News tagged with mechanism


Study sheds light on evolution of human complexity

Biology / Evolution

created Nov 03, 2009 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (6) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- A painstaking analysis of thousands of genes and the proteins they encode shows that human beings are biologically complex, at least in part, because of the way humans evolved to cope with redundancies arising ...


Fibre may keep asthma, diabetes at bay, study finds

Medicine & Health / Health

created Oct 28, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (8) | comments 1

Insoluble dietary fibre, or roughage, not only keeps you regular, say Australian scientists, it also plays a vital role in the immune system, keeping certain diseases at bay.


Facebook for scientists: Map your expertise

Facebook for scientists: Map your expertise

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Oct 27, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Indiana University has received more than $1.8 million from the National Institutes of Health to collaborate on a $12.2 million, seven-university project designed to network researchers around ...


Researchers discover mechanism that prevents two species from reproducing

Biology / Biotechnology

created Oct 26, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 3

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.


Alternatively spliced tissue factor identified as promising new biomarker for aggressive cancers

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Oct 26, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

A recently discovered form of the protein that triggers blood clotting may play a key role in the molecular mechanisms leading to the growth of certain metastatic cancers, according to new research reported by an international ...


New insight in the fight against the Leishmania parasite

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Oct 23, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Professor Albert Descoteaux's team at Centre INRS - Institut Armand-Frappier, Canada, has gained a better understanding of how the Leishmania donovani parasite manages to outsmart the human immune system and proliferate with i ...


New research suggests how low doses of radiation can cause heart disease and stroke

Medicine & Health / Research

created Oct 23, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

A mathematical model constructed by researchers at Imperial College London predicts the risk of cardiovascular disease (heart attacks, stroke) associated with low background levels of radiation. The model shows that the ...


New microRNA Data Could Classify Bladder Cancer by Type

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Oct 22, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Data published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, offers new insights into the biology of urothelial carcinoma of the bladder. Specifically, microRNA profiles differ ...


Studies improve knowledge of underlying brain changes caused by addiction

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Oct 21, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

New research using animal models is enabling a deeper understanding of the neurobiology of compulsive drug addiction in humans — knowledge that may lead to more effective treatment options to weaken the powerful cravings ...


A master mechanism for regeneration?

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Oct 19, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 1

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Biologists long have marveled at the ability of some animals to re-grow lost body parts. Newts, for example, can lose a leg and grow a new one identical to the original. Zebrafish can re-grow fins.


Powerhouses in the cell dismantled

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Oct 15, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

All of life is founded on the interactions of millions of proteins. These are the building blocks for cells and form the molecular mechanisms of life. The problem is that proteins are extremely difficult to study, particularly ...


Genetics of patterning the cerebral cortex

Genetics of patterning the cerebral cortex

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Oct 13, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

The cerebral cortex, the largest and most complex component of the brain, is unique to mammals and alone has evolved human specializations. Although at first all stem cells in charge of building the cerebral ...


Like humans, monkeys fall into the 'uncanny valley'

Like humans, monkeys fall into the 'uncanny valley'

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Oct 13, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (18) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Princeton University researchers have come up with a new twist on the mysterious visual phenomenon experienced by humans known as the "uncanny valley." The scientists have found that monkeys ...


Researchers identify workings of L-form bacteria

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Oct 13, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have for the first time identified the genetic mechanisms involved in the formation and survival of L-form bacteria. Their findings are described in a study ...


Bacterium helps formation of gold

Bacterium helps formation of gold

Physics / Condensed Matter

created Oct 07, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (8) | comments 0

Australian scientists have found that the bacterium Cupriavidus metallidurans catalyses the biomineralisation of gold by transforming toxic gold compounds to their metallic form using active cellular mechan ...