Life Science Weekly articles from May 2003

Life Science Weekly archives from May 2003

Scientists plot key events in plants' evolution.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Since Charles Darwin heralded evolution more than 150 years ago, scientists have sought to better understand when and how the vast variety of plants today diverged from common ancestors. A new...

Coral-feeding worm transmit bleaching bacteria.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Coral bleaching is a modern epidemic that some biologists predict will kill up to half the world's reefs this century as climate change raises sea temperatures. Now scientists report that some bleaching...

Discovery of cold-tolerance gene in plant could improve important crops.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists at the University of Arizona have discovered a critical cold-tolerance gene in the plant Arabidopsis. The finding holds promising implications for the improvement of cold tolerance in...

Sunlight converts common disinfectant to dioxin.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Sunlight can convert triclosan, a common disinfectant used in antibacterial soaps, into a form of dioxin. This process may produce some of the dioxin found in the environment, according to research...

Fifty Arctic lakes show dramatic effects of climate warming.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Dramatic clues to North American climate change have been discovered by a team of Queen's University, Toronto, scientists in the bottom of 50 Arctic lakes. Using innovative techniques that enable...

Cloned gene may help crops and livestock meet future needs.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Improved digestibility of livestock feed, hardier crops, and higher yield of biofuels may result from information that Purdue University researchers are learning about the sorghum gene that controls...

Potato-related plant suppresses potato cyst nematode.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Dutch plant ecologists have investigated how the potato cyst nematode can be controlled using Solanum sisymbriifolium, a member of the potato family. The plant produces a chemical which causes the...

Excavations strengthen dating of findings to David/Solomon monarchy.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new, laboratory-based affirmation of the existence of a united Israelite monarchy headed by kings David and Solomon in the 10th century B.C.E. has been revealed as the result of excavations carried...

Cultural ergonomics study aims to prevent pesticide exposure.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Pesticides are one of the most significant sources of poison to the human nervous system when misused. New research indicates that various cultures may misinterpret the directions provided by the...

Further mysteries of fireflies' flash unveiled.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new study by biologists at Tufts University has translated what male fireflies are saying to females when they flash their lights - and it looks like the males are bragging. The National Science...

Amorous worms reveal effects of Chernobyl.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Worms contaminated by radioactivity from the Chernobyl nuclear accident have started having sex with each other instead of on their own, as is normal for worms. According to Ukrainian scientists,...

Water quality in Adirondack lakes responding to acid rain regulations.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- After years of bombardment with acid rain, lakes in the Adirondack region of New York are finally showing signs of recovery. A new study reveals a broad decrease in acidity across the area - a...

Regional warming-induced species shift recorded in Mediterranean marine caves.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The northwestern Mediterranean Sea has a high biodiversity reflecting a mixture of temperate and subtropical species. But this basin already shows signs of large-scale warming. Marine cave...

Cholestyramine shows protective effects for marine toxin poisoning.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Investigators at the U.S. National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Ocean Service have observed that a commonly-used, cholesterol-lowering drug provides protective effects to a toxin...

Circular proteoglycans from sponges may have medical research applications.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- According to recent research from Spain, "Species-specific cell adhesion in marine sponges is mediated by a new family of modular proteoglycans whose general supramolecular structure resembles that of...

Growing number of plants are affected by sudden oak death.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The newly discovered plant disease, Sudden Oak Death (SOD), is quickly gaining a reputation, and it's not a good one. SOD is tenacious and lethal, using as many as 26 different plants as hosts and...

Gene-signaling role of sugars in plants discovered; implications for humans.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new study shows that sugars not only serve as fuel for plants but also as signal compounds to genes critical to cell development and plant growth. The findings, published in Science, is considered...

Smart mathematical model prevents the spread of swine fever.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Epidemiologists have calculated that partial vaccination can stop outbreaks of swine fever. What's more, mother sows do not need to be vaccinated. And further, the finding may not have practical...

Strong decrease in field trials with genetically modified plants in the EU.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The number of field trials with genetically modified plants has fallen by about 80% since 1998 in the countries of the European Community. This was revealed by a survey of the Fraunhofer Institute...

Scientists break down patterns in nature.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Nature has many patterns and ecologists seek to both describe and understand them. Nature also is very complex. One challenge is to find patterns in that complexity and to ask whether simple...

Ocean fertilization to remove CO[subscript]2 from atmosphere is not a sure thing.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas linked to global warming, by fertilizing the oceans with iron may not be as attractive a solution as once thought. In observations reported in...

Peas and beans get by with more than a little help from friends.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The relationship between leguminous plants such as peas and beans and nitrogen-fixing bacteria is even closer than previously thought, with bacteria acting like an intrinsic part of the plant,...

Fast-changing gene drives species split.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A gene that stops different species of fruit flies from interbreeding is evolving faster than other genes, according to researchers at the University of California, Davis, and the University of...

British/French partnership creates largest wheat genetics resources library.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists at the John Innes Centre (JIC), Norwich, U.K., and the INRA (Institut National de Recherche Agronomique) at Evry, France, have announced the creation of the largest library of genetic...

Genes identified that confer pink bollworm's resistance to GM cotton.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A team of scientists centered at the University of Arizona has discovered that field populations of pink bollworm, the longtime scourge of Arizona farmers, harbor three genetic mutations that confer...

Irrigation key to coexistence of farming and urbanization.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new study suggests that agriculture can successfully coexist with continuing population growth and urban sprawl in some areas of the U.S. Great Plains. The study, conducted by researchers at the...

There's more than sex involved in leks.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Ah, spring, and the male grouse's instincts turn to the lek. He will congregate with several of his fellows in an area called a lek where all will make courtship displays in the hope of attracting...

Tagged tarantulas rescue rainforest.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Fifty surgically tagged tarantulas are granting scientists an understanding of rainforest destruction in Belize. In many areas, including Belize, the rainforests have been changed by successive...

Publication highlights uses of coal ash.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers with the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) Coal Ash Resources Research Consortium (CARRC) have developed the on-line "Buyer's Guide to Coal Ash-Containing Products" to showcase...

Ventilation concept may help cure "sick" buildings.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An engineering professor at the University of Pennsylvania believes he has the remedy for sick buildings: a system allowing a constant flow of fresh outdoor air through a ventilation component that is...

S. aureus whole cell vaccine technology licensed for use in cows.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Nabi Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:NABI) has granted an exclusive worldwide license to its whole cell vaccine technology for the prevention and treatment of Staphylococcus aureus infections in cattle to...

Yellowstone wolf, grizzly bear, moose relationships are "dysfunctional".
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A recent study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) appearing in the journal Biological Conservation warns that a proposal to remove grizzly bears and wolves living in the Greater Yellowstone...

New research dismisses a widely held assumption about how cells grow.
May 19, 2003... 2003 MAY 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Research published in the Journal of Biology challenges an assumption about cell growth that underpins modern cellular biology. Ian Conlon and Martin Raff, of University College London, show that...

Geologists raise questions about controversial theory of species survival.
May 19, 2003... 2003 MAY 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A recent study by a team of Syracuse University geologists has punched holes in a relatively new theory of species evolution called coordinated stasis; the theories involved are based on findings from...

Fossilized human ancestor much older than previously thought.
May 19, 2003... 2003 MAY 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In a finding that could shed light on the earliest origins of mankind, fossil remains found in South Africa of an ancestral human species have proven far older than expected when evaluated by a Purdue...

Hollow spheres make solid vaccine to protect fish.
May 19, 2003... 2003 MAY 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new kind of vaccine to protect salmon and trout from infectious pancreatic necrosis disease may help aquaculture stem a rising tide of virus-related diseases. University of Maryland...

Bread mold yields a genome first for filamentous fungi.
May 19, 2003... 2003 MAY 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- With more than 10,000 genes amid DNA strands of nearly 40 million base pairs, the first genome of a filamentous fungus has been sequenced through the cooperative efforts of a community of more than 70...

Wood mice use objects as movable signposts.
May 19, 2003... 2003 MAY 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Humans are not alone in creating signposts to help them find their way, according to new research published in the open access journal BMC Ecology. Wood mice, say scientists, move objects from...

NASA satellite measures Earth's carbon metabolism.
May 19, 2003... 2003 MAY 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- NASA scientists have reported the first consistent and continuous global measurements of Earth's "metabolism." Data from the Terra and Aqua satellites are helping scientists frequently update maps...

Ecological interaction between 'competing' pathogens affects epidemics.
May 19, 2003... 2003 MAY 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Epidemiologists have long known that when enough individuals in a population get sick and build immunity or die, the epidemic will end. A research team led by Pej Rohani, assistant professor of...

Popular example of co-evolved mutualism no longer holds up.
May 19, 2003... 2003 MAY 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Contrary to prevailing wisdom concerning one of the most famous textbook examples of a tightly co-evolved mutualism, not every fig species is pollinated by its own unique wasp species. In May 13,...

Scientists observe nanosize microtubules 'treadmilling' across plant cells.
May 19, 2003... 2003 MAY 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new study offers new insights into a long-standing mystery about plant growth. The scientists who conducted the experiment say their results could open new avenues of research for developing more...

Animal cloning efficiencies increase with uniform oocytes and donor cells.
May 19, 2003... 2003 MAY 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Animal cloning efficiencies increase with uniform oocytes and donor cells. According to recent research published in the journal Biology of Reproduction, "the low efficiency of somatic cell cloning...

Robusta coffee production is depleting wildlife habitat in Indonesia.
May 19, 2003... 2003 MAY 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- How's this for a bitter aftertaste? Cheap coffee, the kind that comes in industrial-sized cans, may be contributing to the loss of tigers, elephants, and rhinos living half a world away, according to a...

Whale study links genetics and reproductive success.
May 19, 2003... 2003 MAY 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A recent study focusing on the humpback whales of the Gulf of Maine revealed that differences in reproductive success of whale mothers may play a significant role in changing genetic variation in the...

Roadkill squirrels most likely are male.
May 19, 2003... 2003 MAY 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A year-long study on the Texas A&M University campus recently showed that males are more likely than females to die on the road, and scientists believe it's because the males dart about through the...

Diet study may help save giant panda.
May 19, 2003... 2003 MAY 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- For many years the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station's Grazingland Animal Nutrition Lab has analyzed fecal matter taken from livestock and wildlife, but never before has it attempted to study...

Enzymatic reaction rate surprises researchers.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Enzymatic reactions, which are crucial in biological processes, can occur much faster than previously thought possible, as researchers in the biophysics department of the Faculty of Exact Sciences of...

Genome of bread mold, Neurospora crassa, decoded.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The genome sequence of the bread mold Neurospora crassa has been revealed by an international group of 77 researchers. The achievement, reported in the April 24, 2003, issue of Nature, represents...

Miller Experiment and the origin of life revisited.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In the fall of 1952, Stanley Miller, now a chemistry professor emeritus at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), began simulating primitive earthly conditions in an experiment that produced...

Ants indirectly cause much more damage to rainforests than previously thought.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Some tree-dwelling ants that were thought to eat other insects and animals actually look like plant-eaters when biologists analyzed nitrogen in their bodies. A new study, published in the May 9,...

Army ants, as voracious as ever, have defied evolution for 100 million years.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Army ants, nature's ultimate coalition task force, strike their prey en masse in a blind, voracious column and pay no attention to the conventional wisdom of evolutionary biologists. The common...

Researcher is trying to produce higher-yielding alfalfa.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Charles Brummer is out to make better hay while the sun shines. Brummer, an Iowa State University agronomist, is working to breed higher-yielding alfalfa, a legume most commonly used as animal...

Butterflies are flashers to attract mates.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers have discovered that some iridescent butterflies use the polarization of light refracted from their intricate prismatic scales as a mating signal. This is the first time that light...

Seal pups recognize mother's voice within days of birth.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Seal pups can recognize their mother's distinct vocal call within two days of birth says a University of Alberta researcher, a finding essential to the pups' care and survival. Dr. Isabelle...

Research casts doubt on controversial biological cold fusion theory.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists at the University of Sheffield, U.K., have cast doubt on the validity of the controversial theory of biological cold fusion, the principle sometimes used to lend credence to the practice of...

Male pregnancy in seahorses may affect formation of new species.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Male pregnancy in seahorses may do more than reverse traditional gender roles. It could also influence the way new species form from single populations of these ancient creatures. Studies have...

Demand for wood may lead to forest growth, not decline, study says.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Under the right economic conditions, a growing demand for forest products that accompanies development may lead to an increase - not a decline - in forest cover, according to a new study by researchers...

Ants' body odor signals other workers to forage for food.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Peer into the deep recesses of an ant colony and you'll discover an extremely well organized community with thousands of workers quietly going about their jobs. Some dig nests while others gather food...

Scientists watch over the Amazon forest by remote sensing.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Areas deforested in Brazil increased from 152,000 km[superscript]2 in 1976 to 517,000 km[superscript]2 in 1996 - a figure equivalent to the surface area of France . Deforestation is a complex...

Bacterial extremophiles prefer alkaline, salty lake water.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Imagine living in a liquid with the same pH as ammonia and 10 times saltier than seawater. It's not the setting for a science fiction book, but a Washington state lake populated with some very...

Control of purple loosestrife now a national 4-H project.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In the near future, purple loosestrife, an attractive but invasive wetland plant, may have nowhere to run. A biological control program to introduce the natural enemy of purple loosestrife, the...

New company promises to detoxify pollutants with plant biologicals.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A company formed as a spin-off from research conducted at Cornell University, USA, the University of Surrey, U.K., and the University of Naples, Italy, will provide biological systems that detoxify...

Some maternal lines of humpback whales more prolific than others.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A recent study focusing on the humpback whales of the Gulf of Maine revealed that differences in reproductive success of whale mothers may play a significant role in changing genetic variation in the...

Troubling trends identified in sea otter deaths.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new University of California, Davis, analysis finds that adult sea otters in California in 1998-2001 died in unusually high numbers from newly recognized diseases and in geographic clusters, all of...