http://www.physorg.com/biology-news/biotechnology/ en-us PhysOrg.com provides the latest news on biotechnology Australian scientists are working to breed a sheep that belches less, as they look for ways to reduce harmful methane emissions from the country's woolly flocks, a researcher said Sunday. http://www.physorg.com/news178722388.html Biology - Biotechnology Sun, 29 Nov 2009 13:20:01 EST news178722388 The discovery that an ancient light harvesting protein plays a pivotal role in the photosynthesis of green algae should help the effort to develop algae as a biofuels feedstock. Researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have identified the protein LHCSR as the molecular "dimmer switch" that acts to prevent green algae from absorbing too much sunlight during photosynthesis and suffering oxidation damage as a consequence. http://www.physorg.com/news178555031.html Biology - Biotechnology Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:10:01 EST news178555031 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers worldwide are trying to economically convert cellulosic biomass such as corn stover into "cellulosic ethanol." But Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have found that it might be more cost-effective, energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable to use corn stover for generating an energy-rich oil called bio-oil and for making biochar to enrich soils and sequester carbon. http://www.physorg.com/news178359241.html Biology - Biotechnology Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:10:01 EST news178359241 (PhysOrg.com) -- Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells -- adult cells reprogrammed to look and function like versatile embryonic stem cells -- are of growing interest in medicine. They may provide a way to create different kinds of patient-matched stem cells as treatments for disease, while sidestepping many of the ethical questions surrounding stem cells created from embryos. However, the production of iPS cells is often imprecise, yielding many incompletely reprogrammed cells. Now, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston have developed a technique to help distinguish these cells from the desired pure stem cells. http://www.physorg.com/news178310446.html Biology - Biotechnology Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:41:07 EST news178310446 Stents that keep weakened and flabby arteries from collapsing have been true life-savers. But after six months, those stents are no longer needed -- once the arteries are strengthened, they become unnecessary. Previously, doctors had no choice but to leave them in place. http://www.physorg.com/news178284711.html Biology - Biotechnology Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:48:28 EST news178284711 In a research report published in the November 2009 issue of the journal Genetics, scientists show how a family of genes (1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase, or ACS genes) are responsible for production of ethylene. This gas affects many aspects of plant development, and this information lays the foundation for future genetic manipulation that could make plants disease resistant, able to survive and thrive in difficult terrain, increase yields, and other useful agronomical outcomes. This discovery was made with the weed Arabidopsis thaliana, but it will be applicable to plants used in agriculture. http://www.physorg.com/news178186563.html Biology - Biotechnology Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:40:03 EST news178186563 A team of pioneering South Korean scientists have succeeded in producing the polymers used for everyday plastics through bioengineering, rather than through the use of fossil fuel based chemicals. This groundbreaking research, which may now allow for the production of environmentally conscious plastics, is published in two papers in the journal Biotechnology and Bioengineering to mark the journal's 50th anniversary. http://www.physorg.com/news178178601.html Biology - Biotechnology Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:30:03 EST news178178601 (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. http://www.physorg.com/news177927762.html Biology - Biotechnology Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:23:13 EST news177927762 Maize is an important crop in many countries of the world. It is widely used for human consumption, animal feed, and industrial materials. It also is considered an exemplar plant species for studying domestication, molecular evolution, and genome architecture. http://www.physorg.com/news177863490.html Biology - Biotechnology Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:33:54 EST news177863490 (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 revealing in unprecedented detail the DNA sequence of maize (Zea mays). Maize, or corn, as it is commonly called by North American consumers, is one of the world's most important plants and the most valuable agricultural crop grown in the United States, representing $47 billion in annual value. http://www.physorg.com/news177862596.html Biology - Biotechnology Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:17:17 EST news177862596 (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 to why that might be the case for one of the most important crops in the world: corn. http://www.physorg.com/news177862070.html Biology - Biotechnology Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:08:20 EST news177862070 Despite advances in treatment regimens and the best efforts of nurses and doctors, about 70% of all people with severe burns die from related infections. But a revolutionary new wound dressing developed at Tel Aviv University could cut that number dramatically. http://www.physorg.com/news177692716.html Biology - Biotechnology Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:50:03 EST news177692716 (PhysOrg.com) -- UQ (University of Queensland) researchers are leading green energy technology with confirmation of the world`s first transgenic sweet sorghum plants. http://www.physorg.com/news177018198.html Biology - Biotechnology Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:20:04 EST news177018198 (AP) -- British scientists begin a new study on Tuesday to consider how human DNA is used in animal experiments and to determine what the boundaries of such controversial science might be. http://www.physorg.com/news177017080.html Biology - Biotechnology Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:25:19 EST news177017080 Over the last 20 years, the sequencing of the human genome, along with related organisms, has represented one of the largest scientific endeavors in the history of mankind. The information collected from genome sequencing will provide the raw data for the field of bioinformatics, where computer science and biology meet. http://www.physorg.com/news177009481.html Biology - Biotechnology Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:18:51 EST news177009481 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 to this mode of delivery and are trivial to take. They can be pressed into a pill and swallowed. Other drugs cannot be swallowed and must be administered instead through more complicated routes. Insulin, for instance, must be injected. http://www.physorg.com/news176994804.html Biology - Biotechnology Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:00:02 EST news176994804 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 crop and addressing some of the many limitations that face cassava farmers around the world. http://www.physorg.com/news176992201.html Biology - Biotechnology Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:30:53 EST news176992201 On Noah's Ark animals came in twos: male and female. In human bodies trillions of cells are coupled, too, and so are the molecules from which they are composed. Yet these don't come in twos, they are regrouped into indistinguishable clusters. Because these complex cell networks are the backbone of life - and illness - scientists have long searched for ways to splice cell clusters down to their original pairs. http://www.physorg.com/news176986612.html Biology - Biotechnology Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:57:46 EST news176986612 (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, discovering the sequence of the canola genome. http://www.physorg.com/news176727844.html Biology - Biotechnology Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:30:02 EST news176727844 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, which had been limited to single-cell organisms such as bacteria and yeasts, can be extended to mosses, opening the door to applications of a number of powerful techniques in plant research. http://www.physorg.com/news176727739.html Biology - Biotechnology Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:20:01 EST news176727739 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 includes scientists at the University of California, Davis. http://www.physorg.com/news176654326.html Biology - Biotechnology Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:10:02 EST news176654326 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 sequence data from three complete human genomes. The consumables cost for these three genomes sequenced on the proof-of-principle genomic DNA nanoarrays ranged from $8,005 for 87x coverage to $1,726 for 45x coverage for the samples described in this report. http://www.physorg.com/news176655487.html Biology - Biotechnology Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:58:37 EST news176655487 (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. http://www.physorg.com/news176581694.html Biology - Biotechnology Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:50:03 EST news176581694 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. Jérôme Chave's team from the Evolution et diversité biologique laboratory has tested this method in the tropical forest where the CNRS Nouragues, French Guiana research station is located. Their study, published in PlosOne, shows that while the identification of plant species has improved considerably, some aspects of this method remain problematic, especially for tropical species. http://www.physorg.com/news176572585.html Biology - Biotechnology Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:05:25 EST news176572585 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 crop yields as well as make them more resistant to unfavorable growing conditions. It is based on selecting plants that make more efficient use of energy. http://www.physorg.com/news176467484.html Biology - Biotechnology Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:00:08 EST news176467484 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 University, The Netherlands, scientist Eugene Agbicodo recently localised genes of the cowpea that contribute to an improved drought tolerance. http://www.physorg.com/news176459183.html Biology - Biotechnology Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:27:06 EST news176459183 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 in this public health crisis. While sedentary lifestyles and diets high in sugar and fat contribute significantly to the rise in diabetes rates, genetic factors may make some people more vulnerable than others to developing diabetes. http://www.physorg.com/news176405410.html Biology - Biotechnology Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:20:02 EST news176405410 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. http://www.physorg.com/news176391030.html Biology - Biotechnology Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:40:03 EST news176391030 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 and will lead to the development of a papaya that produces only hermaphrodite offspring, an advance that will enhance papaya health while radically cutting papaya growers' production costs and their use of fertilizers and water. http://www.physorg.com/news176386888.html Biology - Biotechnology Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:21:48 EST news176386888 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 researchers called the gene 'schlank' (German for 'slim'). Mammals carry a group of genes that are structurally very similar to 'schlank'. They possibly take on a similar function in the energy metabolism. The scientists therefore have hopes in new medicines with which obesity could be fought. Their research bas been published in The EMBO Journal. http://www.physorg.com/news176376673.html Biology - Biotechnology Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:34:12 EST news176376673