Life Sciences

In the October 19, 2007, issue of PLoS-Genetics, a team of academic and commercial researchers (1) show that their "maize mini-chromosomes" (MMC) can introduce an entire "cassette" of novel genes…

Cryptococcus neoformans is a major cause of fungal meningitis, predominantly in immunocompromised individuals. This fungus has two mating types/sexes, a and α, and mating typically requires two…

Help with assigning gender could one day be at hand for intersex individuals whose genital phenotypes and sex chromosomes don't match, thanks to the discovery of a stable sex hormone signature in our…

Abuse of psychostimulants such as amphetamine remains a serious public health concern. Amphetamines mediate their behavioral effects by stimulating dopaminergic signaling throughout reward circuits…

The genome analysis of this tiny green alga has uncovered hundreds of genes that are uniquely associated with carbon dioxide capture and generation of biomass. Among the 15,000-plus genes revealed…

Red wine is known to have multiple health benefits. Researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia have found that red wine may also protect humans from common food-borne diseases, even E. coli.…

Duke University Medical Center researchers believe they have discovered why the appendix exists and what purpose it serves in modern humans. They think it is used to 'reboot' the digestive system and…

Thousands of new kinds of marine microbes have been discovered at two deep-sea hydrothermal vents off the Oregon coast by scientists at the MBL (Marine Biological Laboratory) and University of…

Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD) occurs in 20-40% of infants born below 2.5 lbs. and before 28 weeks of gestation, and means babies still need supplemental oxygen at 36 weeks postmenstrual age. It is…

“Survival of the fittest” has popularly described evolution for more than a century, but a new study published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters provides further evidence that random…