News tagged with plos biology

Most stretchable spider silk reported

The egg sac silk of the cocoon stalk of the cave spider Meta menardi is the most stretchable egg sac silk yet tested, according to a study published Feb. 8 in the open access journal PLoS ONE.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Feb 08, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Not the black sheep of domestic animals

Mapping the ancestry of sheep over the past 11,000 years has revealed that our woolly friends are stars among domestic animals, boasting vast genetic diversity and substantial prospects for continued breeding to further boost ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Feb 07, 2012 | popularity 3 / 5 (1) | comments 0

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

Circular RNAs more common than previously thought

In the classical model of gene expression, the genetic script encoded in our genomes is expressed in each cell in the form of RNA molecules, each consisting of a linear string of chemical "bases". It may be time to revise ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Feb 01, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1

Sexual healing? Not likely

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study shows the production of sperm is more biologically taxing than previously thought, and expending energy on it has significant health implications.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jan 30, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (11) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

Survey suggests family history of psychiatric disorders shapes intellectual interests

A hallmark of the individual is the cultivation of personal interests, but for some people, their intellectual pursuits might actually be genetically predetermined. Survey results published by Princeton University researchers ...

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Jan 26, 2012 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (9) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

'Worm speak' uses chemicals to communicate

(PhysOrg.com) -- A species of small, transparent roundworms have a highly evolved language in which they combine chemical fragments to create precise molecular messages that control social behavior, reports ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Jan 26, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (13) | comments 4 | 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

Cell senescence does not stop tumor growth

Since cancer cells grow indefinitely, it is commonly believed that senescence could act as a barrier against tumor growth and potentially be used as a way to treat cancer. A collaboration between a cancer biologist from the ...

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Jan 19, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

In the brain, 'ORMOSIL' nanoparticles hold promise as a potential vehicle for drug delivery

(PhysOrg.com) -- In the images of fruit flies, clusters of neurons are all lit up, forming a brightly glowing network of highways within the brain.

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Jan 09, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Tiny roundworm points to big promise

Two related studies from Northwestern University offer new strategies for tackling the challenges of preventing and treating diseases of protein folding, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases, amyotrophic ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Jan 06, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

'Lost world' discovered around Antarctic vents

Communities of species previously unknown to science have been discovered on the seafloor near Antarctica, clustered in the hot, dark environment surrounding hydrothermal vents.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jan 03, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (9) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

New analysis casts doubt on results of tobacco industry studies into safety of cigarette additives

New analysis casts doubt on results of tobacco industry studies into safety of cigarette additives

Medicine & Health / Health

created Dec 20, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | 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

Tiny protein helps bacteria 'talk' and triggers defensive response in plants

Scientists have discovered a new signal that helps invading bacteria communicate but also helps targeted rice plants coordinate defensive attacks on the disease-causing invaders, a finding that could lead to new methods of ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 12, 2011 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

PLoS Biology

PLoS Biology is an American scientific journal covering the full spectrum of the biological sciences that began operation on October 13, 2003.

It was the first journal of the Public Library of Science (PLoS) a non-profit organization which releases scientific content under open access terms. All content in PLoS Biology is published under the Creative Commons "by-attribution" license, abbreviated CCAL[1]. To fund the journal, the publication's business model requires that, in most cases, authors will pay publication costs.

In addition to research articles, PLoS Biology publishes online e-letters in which the readers provide their comments to the articles.

The impact factor of PLoS Biology for 2007, as calculated by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), was 13.5. To put this in context, it is the highest-ranked of all journals in the ISI category 'Biology'.

The current Academic Editor in Chief is Jonathan Eisen from U. C. Davis.

For more information about PLoS Biology, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.