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) -- 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 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) -- 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 (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 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 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 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 (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. http://www.physorg.com/news176368844.html Biology - Biotechnology Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:28:32 EST news176368844 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 significantly more gene-control proteins? http://www.physorg.com/news176043018.html Biology - Biotechnology Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:51:56 EST news176043018 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 in the October 29th issue of the journal Neuron, reveals some surprising fundamental differences between how light-dark and temperature cycles synchronize the brain clock of the fruit fly, Drosophila. http://www.physorg.com/news175951588.html Biology - Biotechnology Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:27:28 EST news175951588 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. http://www.physorg.com/news175808117.html Biology - Biotechnology Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:20:02 EST news175808117 Genetically modified squash plants that are resistant to a debilitating viral disease become more vulnerable to a fatal bacterial infection, according to biologists. http://www.physorg.com/news175791854.html Biology - Biotechnology Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:50:05 EST news175791854 (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 at the University of Rochester think they know why. http://www.physorg.com/news175792057.html Biology - Biotechnology Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:40:01 EST news175792057 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, mules emerging from a cross between a horse and a donkey), biologists have struggled with this question. http://www.physorg.com/news175785566.html Biology - Biotechnology Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:20:20 EST news175785566 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. http://www.physorg.com/news175412299.html Biology - Biotechnology Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:39:23 EST news175412299 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team of geneticists at Los Alamos National Laboratory, together with a consortium of international researchers, has recently proposed a set of standards designed to elucidate the quality of publicly available genetic sequencing information. The new standards could eventually allow genetic researchers to develop vaccines more efficiently or help public health or security personnel more quickly respond to potential public-health emergencies. http://www.physorg.com/news175364662.html Biology - Biotechnology Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:25:11 EST news175364662 (PhysOrg.com) -- Bits of movable DNA called transposable elements or TEs fill up the genomes of plants and animals, but it has remained unclear how a genome can survive a rapid burst of hundreds, even thousands of new TE insertions. http://www.physorg.com/news175352914.html Biology - Biotechnology Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:40:01 EST news175352914 (PhysOrg.com) -- Genetic information from an extinct species of bison preserved in permafrost for thousands of years could help improve modern agricultural livestock and breeding programs, according to University of Adelaide researchers. http://www.physorg.com/news175251993.html Biology - Biotechnology Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:07:02 EST news175251993 Which colour would you like your roses? Red, white, yellow... or perhaps blue? http://www.physorg.com/news175244442.html Biology - Biotechnology Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:01:16 EST news175244442 Over-expressing a gene that lets brain cells communicate just a fraction of a second longer makes a smarter rat, report researchers from the Medical College of Georgia and East China Normal University. http://www.physorg.com/news175175805.html Biology - Biotechnology Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:50:21 EST news175175805 Mother Nature has provided the lizard with a unique ability to regrow body tissue that is damaged or torn ― if its tail is pulled off, it grows right back. She has not been quite so generous with human beings. But we might be able to come close, thanks to new research from Tel Aviv University. http://www.physorg.com/news175177923.html Biology - Biotechnology Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:32:43 EST news175177923 (PhysOrg.com) -- With new stem cell lines generated directly from the cells of patients, researchers are able to study how the genetic disorder known as Angelman syndrome develops. http://www.physorg.com/news174759775.html Biology - Biotechnology Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:23:14 EST news174759775 A team of scientists, led by a biomedical engineer at The University of Texas at Austin, have demonstrated - for the first time - that mathematical models created from data obtained by DNA microarrays, can be used to correctly predict previously unknown cellular mechanisms. This brings biologists a step closer to one day being able to understand and control the inner workings of the cell as readily as NASA engineers plot the trajectories of spacecraft today. http://www.physorg.com/news174737745.html Biology - Biotechnology Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:16:39 EST news174737745 Cowpea, a protein-rich legume crop, is immensely important in many parts of the world, particularly drought-prone regions of Africa and Asia, where it plays a central role in the diet and economy of hundreds of millions of people. http://www.physorg.com/news174672194.html Biology - Biotechnology Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:50:01 EST news174672194