Apparently, the mysterious “3/4 law of metabolism” — proposed by Max Kleiber in 1932, printed in biology textbooks for decades, and described as “extended to all life forms” from bacteria to whales — is just plain wrong. “Actually, it’s two-thirds,” says University of Vermont mathematician Peter Dodds. A new paper of his helps overturn almost [...]
Continue reading about Spherical cows help to dump metabolism law
Singapore and US scientists have mapped major components of the epigenome and DNA methylation for the entire human DNA sequence, and compared three cell types representing three stages of human development.
Continue reading about Scientists map epigenome of human stem cells during development
Researchers are investigating the potential use of nonpathogenic baker’s yeast as a promising, natural therapy for cancer.
Continue reading about Baker’s yeast: A promising, natural therapy for cancer?
Some cells are natural rule-breakers. Neural crest cells for example, not only migrate throughout the body during development (most cells are more selective in their wandering), they are also more developmentally flexible than their predecessors (a no-no for nearly all cell types). Now researchers have shown that a protein that controls DNA accessibility is responsible [...]
Continue reading about Link between human birth defect syndrome, cancer metastasis explored
By analyzing sediments up to 4,000 years old, an environmental scientist is hoping to provide a tool to help predict future climate change. Ancient records of what was happening with climate conditions can be used with regional climate models to tell a story of what happened in the past and to correlate it to the [...]
Continue reading about Learning from climate’s sedimental journey
Seeing someone perform a virtuous deed (especially if they are helping another person), makes us feel good — a positive, uplifting emotion, known as “elevation.” New findings suggest that elevation may lead to helping behavior: participants who viewed an uplifting TV clip spent almost twice as long helping a research assistant than participants who saw [...]
Continue reading about Pay it forward: Elevation leads to altruistic behavior
Scientists at Georgia Tech and the Ovarian Cancer Institute have further developed a potential new treatment against cancer that uses magnetic nanoparticles to attach to cancer cells, removing them from the body. The treatment, tested in mice in 2008, has now been tested using samples from human cancer patients.
Continue reading about Magnetic nanoparticles show promise for combating human cancer
Scientists have identified a protein made by the malaria parasite that is essential to its ability to take over human red blood cells.
Continue reading about Scientists find ideal target for malaria therapy
Scientists have carried out “laboratory gunfights” to show that we move faster when we react to something in our environment than we do when we initiate the action ourselves — an idea inspired by cowboy movies but in reality more useful for avoiding oncoming traffic.
A study shows that antiviral proteins called type I interferons (IFNs) are needed to fend off infection with an exotic mosquito-borne virus called Chikungunya virus. This pathogen, which causes high fevers and severe joint pain, triggered a recent epidemic in Southeast Asia, infecting more than 30 percent of the population in some areas.
Continue reading about Immune protein fends off exotic virus