Team finds key mechanism of DDT resistance in malarial mosquitoes

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Biochemistry professor Mary Schuler and postdoctoral researcher Sanjeewa Rupasinghe used molecular modeling techniques to identify a protein that can metabolize DDT. Credit: Photo by L. Brian Stauffer U. of I. News Bureau
Biochemistry professor Mary Schuler and postdoctoral researcher Sanjeewa Rupasinghe used molecular modeling techniques to identify a protein that can metabolize DDT. Credit: Photo by L. Brian Stauffer, U. of I. News Bureau

University of Illinois researchers have identified a key detoxifying protein in Anopheles mosquitoes that metabolizes DDT, a synthetic insecticide used since World War II to control the mosquitoes that spread malaria.


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Sweet smell of success: Israelis enhance scent of flowers

2 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
Israeli scientists said Monday they have discovered a way to genetically enhance the scent of flowers, a development that could also be used to breed extra-tasty fruits and vegetables.

Metastatic movements in 3-D

7 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
Caswell et al.report in the Journal of Cell Biology how the altered behavior of integrins can prompt metastatic movement in tumor cells.

Recordings aim to capture calls of the wild West

8 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
(AP) -- Rattlesnakes aren't to be trifled with, but if you're trying to collect the sound of every creature in the West that slithers, hops, flies or flops, distance isn't a luxury you can afford.

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Oct 05, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
(AP) -- Laura Gadd pauses at the edge of a pristine savanna, delicately lifting her feet to avoid trampling any venus flytraps hidden underfoot.

Food for thought -- regulating energy supply to the brain during fasting

Oct 05, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
If the current financial climate has taught us anything, it's that a system where over-borrowing goes unchecked eventually ends in disaster. It turns out this rule applies as much to our bodies as it does to economics. Instead ...