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. Looks can be deceiving, but certain bird species have figured out that a voice can tell them most of what they need to know to find the right mate. http://www.physorg.com/news178976123.html Biology Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:36:15 EST news178976123 The world's largest species of monkey 'chooses' mates with genes that are different from their own to guarantee healthy and strong offspring, according to a new research study. http://www.physorg.com/news178315092.html Biology Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:59:12 EST news178315092 A new study provides "incontrovertible evidence" that the volcanic super-eruption of Toba on the island of Sumatra about 73,000 years ago deforested much of central India, some 3,000 miles from the epicenter, researchers report. http://www.physorg.com/news178210720.html Space & Earth Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:59:10 EST news178210720 For cancer patients on chemotherapy, the "cure" can be as deadly as the disease itself. Adverse drug reactions are one of the leading causes of death among patients receiving cancer treatment. http://www.physorg.com/news177769379.html Medicine & Health Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:00:02 EST news177769379 As warmer temperatures threaten to devastate plant species across the globe, scientists are taking the lead by relocating plants to safer grounds, according to a recent New York Times article. http://www.physorg.com/news177669654.html Biology Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:41:40 EST news177669654 The European mink, Mustela lutreola, is a species catalogued as in danger of extinction, due to the large decline in their population over the past century. It is considered to be one of the most endangered mammals, both locally and internationally. http://www.physorg.com/news176390934.html Biology Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:50:05 EST news176390934 (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 Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:40:01 EST news175352914 The number and diversity of male partners a queen honeybee has could help to protect her children from disease, say University of Leeds scientists, who are investigating possible causes of the widespread increase in bee deaths seen around the world. http://www.physorg.com/news172139164.html Biology Mon, 14 Sep 2009 09:40:03 EST news172139164 A new study lays the groundwork for development of a cost-effective tool for studying the population structure and spread of Mycobacterium ulcerans, the causative agent of Buruli ulcer. Researchers at the Swiss Tropical Institute, Basel, Switzerland, and the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Legon, Ghana, developed SNP typing assays to systematically profile genetic diversity among M. ulcerans isolates by sequencing and comparing the genomes of selected strains. http://www.physorg.com/news171865147.html Biology Fri, 11 Sep 2009 05:30:01 EST news171865147 Wheat experts from 26 countries warn that rapidly-moving, wind-borne transboundary wheat diseases continue to threaten food security and wheat genetic diversity worldwide - particularly in the ancient breadbasket stretching from the Middle East to India - as they vowed new action to isolate and interrupt the steady march of dangerous wheat rust diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news171865283.html Biology Fri, 11 Sep 2009 05:22:12 EST news171865283 At one time or another most of us wonder where we came from, where our parents or grandparents and their parents came from. Did our ancestors come from Europe or Asia? As curious as we are about our ancestors, for practical purposes, we need to think about the ancestry of our genes, according to Cecil Lewis, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Oklahoma. Lewis says our genetic ancestry influences the genetic traits that predispose us to risk or resistance to disease. http://www.physorg.com/news169474130.html Biology Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:09:49 EST news169474130 (PhysOrg.com) -- African village dogs are not a mixture of modern breeds but have directly descended from an ancestral pool of indigenous dogs, according to a Cornell-led genetic analysis of hundreds of semi-feral village dogs. http://www.physorg.com/news168619238.html Biology Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:41:07 EST news168619238 Rice is the world's most important food crop. Understanding its valuable genetic diversity and using it to breed new rice varieties will provide the foundation for improving rice production into the future and to secure global food supplies. http://www.physorg.com/news167563846.html Biology Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:50:03 EST news167563846 Declining bumblebee populations are at greater risk of inbreeding, which can trigger a downward spiral of further decline. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology have provided the first proof that inbreeding reduces colony fitness under natural conditions by increasing the production of reproductively inefficient 'diploid' males. http://www.physorg.com/news165736486.html Biology Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:55:14 EST news165736486 Playboy founder Hugh Hefner's legacy will live on with a new University of Central Florida study aimed at saving the endangered bunnies named after him. http://www.physorg.com/news165493785.html Biology Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:30:23 EST news165493785 (PhysOrg.com) -- Research by Victoria University PhD graduate Kim Miller could help to successfully manage tuatara and skink populations in danger of becoming extinct. http://www.physorg.com/news164903016.html Biology Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:24:02 EST news164903016 Without the process of domestication, humans would still be hunters and gatherers, and modern civilization would look very different. Fortunately, for all of us who do not relish the thought of spending our days searching for nuts and berries, early civilizations successfully cultivated many species of animals and plants found in their surroundings. Current studies of the domestication of various species provide a fascinating glimpse into the past. http://www.physorg.com/news164639448.html Biology Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:11:27 EST news164639448 The grey wolf was Monday taken off the US list of endangered species, making a comeback 35 years after it virtually disappeared and can now be hunted in most US states, officials said. http://www.physorg.com/news160675250.html Biology Mon, 04 May 2009 17:01:27 EST news160675250 African, American, and European researchers working in collaboration over a 10-year period have released the largest-ever study of African genetic data--more than four million genotypes--providing a library of new information on the continent which is thought to be the source of the oldest settlements of modern humans. http://www.physorg.com/news160319662.html Biology Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:14:45 EST news160319662 The situation of bears in the Iberian Peninsula is critical. Researchers from the University of Oviedo (UO) and the Superior Council of Scientific Research (SCSR) have performed a genetic identification based on the analysis of stools and hair of brown bears (Ursus arctos) from the Cantabrian mountain range, gathered between 2004 and 2006. http://www.physorg.com/news160232757.html Biology Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:07:26 EST news160232757 Dwindling federal funding jeopardizes important animal and biomedical research, together with the institutional research programs that focus on them, a group of Michigan State University scientists warn. http://www.physorg.com/news159715972.html Biology Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:33:19 EST news159715972 (PhysOrg.com) -- A 10-year study of mule and black-tailed deer has found unique subspecies created by the animals' responses to climate change thousands of years ago. http://www.physorg.com/news157310832.html Biology Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:27:50 EST news157310832 Deletions, duplications or rearrangements of genomic regions in the human genomes produce differences in gene copy numbers, referred to as copy number variations (CNV). Those variations account for a substantial portion of human genetic diversity, and in a few cases, have been associated with behavioural traits or increased susceptibility to disease. A study published today in the open access journal BMC Genetics, describes a CNV map of the African American genome, and compares frequencies of CNVs between African American and white American/European populations. http://www.physorg.com/news157105146.html Medicine & Health Tue, 24 Mar 2009 09:20:22 EST news157105146 As if straight out of prehistory, dozens of bison emerge timidly from the dark trunks of a primeval forest, their imposing bulk masking their vulnerability. http://www.physorg.com/news154867537.html Biology Thu, 26 Feb 2009 10:46:43 EST news154867537 (PhysOrg.com) -- Commercial chicken breeds used to produce meat and eggs around the world have lost at least half of the genetic diversity once present among their ancestors, according to a study conducted by an international team of researchers that includes a UC Davis animal scientist. http://www.physorg.com/news154287494.html Biology Thu, 19 Feb 2009 17:38:41 EST news154287494 Despite the great cultural, physical, and genetic diversity found amongst the numerous West Central African human populations that are collectively designated as "Pygmies," a report published online on February 5th in Current Biology finds that they diverged from a single ancestral population just about 2,800 years ago. http://www.physorg.com/news153059316.html Biology Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:29:00 EST news153059316 The declining mountain caribou populations of Canada's southern Rockies are a more distinct breed than scientists previously believed, according to a new study by University of Calgary researchers that is shedding light on the ancient ancestry of the mountain-dwelling herbivores. http://www.physorg.com/news152374168.html Biology Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:10:13 EST news152374168 (PhysOrg.com) -- Here's one more reason to say "shade grown, please" when you order your morning cup of coffee. Shade coffee farms, which grow coffee under a canopy of multiple tree species, not only harbor native birds, bats and other beneficial creatures, but also maintain genetic diversity of native tree species and can act as focal points for tropical forest regeneration. http://www.physorg.com/news149171330.html Biology Mon, 22 Dec 2008 12:28:50 EST news149171330 Human impacts on the environment have reduced populations of wild species to dangerously low levels. Nowhere is this more apparent than in worldwide fisheries, where thanks to overfishing and habitat destruction, countless species and populations of fish are on the brink of disappearing forever. To attempt to mitigate the dire situation, captive breeding, the controlled breeding of organisms in protected environments, is regularly initiated. http://www.physorg.com/news148218342.html Biology Thu, 11 Dec 2008 11:45:42 EST news148218342 The Galápagos Islands, which provided impetus and inspiration for Charles Darwin's seminal work, "On the Origin of Species", are home to unique populations of reptiles. Since the time of man's first visit in the 16th century to this crucial incubator for evolutionary theory, the islands' native plants and animals have faced grave challenges, including severe pressures from introduced species, habitat destruction and predation by man himself. http://www.physorg.com/news146923929.html Biology Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:12:09 EST news146923929