http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Florida Atlantic University researcher and member of the Center for Ocean Exploration and Deep-Sea Research at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Dr. Tamara Frank, was part of an international research team that discovered the first vertebrate with eyes that use mirrors rather than lenses to focus light. Results from this research have been published in the January issue of Current Biology. http://www.physorg.com/news152272288.html Biology Tue, 27 Jan 2009 09:52:02 EST news152272288 For the first time, UCLA researchers have reprogrammed human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells into the cells that eventually become eggs and sperm, possibly opening the door for new treatments for infertility using patient-specific cells. http://www.physorg.com/news152264594.html Biology Tue, 27 Jan 2009 07:43:57 EST news152264594 Why have some of our genes evolved rapidly? It is widely believed that Darwinian natural selection is responsible, but research led by a group at Uppsala University, suggests that a separate neutral (nonadaptive) process has made a significant contribution to human evolution. Their results have been published today in the journal PLoS Biology. http://www.physorg.com/news152252193.html Biology Tue, 27 Jan 2009 04:16:58 EST news152252193 (PhysOrg.com) -- MicroRNAs - one of the tiniest entities in the human genome - are great escape artists. Despite scientists` best efforts to detect and capture them in different tissues, they often manage to make a getaway, sneaking through the tissues` tiny holes before anyone can detect them. But now, by adapting a time-tested histological technique, Rockefeller University researchers have scored big: They have developed a new method to capture microRNAs before they disappear. The work will help researchers better understand microRNAs` increasingly indisputable role in the onset of disease. http://www.physorg.com/news152205350.html Medicine & Health Mon, 26 Jan 2009 15:16:25 EST news152205350 Despite the fact that most of us see our four-legged friends walking around every day, most of us-including many experts in natural history museums and illustrators for veterinary anatomy text books-apparently still don't know how they do it. A new study published in the January 27th issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, shows that anatomists, taxidermists, and toy designers get the walking gait of horses and other quadruped animals wrong about half the time. That's despite the fact that their correct walking behavior was described and published more than 120 years ago. http://www.physorg.com/news152196656.html Biology Mon, 26 Jan 2009 12:51:18 EST news152196656 Like DNA, centrioles need to duplicate only once per cell cycle. Rogers et al. uncover a long-sought mechanism that limits centriole copying, showing that it depends on the timely demolition of a protein that spurs the organelles' replication. http://www.physorg.com/news152194390.html Biology Mon, 26 Jan 2009 12:13:37 EST news152194390 Genes that contain instructions for making proteins make up less than 2% of the human genome. Yet, for unknown reasons, most of our genome is transcribed into RNA. The same is true for many other organisms that are easier to study than humans. http://www.physorg.com/news152112434.html Biology Sun, 25 Jan 2009 13:27:47 EST news152112434 Smallpox has a nasty history throughout the world. Caused by poxviruses, smallpox is one of the few disease-causing agents against which the human body's immune system is ineffective in its defense. http://www.physorg.com/news151931620.html Biology Fri, 23 Jan 2009 11:14:17 EST news151931620 Living with a female mouse can extend the reproductive life of a male mouse by as much as 20 percent, according to a study conducted by Ralph Brinster and a team of other researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. The study was reported online today in the journal Biology of Reproduction. http://www.physorg.com/news151866099.html Biology Thu, 22 Jan 2009 17:02:32 EST news151866099 Brown University researchers have identified a cellular mechanism that could someday help fight the aging process. http://www.physorg.com/news151858227.html Biology Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:51:11 EST news151858227 Living with a female of its species can extend the reproductive life of a male mouse by a dramatic 20 percent, according to a study reported at the online site of the journal Biology of Reproduction. http://www.physorg.com/news151857782.html Biology Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:43:43 EST news151857782 By tweaking a system in the ear that limits how much sound is heard, a global team of researchers has discovered one alteration that shows that the ability of the ear to turn itself down contributes to protecting against permanent hearing loss. The report appears this week in PLoS Biology. http://www.physorg.com/news151737561.html Biology Wed, 21 Jan 2009 05:20:01 EST news151737561 An African elephant never forgets - especially when it comes to the loss of its kin, according to researchers at the University of Washington. Their findings, published online in the journal, Molecular Ecology, reveal that the negative effects of poaching persist for decades after the killing has ended. http://www.physorg.com/news151672284.html Biology Tue, 20 Jan 2009 11:12:14 EST news151672284 Scientists have always wanted to take a closer look at biological systems and materials. From the magnifying glass to the electron microscope, they have developed ever-increasingly sophisticated imaging devices. http://www.physorg.com/news151607928.html Biology Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:19:20 EST news151607928 Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen, Germany, determined the structure of a protein (L1ORF1p), which is encoded by a parasitic genetic element and which is responsible for its mobility. http://www.physorg.com/news151595636.html Biology Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:54:36 EST news151595636 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have achieved a feat drug developers had thought difficult, if not impossible, discovering a compound that blocks the functioning of a key developmental protein by binding to an `undruggable` target - an advance that may provide a new avenue to fight skin, pancreatic, prostate, and other cancers. http://www.physorg.com/news151594160.html Biology Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:29:57 EST news151594160 (PhysOrg.com) -- In work that could expand the frontiers of genetic engineering, MIT chemists have, for the first time, genetically altered a plant to produce entirely new compounds, some of which could be used as drugs against cancer and other diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news151593785.html Chemistry Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:23:49 EST news151593785 Researchers have identified a biochemical switch required for nerve cells to respond to DNA damage. The finding, scheduled for advance online publication in Nature Cell Biology, illuminates a connection between proteins involved in neurodegenerative disease and in cells' response to DNA damage. http://www.physorg.com/news151509128.html Biology Sun, 18 Jan 2009 13:52:08 EST news151509128 Two Brown University researchers have determined the three-dimensional structure of an enzyme whose presence in the body could help doctors detect cancer earlier or develop more targeted treatments. http://www.physorg.com/news151383325.html Medicine & Health Sat, 17 Jan 2009 02:55:25 EST news151383325 Cornell researchers have provided new insight into the molecular mechanism underlying an essential cellular system. They have discovered how receptors on cell surfaces turn off signals from the cell's environment, a function that is vital for cell functions such as growth, division and death. http://www.physorg.com/news151344416.html Biology Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:06:56 EST news151344416 (PhysOrg.com) -- The same principles that a Biodesign Institute research team has successfully applied to remove harmful contaminants from the environment may one day allow people to clean up the gunk from their bodies -and reverse the effects of aging. The Biodesign Institute, along with partner, the Methuselah Foundation, is working to vanquish age-related disease by making old cells feel younger. http://www.physorg.com/news151344228.html Biology Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:03:48 EST news151344228 Researchers at A*STAR's Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) have become the first to discover and characterize a human protein called Bax-beta (Baxβ), which can potentially cause the death of cancer cells and lead to new approaches in cancer treatment. The finding is published in the 16 Jan. report of Molecular Cell. http://www.physorg.com/news151343979.html Biology Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:59:39 EST news151343979 (PhysOrg.com) -- Dartmouth Medical School researchers have found two proteins that work in concert to ensure proper chromosome segregation during cell division. Their study is in the January 2009 issue of the journal Nature Cell Biology. http://www.physorg.com/news151343442.html Medicine & Health Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:50:42 EST news151343442 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have developed a mathematical model of the mating game to help explain why courtship is often protracted. The study, by researchers at UCL (University College London), University of Warwick and LSE (London School of Economics and Political Science), shows that extended courtship enables a male to signal his suitability to a female and enables the female to screen out the male if he is unsuitable as a mate. http://www.physorg.com/news151322956.html Biology Fri, 16 Jan 2009 10:09:16 EST news151322956 It has been known for some time that plants respond to environmental cues that guide their flowering. Chief among these signals are light, temperature and vernalization, when flowering is promoted by prolonged exposure to cold temperatures. http://www.physorg.com/news151251480.html Biology Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:18:00 EST news151251480 (PhysOrg.com) -- By carefully selecting which varieties of food crops to cultivate, much of Europe and North America could be cooled by up to 1°C during the summer growing season, say researchers from the University of Bristol, UK. This is equivalent to an annual global cooling of over 0.1°C, almost 20% of the total global temperature increase since the Industrial Revolution. http://www.physorg.com/news151243486.html Biology Thu, 15 Jan 2009 12:04:46 EST news151243486 The work of Forsyth scientist Peter Jezewski, DDS, Ph.D., has revealed that duplication and diversification of protein regions ('modules') within ancient master control genes is key to the understanding of certain birth disorders. Tracing the history of these changes within the proteins coded by the Msx gene family over the past 600 million years has also provided additional evidence for the ancient origin of the human mouth. http://www.physorg.com/news151141584.html Biology Wed, 14 Jan 2009 07:46:24 EST news151141584 (PhysOrg.com) -- Building a cell from scratch is a lot more complicated than building a computer. But that's just what synthetic biologists, including many at MIT, are trying to figure out how to do. http://www.physorg.com/news151076880.html Biology Tue, 13 Jan 2009 13:48:00 EST news151076880 (PhysOrg.com) -- IBM Research scientists, in collaboration with the Center for Probing the Nanoscale at Stanford University, have demonstrated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with volume resolution 100 million times finer than conventional MRI. http://www.physorg.com/news151073713.html Nanotechnology Tue, 13 Jan 2009 12:55:13 EST news151073713 Crucial breakthroughs in the treatment of many common diseases such as diabetes and Parkinson's could be achieved by harnessing a powerful scientific approach called systems biology, according to leading scientists from across Europe. In a Science Policy Briefing released today by the European Science Foundation, the scientists provide a detailed strategy for the application of systems biology to medical research over the coming years. http://www.physorg.com/news151064787.html Medicine & Health Tue, 13 Jan 2009 10:26:27 EST news151064787