission

Humans may have helped the decline of African rainforests 3000 years ago

New power source discovered

Small modular reactor design could be a 'SUPERSTAR'

The power of estrogen -- male snakes attract other males

Complex wiring of the nervous system may rely on a just a handful of genes and proteins

Could Venus be shifting gear?

Advanced power-grid model finds low-cost, low-carbon future in West

Fool's gold may prove an unlikely alternative to overexploited catalytic materials

Japan scientist makes 'Avatar' robot

A frank discussion of the power law and linking correlation to causation

NASA budget will axe Mars deal with Europe: scientists

Putting the squeeze on planets outside our solar system

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