News tagged with biological model

Researchers increase understanding of gene's potentially protective role in Parkinson's

Treatments for Parkinson's disease, estimated to affect 1 million Americans, have yet to prove effective in slowing the progression of the debilitating disease.

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Feb 07, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Quantum biology and Ockham's razor

(PhysOrg.com) -- In a paper just published in Nature Chemistry, a team of University of Bristol scientists explores whether new models or concepts are needed to tackle one of the 'grand challenges' of che ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Feb 06, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (12) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Predicting system crashes in nature and society

The world can deliver sudden and nasty shocks. Economies can crash, fisheries can collapse, and climates can pass tipping points. Providing early warning of such changes currently requires the collection of enormous and often ...

Biology / Ecology

created Feb 02, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Researchers discover method to unravel malaria's genetic secrets

The parasite that causes malaria is a genetic outlier, which has prevented scientists from discovering the functions of most of its genes. Researchers at National Jewish Health and Yale University School of Medicine have ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Jan 25, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Membrane fusion a mystery no more

The many factors that contribute to how cells communicate and function at the most basic level are still not fully understood, but researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have uncovered a mechanism that helps explain how ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Jan 24, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Gold nanorods could improve radiation therapy of head and neck cancer

Radiation therapy is an important part of head and neck cancer therapy, but most head and neck tumors have a built-in mechanism that makes them resistant to radiation. As a result, oncologists have to deliver huge doses of ...

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Jan 20, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Why bats, rats and cats store different amounts of fat

Animals differ in the amount of fat they carry around depending on their species, status and sex. However, the causes of much of this variation have been a mystery. The Bristol study shows that many differences can be understood ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jan 20, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

From field to biorefinery: Computer model optimizes biofuel operations

Research into biofuel crops such as switchgrass and Miscanthus has focused mainly on how to grow these crops and convert them into fuels. But many steps lead from the farm to the biorefinery, and each could ...

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Jan 17, 2012 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Scientists create first 3-D map of human genome

(PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time, scientists have developed a method for generating accurate three-dimensional models of the entire DNA strand of a cell, known as a genome.

Biology / Biotechnology

created Jan 04, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (21) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

Climate change models may underestimate extinctions

Predictions of the loss of animal and plant diversity around the world are common under models of future climate change. But a new study shows that because these climate models don't account for species competition ...

Biology / Ecology

created Jan 04, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (8) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

Hydrogen sulfide reduces glucose-induced injury in kidney cells

Hydrogen sulfide, a gas notorious for its rotten-egg smell, may have redeeming qualities after all. It reduces high glucose-induced production of scarring proteins in kidney cells, researchers from The University of Texas ...

Medicine & Health / Research

created Jan 03, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A firmer understanding of muscle fibrosis

Researchers describe how increased production of a microRNA promotes progressive muscle deterioration in a mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), according to a study published online on January ...

Medicine & Health / Research

created Jan 02, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

High-energy lifestyles led to evolution of the sexes

Scientists are a step closer to explaining one of the most enduring mysteries of modern biology; why are there males and females?

Biology / Evolution

created Dec 19, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Cholesterol-lowering medication accelerates depletion of plaque in arteries

In a new study, NYU Langone Medical Center researchers have discovered how cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins promote the breakdown of plaque in the arteries. The study was published online by the journal PLoS One on Dec ...

Medicine & Health / Cardiology

created Dec 13, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Powerful mathematical model greatly improves predictions for species facing climate change

UCLA life scientists and colleagues have produced the most comprehensive mathematical model ever devised to track the health of populations exposed to environmental change.

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 03, 2011 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (7) | comments 15 | with audio podcast