http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/plants_animals/life_sciences/ Life Science News. Updated daily with science research articles in all the life sciences. Images. en-us Sat, 11 Jul 2009 15:05:01 EDT Sat, 11 Jul 2009 15:05:01 EDT 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/plants_animals/life_sciences/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090624152822.htm Evolutionarily speaking, baboons may be our more distant cousins among primates. But when it comes to our experiences with malaria over the course of time, it seems the stories of our two species have followed very similar plots. Sat, 11 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090624152822.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090623090159.htm Researchers provide the as yet closest look at the structure of immature HIV Scientists have produced a three-dimensional reconstruction of HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), which shows the structure of the immature form of the virus at unprecedented detail. Sat, 11 Jul 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090623090159.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090708132807.htm Scientists have identified a gene that is essential for embryonic stem cells to maintain their all-purpose, pluripotent state. Exploiting the finding may lead to a greater understanding of how cells acquire their specialized states and provide a strategy to efficiently reprogram mature cells back into the pluripotent state, an elusive step in stem cell research but one crucial to a range of potential clinical treatments. Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090708132807.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090707094906.htm An implanted electronic ion pump in organic material can be used to carry signals to specific cells in the nervous system and in this way treat various illnesses. In a unique study, researchers have used the pumps to successfully manipulate the hearing in laboratory animals. The technique represents a breakthrough for the machine-to-brain interface, with opportunities for greater symbiosis between electronics and biological systems. Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090707094906.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090623162121.htm Elemental hyperaccumulation in plants is hypothesized to represent a plant defense mechanism. The objective of this study was to determine whether selenium hyperaccumulation offers plants long-term protection from the black-tailed prairie dog. This study is the first to test the ecological significance of hyperaccumulation over a long period in a hyperaccumulator's natural habitat. Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090623162121.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709110836.htm The bottom-line message from a decades-long study of monkeys on a restricted diet is simple: Consuming fewer calories leads to a longer, healthier life. Researchers report that a nutritious but reduced-calorie diet blunts aging and significantly delays the onset of such age-related disorders as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and brain atrophy. Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709110836.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090622103907.htm A tiny plant with a long name helps researchers design new crops to help meet increasing demands for food, biofuels, industrial materials, and new medicines. The genes, proteins, and other traits of this plant reside in the Arabidopsis Information Resource (TAIR) database. TAIR just released a new version of the genome sequence, which includes an array of improvements and novel features that promise to accelerate this critical research. Fri, 10 Jul 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090622103907.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090710170109.htm The secret to longevity may lie in an enzyme with the ability to promote a robust immune system into old age by maintaining the function of the thymus throughout life, according to researchers studying an "anti-aging" mouse model that lives longer than a typical mouse. Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090710170109.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090708195337.htm It's not just good manners to wait your turn -- it's actually down to evolution, according to new research. What's more, this behavior can be simulated using a simple computer algorithm and basic genetic laws. Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090708195337.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090708132800.htm Researchers report that rapamycin, a compound first discovered in soil of Easter Island, extended the expected lifespan of middle-aged mice by 28 percent to 38 percent. In human terms, this would be greater than the predicted increase in extra years of life if cancer and heart disease were both cured and prevented. Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090708132800.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090619152137.htm Chile peppers have long played an important role in the diets of Mesoamerican people. Capsicum annuum is one of five domesticated species of chiles and is one of the primary components of these diets. However, little is known regarding the original location of domestication of C. annuum and the genetic diversity in wild relatives. Researchers have now found a large amount of diversity in individuals from the Yucatan Peninsula, making this a center of diversity for chiles. Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090619152137.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709140810.htm In a new study that could transform embryonic stem cell (ES cell) research, scientists have discovered why mouse ES cells can be easily grown in a laboratory while other mammalian ES cells are difficult, if not impossible, to maintain. Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709140810.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090710101454.htm Microbes contribute to manifold human endeavors ranging from bioenergy to agriculture to medicine. Moreover, they make the Earth’s biogeochemical cycles go round, a prerequisite for all life on the planet. Exceedingly numerous, they are also extremely diverse, encompassing most of Earth’s total biodiversity. So it should come as no surprise to find that two-thirds of the nearly 5,000 genome projects reported in the Genomes OnLine Database involve microbes. But far more could be done with microbial genomics, according to one expert, if researchers would embrace the world of possibilities that lie beyond the present anthropocentric focus and would also institute shared standards for genomic data collection and analysis. Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090710101454.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709201849.htm Southern elephant seals responded rapidly to climate and habitat change and established a new breeding site thousands of kilometers from existing breeding grounds, according to new research. Scientists found that when the Antarctic ice sheets of the Ross Sea Embayment retreated in the Holocene period 8,000 years ago, elephant seals, Mirounga leonina, adopted the emergent habitat and established a new population which flourished. Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709201849.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709174751.htm The Census Bureau is good at profiling the US population by sampling small groups of people. Biologists, however, lack a good theory of how to estimate the richness of life in large areas like the Amazon from small-plot studies. Ecologists have applied information theory to develop a new and robust theory that does a much better job predicting biodiversity in large biomes and could be a boon to conservation biologists. Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709174751.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709132057.htm Europe's southern-most skeletal remains of a mammoth were unearthed in a moor on the 37°N latitude. This is considerably south of the inhospitable habitat than one usually imagines for mammoths, and for the characteristically dry and cold climate that prevailed during the ice ages in the north of Eurasia. Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709132057.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709124741.htm Mycobacterium tuberculosis is arguably the world's most successful infectious agent because it knows how to avoid elimination by slowing its own growth to a crawl. Now, scientists offer new insights into the bugs' talent for meager living. Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709124741.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090707171002.htm A 700-mile security wall under construction along the United States' border with Mexico could significantly alter the movement and "connectivity" of wildlife, biologists say, and the animals' potential isolation is a threat to populations of some species. Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090707171002.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090702080525.htm Viruses can cost winegrowers an entire harvest. If they infest the grapevines, even pesticides are often no use. What’s more, these chemicals are harmful to the environment. Researchers are growing plants that produce antibodies against the viruses and are thus immune. Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090702080525.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090702090119.htm We humans have a strong urge to reproduce, but if the environment steers us into putting off having children, we may be rewarded with both longer life and a bigger genetic footprint in future generations. Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090702090119.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090706134058.htm Pinpointing the genes involved in human brain cancer can be like looking for a needle in a haystack, and sometimes the needle you find may not be the right one. Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090706134058.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618151333.htm A new approach to tracking polar bears will shed more light on the potentially endangered Arctic animal and help boost the economy of Canada's north. Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618151333.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090707142138.htm Scientists have developed salt-tolerant plants using a new type of genetic modification, bringing salt-tolerant cereal crops a step closer to reality. Wed, 08 Jul 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090707142138.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090629081122.htm With rising ozone levels scientists have found that high ozone conditions cause a 30 percent decrease in yield and an increase in the concentration of a group of compounds with toxic effects to livestock, but anticarcinogenic effects for humans, within oilseed rape plants. Wed, 08 Jul 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090629081122.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090626141227.htm Scientists have revealed how the BAM protein affects germline stem cell differentiation and how it is involved in regulating the quality of stem cells through intercellular competition. Wed, 08 Jul 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090626141227.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090708114754.htm Using a combination of sensory, genetic, and in vitro approaches, researchers confirm that the T1R1-T1R3 taste receptor plays a role in human umami (amino acid) taste. They further report that variations in a gene that codes for this receptor correspond to individual differences in sensitivity to and perceived intensity of umami taste. Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090708114754.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701082905.htm Extinction looms for amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds restricted to declining mangrove forests. Substantial numbers of terrestrial vertebrates are restricted to mangrove forests. Many of these specialized species are listed as threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Prospects for mangrove-restricted animals are bleak, because more than two percent of mangrove forests are lost each year. Tue, 07 Jul 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701082905.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090706171538.htm New research shows how plants gain nitrogen and how this allows some species to invade and take over native plants. Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090706171538.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090622171514.htm Scientists studying the physical forces generated by cells has created a tiny micron--sized device that measures and manipulates cellular forces as assemblies of living cells reorganize themselves into tissues. Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090622171514.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090625100349.htm DNA barcoding is advocated as a vast improvement in our ability to monitor and manage the world's biodiversity. An expert on the potato and tomato family examined the utility of DNA barcoding in a complex plant group, Solanum section Petota, using three of the most frequently suggested genome sections. His findings emphasize the importance of using multiple means of identifying species, and he cautions against using barcoding alone as a means of species identification. Tue, 07 Jul 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090625100349.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090702110459.htm As flowering plants like giant trees quickly rose to dominate plant communities during the Cretaceous period, the ferns that had preceded them hardly saw it as a disappointment. Tue, 07 Jul 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090702110459.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090707111705.htm Plant roots provide the crops we eat with water, nutrients and anchorage. Understanding how roots grow and how hormones control that growth is crucial to improving crop yields, necessary to address food security and produce better biofuels. Scientists have now shed light on how a plant hormone is crucial in controlling the growth of plant roots. Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090707111705.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090707094706.htm Researchers have demonstrated that hormones can also activate their receptors inside the cell. Until now, cell surface expression of hormone receptors was considered a necessity for their ability to transduce hormonal signals from the outside of the cell to the inside. This discovery may allow a significant improvement for the treatment of patients suffering from one of the many disorders that are caused by failure of a particular hormone receptor to reach the cell surface. Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090707094706.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090707093619.htm The Rosetta Stone of bacterial communication may have been found. Although they have no sensory organs, bacteria can get a good idea about what's going on in their neighborhood and communicate with each other, mainly by secreting and taking in chemicals from their surrounding environment. Even though there are millions of different kinds of bacteria with their own ways of sensing the world around them, bioengineers believe they have found a principle common to all of them. Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090707093619.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618101506.htm Researchers have developed a new method to quickly and reliably detect metabolites, such as sugars, fatty acids, amino acids and other organic substances from plant or animal tissue samples. One drop of blood -- less than one micro liter -- is sufficient to identify certain blood related metabolites. Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618101506.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090706090604.htm Parents compensate for a lazy partner by working harder to bring up their offspring, but not enough to completely make up for the lack of parenting, says research by bird biologists. Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090706090604.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618124940.htm Slow-flying, woodland bats -- which tend to be at greater risk from extinction than their speedier kin -- really don't like street lights, according to a new study. Lesser horseshoe bats will stray from their usual flight routes to steer clear of the artificial glow from lights that are similar to everyday street lights, the new report shows. Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618124940.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618190622.htm MicroRNAs are the newest kid on the genetic block. By regulating the unzipping of genetic information, these tiny molecules have set the scientific world alight with such wide-ranging applications as onions that can't make you cry and therapeutic potential for new treatments for viral infections, cancer and degenerative diseases. But the question remains: How do they work? Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618190622.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630074951.htm Researchers subjected species found in Antarctic waters to increasing levels of water temperature to learn how well they would cope with a warmer ocean. The study shows that several of these species are already living really close to their upper temperature range, and that further increases could easily provoke serious ecological imbalances in this region. Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630074951.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090611142402.htm Some disease-causing bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics because they have peculiar sex lives, say researchers publishing new results in the journal Science. The new study helps scientists understand how bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics, which is a major challenge for those treating infectious diseases. Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090611142402.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090629200630.htm An international team of scientists warns that accelerating losses of seagrasses across the globe threaten the immediate health and long-term sustainability of coastal ecosystems. The team has compiled and analyzed the first comprehensive global assessment of seagrass observations and found that 58 percent of world's seagrass meadows are currently declining. Mon, 06 Jul 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090629200630.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090706171544.htm Freshwater fish are an important part of the diet of many peoples around the world, but it has been unclear when fish became an important part of the year-round diet for early humans. A new study shows it may have happened in China as far back as 40,000 years ago. Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090706171544.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090706171540.htm Long before mammals, birds, and even dinosaurs roamed the Earth, the first four-legged creatures made their first steps onto land. These early land vertebrates varied considerably in size and shape. Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090706171540.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090625074514.htm Researchers have genetically altered castor-oil plant so as to use it as a factory to produce bio lubricants. Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090625074514.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701102904.htm Researchers have managed to make out the "self-irrigating" mechanism of the desert rhubarb, which enables it to harvest 16 times the amount of water than otherwise expected for a plant in this region based on the quantities of rain in the desert. This is the first example of a self-irrigating desert plant, the scientists say. Sun, 05 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701102904.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090629200804.htm Accelerated snowmelt -- precipitated by desert dust blowing into the mountains -- changes how alpine plants respond to seasonal climate cues that regulate their life cycles, according to a new study. These results indicate that global warming may have a greater influence on plants' annual growth cycles than previously thought. Sun, 05 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090629200804.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090629200634.htm The first microsatellite-based genetic linkage map has been published for Schistosoma mansoni, a blood fluke that is known to infect over 90 million people in Africa, the Middle East and the New World. Researchers hope the map will stimulate research and open doors to new advances in combating this neglected human pathogen. Sun, 05 Jul 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090629200634.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090705141721.htm Even in its native Argentina, the fire ant wins in head-to-head competition with other ant species more than three-quarters of the time. Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090705141721.htm