News tagged with toxic species

Scientists identify most lethal known species of prion protein

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have identified a single prion protein that causes neuronal death similar to that seen in "mad cow" disease, but is at least 10 times more ...

Medicine & Health / Research

created Feb 09, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (8) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Scientists examine toxicity of medicinal plants in Peru

Many developing countries rely on traditional medicine as an accessible and affordable treatment option for human maladies. However, until now, scientific data has not existed to evaluate the potential toxicity of medicinal ...

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 14, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 2

Why do neurons die in Parkinson's disease?

Current thinking about Parkinson's disease is that it's a disorder of mitochondria, the energy-producing organelles inside cells, causing neurons in the brain's substantia nigra to die or become impaired. A study from Children's ...

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 10, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New bacteria toxins against resistant insect pests

Toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis bacteria (Bt toxins) are used in organic and conventional farming to manage pest insects. Sprayed as pesticides or produced in genetically modified plants, Bt toxins, us ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Oct 19, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers watch amyloid plaques form

Researchers at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) and Osaka University applied a new approach to take a close look at amyloid plaque formation, a process that plays important roles in Alzheimer's disease. The technique ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Oct 03, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Chemical-munching mussels contaminating Great Lakes

Zebra mussels from the Caspian Sea, introduced to North America by accident, are becoming a veritable plague releasing toxic chemicals into the Great Lakes, Canadian biologists say.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Oct 01, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 6

An eye gene colors butterfly wings red

Red may mean STOP or I LOVE YOU! A red splash on a toxic butterfly's wing screams DON'T EAT ME! In nature, one toxic butterfly species may mimic the wing pattern of another toxic species in the area. By ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jul 21, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Rapid venom evolution in pit vipers may be defensive

Research published recently in PLoS One delivers new insight about rapid toxin evolution in venomous snakes: pitvipers such as rattlesnakes may be engaged in an arms race with opossums, a group of snake-eating American marsup ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jul 18, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 25 | with audio podcast

Unraveling plant reactions to injury

Better understanding of plant defense systems, and the potential to generate stress-tolerant plants and even new malaria drugs, may all stem from the documentation of a molecular mechanism that plays a significant ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created May 27, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Birds digest plastic faster than believed

Seabirds appear to process plastic faster than scientists hitherto believed.

Biology / Ecology

created Apr 18, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Secret life of bees now a little less secret

Many plants produce toxic chemicals to protect themselves against plant-eating animals, and many flowering plants have evolved flower structures that prevent pollinators such as bees from taking too much pollen. ...

Biology / Ecology

created Feb 01, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Researcher Studies How Flowers Fight Back Against Damaging Insect Visitors

Though summer's flowers appear delicate and carefree to us, in fact plants must be tough enough to defend their blossoms against antagonists including florivores and nectar robbers, that is, insects who eat, ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Aug 03, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Invasive fish and mussels team up to transfer toxic substances into Great Lakes walleyes

(PhysOrg.com) -- Two notorious Great Lakes invaders -- the zebra mussel and the round goby -- now play a central role in transferring toxic chemicals called PCBs up the food chain and into Saginaw Bay walleyes, ...

Biology / Ecology

created Apr 09, 2010 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

High urea levels in chronic kidney failure might be toxic after all

It is thought that the elevated levels of urea (the byproduct of protein breakdown that is excreted in the urine) in patients with end-stage kidney failure are not particularly toxic.

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Obama wants to pump $475M into Great Lakes cleanup

(AP) -- A budget proposal from the Obama administration would spend $475 million on beach cleanups, wetlands restoration and removal of toxic sediments from river bottoms around the Great Lakes.

Space & Earth / Environment

created May 15, 2009 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (8) | comments 6