http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/plants_animals/biochemistry/ Biochemistry News. Full-text science articles. Read the latest research, updated daily. en-us Fri, 05 Sep 2008 01:05:01 EDT Fri, 05 Sep 2008 01:05:01 EDT 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/plants_animals/biochemistry/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080904145058.htm In a surprising reversal of conventional wisdom, a DNA-based study has revealed that the last of the woolly mammoths--which lived between 40,000 and 4,000 years ago--had roots that were exclusively North American. Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080904145058.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080903134405.htm Biocontrol agents, such as insects, are often released outside of their native ranges to control invasive plants. But scientists in Montana have found that through complex community interactions among deer mice, native plants and seeds, the presence of an introduced fly may exacerbate the effects of the invasive plant it was meant to control. Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080903134405.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080903134213.htm Imagine having to copy an entire book by hand without missing a comma. Our cells face a similar task every time they divide. They must duplicate both their DNA and a subtle pattern of punctuation-like modifications on the DNA known as methylation. Scientists have caught in action one of the tools mammalian cells use to maintain their pattern of methylation. Visualized by X-ray crystallography, the SRA domain of the protein UHRF1 appears to act like a bookmark while enzymes are copying a molecule of DNA. Fri, 05 Sep 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080903134213.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080901215125.htm Researchers are reporting a new, more detailed explanation for the link between low folate intake and an increased risk for colon cancer, the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Fri, 05 Sep 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080901215125.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080904220344.htm Even scientists define ‘a gene’ in different ways, so it comes as little surprise that the media also have various ways of framing the concept of a gene, according to a new study. Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080904220344.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080904102756.htm Echolocation may have evolved more than once in bats, according to new research from the University of Bristol. Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080904102756.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080903213325.htm Why is it that the origins of many serious diseases remain a mystery?  In considering that question, a scientist at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has come up with a unified molecular view of the indivisible unit of life, the cell, which may provide an answer. Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080903213325.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080903172156.htm In an effort to better understand how chronic stress affects the human body, researchers have created an animal model that shows how chronic stress affects behavior, physiology and reproduction. Developing the animal model better positions the researchers to understand the neurohormonal causes of such stress and the body reaction in order to develop more effective treatment options for humans. Thu, 04 Sep 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080903172156.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080901140919.htm Neonatal mortality in pigs is a major welfare and economic concern. It is one of the issues being tackled by Welfare Quality®, an EU-funded project designed to integrate farm animal welfare into the food chain. Thu, 04 Sep 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080901140919.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080904215901.htm The annotated genome of one of the most destructive nematodes -- Meloidogyne incognita -- the southern root-knot nematode, has just been published in the journal Nature Biotechnology. Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080904215901.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080904215621.htm Biological systems evolve in ways that increase their fitness for survival amidst environmental fluctuations and internal errors. Now researchers have found new evidence that evolution has produced cell metabolisms that are especially well suited to handle potentially harmful changes like gene deletions and mutations. The team developed a mathematical model, which could be useful in bioengineering, medicine and the design of synthetic networks, describing the cascading failure phenomenon as a percolation-like process. Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080904215621.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080904144837.htm A genetic target may provide a significant new opportunity for vaccine or therapeutic development. Scientists have uncovered new evidence that strengthens the link between a host-cell gene called Apobec3 and the production of neutralizing antibodies to retroviruses. The finding adds a new dimension to the set of possible explanations for why most people who are infected with HIV do not make neutralizing antibodies that effectively fight the virus. Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080904144837.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080904144833.htm A new mouse model has provided some surprising insight into XLF, a molecule that helps to repair lethal DNA damage. The research suggests that although XLF shares many properties with well known DNA repair factors, certain cells of the immune system possess an unexpected compensatory mechanism that that can take over for nonfunctional XLF. Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080904144833.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080904144830.htm Researchers have shown that they can create entirely new strains of infectious proteins known as prions in the laboratory by simply mixing infectious prions from one species with the normal prion proteins of another species. Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080904144830.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080904144821.htm Researchers have new insight into the motivating factors that drive breeding pairs of some tropical bird species to sing duets. Those duets can be so closely matched that human listeners often mistake them for solos. Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080904144821.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080904102852.htm A bioinformatic system takes adult stem cell research to a new level. Rather than using stem cells from embryonic sources, which opens difficult ethical and complicated scientific issues, scientists have been looking to adult human stem cells, culled from a person's own body. Adult stem cells are now being cultivated from various tissues in the body -- from skin, bones and even wisdom teeth. Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080904102852.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080903210652.htm Ecologists have developed a new technique for genetically "bar-coding" biting midges that could help prevent the spread of bluetongue -- a serious animal disease -- in the UK. Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080903210652.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902225431.htm Many animals learn to avoid being eaten by predators. Now ecologists have discovered that bumblebees can even learn to outwit color-changing crab spiders. Bumblebees learn to avoid camouflaged predators by sacrificing foraging speed for predator detection, according to new research. Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902225431.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902143245.htm The growing number of dams and other impoundments is increasing the number of invasive species and the speed at which they spread, putting natural lakes at risk, says a study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder. Wed, 03 Sep 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902143245.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902221728.htm A new study has finally resolved a controversy that cellular biologists have been arguing over for nearly 50 years, with findings that may aid research on everything from birth defects and genetic diseases to the most classic "cell division" issue of them all -- cancer. Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902221728.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902182035.htm Bacteria save energy by producing proteins that moonlight, having different roles at different times, which may also protect the microbes from being killed. The moonlighting activity of one enzyme from the tuberculosis bacterium makes it partially resistant to a family of broad-spectrum antibiotics, according to a paper published in the journal Microbiology. Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902182035.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902075737.htm For a long time scientists have been puzzled by the fact that the immune system in the gut is capable of fighting toxic bacterial infection while staying, at the same time, tolerant to its resident “friendly” bacteria. But a new article has starting to explain the mystery by revealing how a recently discovered gene - pims – is activated by the gut immune response against friendly bacteria to rapidly suppress it, effectively creating tolerance to the gut microbiota. Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902075737.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902182033.htm Researchers have developed a system that eliminates the need for antibiotics and resistance genes in the engineering of industrial and medical products. The method involves safer, less costly alternatives and is well suited for industrial production of many biofuels and biopharmaceuticals. Wed, 03 Sep 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902182033.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902095117.htm Two black-footed ferrets at the Smithsonian's National Zoo have each given birth to a kit that was sired by males who died in 1999 and 2000. These endangered ferrets were artificially inseminated in May with frozen semen from the two deceased males, each giving birth on June 20 and 21 respectively. Successful inseminations with frozen semen are extremely rare -- until now only three black-footed ferret kits have been born from this method. Wed, 03 Sep 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902095117.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080903172428.htm Researchers have discovered a key biochemical link in the process by which the Ebola Zaire virus infects cells -- a critical step to finding a way to treat the deadly disease produced by the virus. Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080903172428.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080903172419.htm Molecular and evolutionary biologists have produced the full genome sequence of Trichoplax, one of nature's most primitive multicellular organisms, providing a new insight into the evolution of all higher animals. Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080903172419.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080903172412.htm Scientists have detected previously unnoticed chemical signals that individual cells in the immune system use to communicate with each other over short distances. The signals the researchers detected originated in dendritic cells -- the sentinels of the immune system that do the initial detection of microscopic invaders -- and was received by nearby T-cells, which play a number of crucial roles in the immune system, including coordination of attacks on agents that cause disease or infection. Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080903172412.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080903172152.htm Large flightless birds of the southern continents -- African ostriches, Australian emus and cassowaries, South American rheas and the New Zealand kiwi -- do not share a common flightless ancestor as once believed. Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080903172152.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080903134325.htm Arteries play an active role in the immune system by sensing infection and injury. They collect information about invaders through dendritic cells embedded in their walls. Arteries supplying blood to distinct parts of the body specialize in recognizing different bacterial signals. Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080903134325.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080903134159.htm Scientists from the Structural Genomics Consortium have determined the 3-D structure of a key protein component involved in enabling "epigenetic code" to be copied accurately from cell to cell. The research not only represents an advance for the epigenetics field, but also an advance for how the science was done. Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080903134159.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902225429.htm Ecologists have discovered that -- as well as being larger, hungrier and more aggressive than most British native ladybirds -- the invasive alien harlequin ladybird is also more resistant to fungal disease and a parasitic wasp, two common natural enemies of native ladybirds. Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902225429.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902095106.htm Scientists have developed a new computational method that they say will help them to understand how life began on Earth. The method has the potential to trace the evolutionary histories of proteins all the way back to either cells or viruses, thus settling the debate once and for all over which of these life forms came first. Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902095106.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080829120525.htm A study has shown that red squirrels can and do make use of special crossings set up over busy roads. This kind of bridge is usually installed at sites where there have been fatalities recorded but up until now no-one has collected any data to show whether or not they are actually used by the animals. Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080829120525.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080830161221.htm Distinguishing between insect pests and partners starts with an ironclad identification. Entomologists have now prepared a database with information to accurately identify and name almost 157,000 flies, gnats, maggots, midges, mosquitoes and related species in the order Diptera. Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080830161221.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080830160454.htm At about this time next year, nearly all of the 2,800 wild, rare and domesticated grapes in a unique northern California genebank will have had their "genetic profile" or "fingerprint" taken. Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080830160454.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080829120727.htm Demand for corn -- the world's number one feed grain and a staple food for many -- is outstripping supply, resulting in large price increases that are forecast to continue over the next several years. If corn's intolerance of low temperatures could be overcome, then the length of the growing season, and yield, could be increased at present sites of cultivation and its range extended into colder regions. Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080829120727.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080828135859.htm Researchers report the discovery of the first new living species of giant clam in two decades. Tue, 02 Sep 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080828135859.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080828171701.htm What happens when linguistic tools used to analyze human language are applied to a conversation between a language-competent bonobo and a human? New findings indicate that bonobos may exhibit larger linguistic competency in ordinary conversation than in controlled experimental settings. Tue, 02 Sep 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080828171701.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080828162552.htm Experiments with genetically modified plants reveal new aspects on the biochemistry of flowers. Scientists have discovered how the chemistry of nectar and floral scents enforces good pollinator behavior, enabling plants to optimize the production of out-crossed seeds. Tue, 02 Sep 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080828162552.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902221816.htm A new study presents a genome-wide characterization of grapevine transposons. This work shows that transposons have captured and amplified gene sequences in grapevines, which could have had an impact on gene evolution and their regulation. Tue, 02 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902221816.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902221812.htm How does Salmonella bacteria cause food poisoning by attaching to salad leaves? A new study shows how some Salmonella bacteria use the long stringy appendages they normally use to help them "swim" and move about to attach themselves to salad leaves and other vegetables, causing contamination and a health risk. Tue, 02 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902221812.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902221739.htm What is it that distinguishes humans from other mammals? The answer to this question lies in the neocortex -- the part of the brain responsible for sensory perceptions, conscious thought and language. Humans have a considerably larger neocortex than other mammals, making it an ideal subject for the research of higher cognition. Scientists now reveal new insights into the mysteries of neocortex organization and function. Tue, 02 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902221739.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902221735.htm Worldwide, about 80% of young adults are infected with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). The most common symptom of infection is a cold sore, but in some individuals the virus can also cause life-threatening inflammation of the brain (encephalitis); 70% of individuals who do not get treatment for this condition die. Tue, 02 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902221735.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080828162604.htm Shedding some genetically induced excess baggage may have helped a tiny fish thrive in freshwater and outsize its marine ancestors, according to a new study in Science. Mon, 01 Sep 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080828162604.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080829104935.htm A nine-year study in sheep has added to the evidence that Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) can be transmitted through blood transfusion in humans. The likelihood of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) being transmitted between sheep through transfusion of infected sheep blood was 36 per cent, according to new research. Mon, 01 Sep 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080829104935.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080829114915.htm A tiny wasp that lays its eggs under the skin of unwitting caterpillars belongs to one of the most diverse groups of insects on Earth. Now researchers report that its diversity is even higher than previously thought. Mon, 01 Sep 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080829114915.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080828120318.htm Researchers have developed a unique technology that will allow scientists to look at microscopic activity within the body's chemical messenger system for the very first time, live as it happens. Sun, 31 Aug 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080828120318.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080828084326.htm Coccidia are single-celled intestinal parasites that currently represent one of the greatest challenges to the broiler industry. To keep the level of infection low, farmers commonly add coccidia-inhibiting chemicals (coccidiostats) to broiler feed. While this does not kill the parasites, it greatly reduces the incidence of overt sickness and death from infection. While clinical coccidiosis is therefore not a problem, veterinary authorities have never been able to gauge the extent of subclinical coccidiosis and the consequences this may have for animal welfare issues and production costs. Sun, 31 Aug 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080828084326.htm