Latest Biology News from Bio-Medicine.Org

Methane-eating microbes can use iron and manganese oxides to 'breathe'

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:13:54 MST

Iron and manganese compounds, in addition to sulfate, may play an important role in converting methane to carbon dioxide and eventually carbonates in the Earth's oceans, according to a team of researchers looking at anaerobic sediments. These same compounds may have been key to methane reduction in the early, oxygenless days of the planet's atmosphere. "We used to believe that microbes onl...

Seals quickly respond to gain and loss of habitat under climate change

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 06:01:16 MST

Southern Elephant seals responded rapidly to climate and habitat change and established a new breeding site thousands of kilometres from existing breeding grounds, according to new research. An international research team, including post-doctorate Dr Mark de Bruyn and collaborators from the US, South Africa and Italy, led by Professor Rus Hoelzel from the School of Biological and Biomedica...

New theory gives more precise estimates of large-scale biodiversity

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 03:13:17 MST

Ask biologists how many species live in a pond, a grassland, a mountain range or on the entire planet, and the answers get increasingly vague. Hence the wide range of estimates for the planet's biodiversity, predicted to be between 2 million and 50 million species. A new way of estimating species richness reported this month in the journal Ecology Letters by University of California, Ber...

2 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center scientists receive Presidential Early Career Award

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 02:57:16 MST

SEATTLE President Obama today announced that two Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center investigators have been awarded the nation's highest honor for scientists at the beginning of their independent research careers. Basic scientist Harmit Singh Malik, Ph.D., and cancer-prevention researcher Ulrike "Riki" Peters, Ph.D., are among 100 researchers to receive the prestigious 2008 Presidential E...

New study ranks 'hotspots' of human impact on coastal areas

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:45:25 MST

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) Coastal marine ecosystems are at risk worldwide as a result of human activities, according to scientists at UC Santa Barbara who have recently published a study in the Journal of Conservation Letters . The authors have performed the first integrated analysis of all coastal areas of the world. "Resource management and conservation in coastal waters must address a...

AACR applauds nomination of Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., to be the new NIH director

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:49:17 MST

WASHINGTON, D.C. The American Association for Cancer Research applauds President Obama's nomination of Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., to be the 16th director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). "Dr. Collins is an excellent scientist and skillful administrator," said Tyler Jacks, Ph.D., president of the American Association for Cancer Research. "His leadership of the National Hu...

Ozone, nitrogen change the way rising CO2 affects Earth's water

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:13:16 MST

Through a recent modeling experiment, a team of NASA-funded researchers have found that future concentrations of carbon dioxide and ozone in the atmosphere and of nitrogen in the soil are likely to have an important but overlooked effect on the cycling of water from sky to land to waterways. The researchers concluded that models of climate change may be underestimating how much water is l...

Springer to collaborate with the Human Genome Organization

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:17:38 MST

Starting in October 2009, Springer will publish The HUGO Journal in cooperation with the Human Genome Organisation (HUGO). Formerly published at Springer as Genomic Medicine, The HUGO Journal has a new design, new features and a new editorial team. Members of HUGO will receive free access to the journal online and be able to purchase print subscriptions at discounted rates. The HUGO...

Toward an explanation for Crohn's disease?

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:17:35 MST

This release is available in French . Montreal, July 9th 2009 Twenty-five per cent of Crohn's disease patients have a mutation in what is called the NOD2 gene, but it is not precisely known how this mutation influences the disease. The latest study by Dr. Marcel Behr, of the Research Institute of the MUHC and McGill University, has provided new insight into how this might occur. The s...

Systems biology recommended as a clinical approach to cancer

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:17:31 MST

Blacksburg, Va. -- Four researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech and their colleagues at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine are advocating the use of systems biology as an innovative clinical approach to cancer. This approach could result in the development of improved diagnostic tools and treatment options, as well as potential new drug targets to...

Academy Library accepted to prestigious Biodiversity Heritage Library

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:17:26 MST

PHILADELPHIAThe Academy of Natural Sciences announced today that its Ewell Sale Stewart Library has been accepted as a member of the prestigious Biodiversity Heritage Library. The BHL is a group of 12 natural history museum libraries, botanical libraries and research institutions worldwide dedicated to digitizing the published literature on biodiversity in order to preserve it and to make i...

'Uphold the ban'

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:17:22 MST

Geneva, Switzerland The 40 member organizations of the International Tiger Coalition (ITC) applaud remarks by the World Bank today stating that legalizing tiger farming is too great a gamble for the world to take if tigers are to have a future in the wild. "Having carefully weighed the economics argument, we urge the CITES community to uphold the ban on wild tiger products and for all co...

Landmark project to map genomics of complex ant systems

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 06:33:09 MST

Emory researchers are tapping the latest-generation DNA sequencing technology to become the first explorers of the genomics of agricultural ant societies. "This project is one of the first attempts to use genomics to understand a complex interacting system, rather than a single organism," says Nicole Gerardo, assistant professor of biology and lead investigator of the project. "If we can...

Arctic climate under greenhouse conditions in the Late Cretaceous

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 06:33:05 MST

New evidence for ice-free summers with intermittent winter sea ice in the Arctic Ocean during the Late Cretaceous a period of greenhouse conditions - gives a glimpse of how the Arctic is likely to respond to future global warming. Records of past environmental change in the Arctic should help predict its future behaviour. The Late Cretaceous, the period between 100 and 65 million years ag...

Spread your sperm the smart way

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 06:33:00 MST

Attractive males release fewer sperm per mating to maximise their chances of producing offspring across a range of females, according to a new paper on the evolution of ejaculation strategies. The findings by researchers at UCL (University College London) and the University of Oxford suggest that, paradoxically, matings with attractive males may be less fertile than those with unattractive one...

Data published in the New England Journal of Medicine support use of raxibacumab (ABthrax) for the treatment of inhalation anthrax

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:21:17 MST

ROCKVILLE, Maryland July 9, 2009 Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: HGSI) today announced publication by the New England Journal of Medicine of the results of two pivotal animal efficacy studies, which showed the life-saving potential of the Company's human monoclonal antibody drug raxibacumab (ABthrax), as well as the results of human safety studies, which supported the use of raxibacum...

2 reproductive factors are important predictors of death from ovarian cancer

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:45:12 MST

PHILADELPHIA Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that survival among women with ovarian cancer is influenced by age of menarche and total number of lifetime ovulatory cycles. This finding suggests that hormonal activity over the course of a woman's lifetime may influence the prognosis after an ovarian cancer diagnosis. Results of this study are publ...

UH team analyzes Hurricane Ike's effects on waterways, fish contamination

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:16:45 MST

A long-term environmental research project being conducted at the University of Houston may offer important information about the effects of Hurricane Ike on pollution levels and help regulators determine whether existing fish-consumption advisories remain appropriate. With this year's storm season under way, the UH engineering team's project is entering a new phase as participants collect...

Research shows that 'invisible hand' guides evolution of cooperative turn-taking

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:16:39 MST

It's not just good manners to wait your turn it's actually down to evolution, according to new research by University of Leicester psychologists. A study in the University's School of Psychology sought to explain how turn-taking has evolved across a range of species. The conclusion is that there is an "invisible hand" that guides our actions in this respect. Professor Andrew Colman an...

Contaminated site remediation: Are nanomaterials the answer?

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 01:48:09 MST

WASHINGTONA new review article appearing in Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) co-authored by Dr. Todd Kuiken, a research associate for the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN), focuses on the use of nanomaterials for environmental cleanup. It provides an overview of current practices; research findings; societal issues; potential environment, health, and safety implications; a...