Biology posts
- August 27, 2009
- 09:44 PM
- 659 views
Why we fear Influenza 1 – the antivirals
by Atila Iamarino in Influenza A (H1N1) Blog – English
First of all, to start this blog, and discuss the H1N1 and the flu in general, I decided to start with texts considering the other side of the Influenza. Let’s see what is going on with the virus and the decisions taken towards the virus.
With viruses such as [...]... Read more »
De Clercq, E. (2002) STRATEGIES IN THE DESIGN OF ANTIVIRAL DRUGS. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 1(1), 13-25. DOI: 10.1038/nrd703
- August 27, 2009
- 02:30 PM
- 1,074 views
Continuity or Discontinuity: are our minds purely shaped by natural selection?
by Wintz in A Replicated Typo
The debate concerning the origin of our minds stems back to the diverging opinions of Darwin (1871) and Wallace (1870). When Charles Darwin first discussed the evolution of our seemingly unique cognitive faculties, he proposed that there is “no fundamental difference between man and the higher mammals in their mental faculties.” (Darwin, 1871, pg. 66). [...]... Read more »
Robinson, G., Fernald, R., & Clayton, D. (2008) Genes and Social Behavior. Science, 322(5903), 896-900. DOI: 10.1126/science.1159277
Hawks, J., Wang, E., Cochran, G., Harpending, H., & Moyzis, R. (2007) Recent acceleration of human adaptive evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(52), 20753-20758. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0707650104
Bolhuis, J., & Wynne, C. (2009) Can evolution explain how minds work?. Nature, 458(7240), 832-833. DOI: 10.1038/458832a
John Skoyles. (2009) The paleoanthropological implications of neural plasticity. CogPrints. info:/
- August 27, 2009
- 01:02 PM
- 757 views
Mitochondrial Gene Replacement, Now in Primates
by Reason in Fight Aging!
Mitochondria are the cell's power plants, important in the operation of metabolism, how that metabolism determines life span, and many age-related diseases. As described in the mitochondrial free radical theory of aging, a small number of mitochondrial genes are known to be crucial to its operation as the cell's power plant. Damage to those genes is a natural consequence of the operation of a mitochondrion, and leads to a Rube Goldberg sequence of events in which is a healthy cell is turned into........ Read more »
Tachibana, M., Sparman, M., Sritanaudomchai, H., Ma, H., Clepper, L., Woodward, J., Li, Y., Ramsey, C., Kolotushkina, O., & Mitalipov, S. (2009) Mitochondrial gene replacement in primate offspring and embryonic stem cells. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature08368
- August 27, 2009
- 12:00 PM
- 1,467 views
Scientists are only two years from developing a cure for breast cancer?
by Orac in Respectful Insolence
Want to know what will start my teeth grinding when I read it in a newspaper? That's easy. It's headlines like this one, which appeared two days ago in The Telegraph:
Scientists two years from developing 'potential cure' for breast cancer
The subtitle was even worse:
British scientists could be just two years away from developing a drug that may be a "potential cure" for breast cancer, it has been claimed.
Hear that grating? It's the sound of my teeth grinding together. The reason is simple......... Read more »
Castellano, L., Giamas, G., Jacob, J., Coombes, R., Lucchesi, W., Thiruchelvam, P., Barton, G., Jiao, L., Wait, R., Waxman, J.... (2009) The estrogen receptor- -induced microRNA signature regulates itself and its transcriptional response. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0906947106
- August 27, 2009
- 10:16 AM
- 588 views
Bacterial freeloaders, early metastasis and more in my picks of the week from RB
by Alejandro Montenegro-Montero in MolBio Research Highlights
Another week has gone by and some very interesting blog posts have been aggregated into Researchblogging.org. Every week [see my inaugural post on the matter], I'll select some blog posts I consider particularly interesting in the field of molecular biology [see here to get a sense of the criteria that will be used] and list them here for you to check out.This week, I've selected four posts:1) ... Read more »
Diggle, S., Griffin, A., Campbell, G., & West, S. (2007) Cooperation and conflict in quorum-sensing bacterial populations. Nature, 450(7168), 411-414. DOI: 10.1038/nature06279
Czárán T, & Hoekstra RF. (2009) Microbial communication, cooperation and cheating: quorum sensing drives the evolution of cooperation in bacteria. PloS one, 4(8). PMID: 19684853
DYKOVA, I., FIALA, I., & PECKOVA, H. (2008) Neoparamoeba spp. and their eukaryotic endosymbionts similar to Perkinsela amoebae (Hollande, 1980): Coevolution demonstrated by SSU rRNA gene phylogenies. European Journal of Protistology, 44(4), 269-277. DOI: 10.1016/j.ejop.2008.01.004
Hüsemann, Y., Geigl, J., Schubert, F., Musiani, P., Meyer, M., Burghart, E., Forni, G., Eils, R., Fehm, T., & Riethmüller, G. (2008) Systemic Spread Is an Early Step in Breast Cancer. Cancer Cell, 13(1), 58-68. DOI: 10.1016/j.ccr.2007.12.003
Tolar J, & Neglia JP. (2003) Transplacental and other routes of cancer transmission between individuals. Journal of pediatric hematology/oncology : official journal of the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, 25(6), 430-4. PMID: 12794519
- August 27, 2009
- 09:31 AM
- 560 views
Science News: Week of August 23, 2009
by Susan Steinhardt in BioData Blogs
Our weekly compilation of science news for the week of August 23, 2009.... Read more »
Cziko, A., McCann, C., Howlett, I., Barbee, S., Duncan, R., Luedemann, R., Zarnescu, D., Zinsmaier, K., Parker, R., & Ramaswami, M. (2009) Genetic Modifiers of dFMR1 Encode RNA Granule Components in Drosophila. Genetics, 182(4), 1051-1060. DOI: 10.1534/genetics.109.103234
Tachibana, M., Sparman, M., Sritanaudomchai, H., Ma, H., Clepper, L., Woodward, J., Li, Y., Ramsey, C., Kolotushkina, O., & Mitalipov, S. (2009) Mitochondrial gene replacement in primate offspring and embryonic stem cells. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature08368
Oh, J., Weng, S., Felton, S., Bhandare, S., Riek, A., Butler, B., Proctor, B., Petty, M., Chen, Z., Schechtman, K.... (2009) 1,25(OH)2 Vitamin D Inhibits Foam Cell Formation and Suppresses Macrophage Cholesterol Uptake in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Circulation, 120(8), 687-698. DOI: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.856070
- August 27, 2009
- 08:10 AM
- 2,003 views
Arctic root revisited
by Daniel in Ego sum Daniel
This post is slightly delayed since, you know, stuff gets in the way. But better late than never. A comment on my post "lack of evidence for arctic root "natural medicine" raised a few points that I think are worthy of delving into. I wrote that post quite hastily with the only intention of just mentioning the review by Blomkvist, Taube and Larhammar published in Planta Medica, so it also gives me the opportunity to revisit the subject more in depth.Firstly, let's state the facts as presented b........ Read more »
Blomkvist, J., Taube, A., & Larhammar, D. (2009) Perspective on Roseroot Studies . Planta Medica. DOI: 10.1055/s-0029-1185720
- August 27, 2009
- 06:25 AM
- 1,211 views
Shade coffee farmers attitudes towards wildlife
by Julie Craves in Coffee & Conservation
Attitudes and knowledge of shade-coffee farmers towards vertebrates and their ecological functions [PDF]. 2009. P. López-del-Toro, E. Andresen, L. Barraza and A. Estrada. Tropical Conservation Science 2:299-318. The authors of this study interviewed 36 Mexican shade coffee farmers regarding their...
... Read more »
López-del-Toro P., Andresen, E., Barraza, L., & Estrada, A. (2009) Attitudes and knowledge of shadecoffee farmers towards vertebrates and their ecological functions. Tropical Conservation Science, 3(2), 299-318. info:/
- August 27, 2009
- 04:01 AM
- 715 views
Upstream blast
by Jeremy in Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog
Blast is one of the worst rice diseases. I believe that, thanks to the breeders, most modern varieties have decent levels of resistance. After all, they can be used in varietal mixtures to protect traditional glutinous rice varieties from blast. Unfortunately, much of this resistance is not durable, because the pathogen overcomes it [...]... Read more »
Zhu, Y., Chen, H., Fan, J., Wang, Y., Li, Y., Chen, J., Fan, J., Yang, S., Hu, L., Leung, H.... (2000) Genetic diversity and disease control in rice. Nature, 406(6797), 718-722. DOI: 10.1038/35021046
Fukuoka, S., Saka, N., Koga, H., Ono, K., Shimizu, T., Ebana, K., Hayashi, N., Takahashi, A., Hirochika, H., Okuno, K.... (2009) Loss of Function of a Proline-Containing Protein Confers Durable Disease Resistance in Rice. Science, 325(5943), 998-1001. DOI: 10.1126/science.1175550
Normile, D. (2009) New Strategy Promises Lasting Resistance to a Rice Plague. Science, 325(5943), 925-925. DOI: 10.1126/science.325_925
- August 26, 2009
- 10:50 PM
- 1,436 views
Mimicry: survival or flattery?…
by Jim Caryl in mental indigestion
IF you hadn’t guessed already, I’m busy trying to write a paper at the moment. This being the case, I have managed to successfully postponed this onerous task by spending time reading other people’s papers. I’m now going to spend a little more time explaining one of them you, my lovely readers.
Many years ago, [...]... Read more »
McMahon, S., Roberts, G., Johnson, K., Cooper, L., Liu, H., White, J., Carter, L., Sanghvi, B., Oke, M., Walkinshaw, M.... (2009) Extensive DNA mimicry by the ArdA anti-restriction protein and its role in the spread of antibiotic resistance. Nucleic Acids Research, 37(15), 4887-4897. DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkp478
- August 26, 2009
- 06:20 PM
- 1,252 views
The star-nosed mole's amazing appendages
by Mo in Neurophilosophy
THIS weird and wonderful creature is the star-nosed mole (Condylura cristata), a small, semi-aquatic mammal which inhabits the low wetlands of eastern North America. Like other moles, it eeks out an existence in a network of narrow underground tunnels, and digs shallow surface tunnels where it forages for insects, worms and molluscs.Living as it does in almost complete darkness, the star-nosed mole has poorly developed eyes, and is virtually blind. Instead, it relies heavily on its remarkable st........ Read more »
Catania, K. (2006) Olfaction: Underwater 'sniffing' by semi-aquatic mammals. Nature, 444(7122), 1024-1025. DOI: 10.1038/4441024a
Catania, K., & Remple, F. (2005) Asymptotic prey profitability drives star-nosed moles to the foraging speed limit. Nature, 433(7025), 519-522. DOI: 10.1038/nature03250
- August 26, 2009
- 06:12 PM
- 1,483 views
Can chiropractic help your child’s asthma? Edzard Ernst says ‘nope’
by colinhockings in Blue Genes
If you’re a skeptic, particularly if you’re interested in the fight against pseudoscience and fuzzy logic in health care, Edzard Ernst is a man you should listen to closely. And if the name rings a faint bell you’ve probably heard of him as the co-author of ‘Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial‘ with Simon [...]... Read more »
Ernst E. (2009) Chiropractic spinal manipulation for infant colic: a systematic review of randomised clinical trials. International journal of clinical practice, 63(9), 1351-3. PMID: 19691620
- August 26, 2009
- 05:57 PM
- 1,140 views
Were glyptodonts’ clubbed tails weapons?
by Zen Faulkes in NeuroDojo
Yesterday, I wrote about ankylosaurs’ clubbed tails. Today, I get another new paper on another group of vertebrates to have clubbed tails, the massive armored mammals called glyptodonts. To the best of my knowledge, these two groups may be the only vertebrates to have massive bony clubs on their tails. This paper is also concerned with whether glypotodonts could use their tails as weapons, but takes a decidedly different approach.
Blanco and company are trying to characterize a feature ........ Read more »
R. Ernesto Blanco, Washington W. Jones, & Andrés Rinderknecht. (2009) The sweet spot of a biological hammer: the centre of percussion of glyptodont (Mammalia: Xenarthra) tail clubs. Proceedings of the Roayal Society B. info:/10.1098/rspb.2009.1144
- August 26, 2009
- 01:34 PM
- 680 views
Patterns of autosomal divergence between the human and chimpanzee genomes support an allopatric model of speciation
by Thomas Mailund in Mailund on the Internet
A few days ago I wrote about the hypothesis of complex speciation between humans and chimps, and today I'll briefly discuss another paper on the human / chimp speciation:
Patterns of autosomal divergence between the human and chimpanzee genomes support an allopatric model of speciation
Matthew T. Webster, Gene 443 70-75, 2009
Abstract
There is a large variation in [...]... Read more »
Webster, M. (2009) Patterns of autosomal divergence between the human and chimpanzee genomes support an allopatric model of speciation. Gene, 443(1-2), 70-75. DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2009.05.006
- August 26, 2009
- 11:34 AM
- 1,499 views
Polycomb group proteins in Drosophila
by Manasi in Wissenschaft
In the earlier post titled ' Role of polycomb and trithorax in developmental regulation' we have seen that the main function of the polycomb group proteins (PcGs) is to repress target gene expression, their major targets being the homeobox (Hox) genes. These proteins bind to Polycomb Response Elements (PREs), their target sequences on the DNA. The recruitment of the PcGs to these sites occurs due to covalent histone modifications in the DNA. Here we look into this aspect in some detail. Till........ Read more »
MULLER, J., & KASSIS, J. (2006) Polycomb response elements and targeting of Polycomb group proteins in Drosophila. Current Opinion in Genetics , 16(5), 476-484. DOI: 10.1016/j.gde.2006.08.005
- August 26, 2009
- 10:41 AM
- 1,332 views
The ring of life
by Pablo Astudillo in astu's science blog
I was really surprised, due to my lack of knowledge in too many areas of life sciences, that our history, the history of all species, from bacterias to humans, it is not like a tree. Usually we think about evolution as a tree, where some species have developed and give rise to a new, improved [...]... Read more »
Lake JA. (2009) Evidence for an early prokaryotic endosymbiosis. Nature, 460(7258), 967-71. PMID: 19693078
Rivera MC, & Lake JA. (2004) The ring of life provides evidence for a genome fusion origin of eukaryotes. Nature, 431(7005), 152-5. PMID: 15356622
- August 26, 2009
- 12:52 AM
- 614 views
Big Fish, Global Fish
by Laura Klappenbach in About Animals / Wildlife
Scientists have discovered that whale sharks, the largest fish in the sea, all belong to one big school. Instead of breaking down into lots of little social groups scattered throughout their range, whale sharks around the world intermix in a single, widespread breeding population. This is pretty impressive, considering the range of whale sharks stretches in a broad band around the planet's belly that includes the tropical and warm temperate seas between 30°N and 35°S.... Read more »
Schmidt JV, Schmidt CL, Ozer F, Ernst RE, Feldheim KA, Ashley MV, & Levine M. (2009) Low genetic differentiation across three major ocean populations of the whale shark, Rhincodon typus. PloS one, 4(4). PMID: 19352489
- August 26, 2009
- 12:21 AM
- 641 views
Tip of the Week: Acytelome, String and a new database
I recently read an article in Science entitled “Lysine Acetylation Targets Protein Complexes and Co-Regulates Major Cellular Functions” written by Choudhary et al. The research uses “high-resolution mass spectrometry to identify 3600 lysine acetylation sites on 1750 proteins” and “demonstrate[s] that the regulatory scope of lysine acetylation is broad and comparable with that of other [...]... Read more »
Choudhary, C., Kumar, C., Gnad, F., Nielsen, M., Rehman, M., Walther, T., Olsen, J., & Mann, M. (2009) Lysine Acetylation Targets Protein Complexes and Co-Regulates Major Cellular Functions. Science, 325(5942), 834-840. DOI: 10.1126/science.1175371
- August 25, 2009
- 09:34 PM
- 1,216 views
We Get Mail – Sea Sheppard Shenanigans Edition
by Dr. M in Deep Sea News
A few days ago DSN received a letter from one of our fans,
[sic]
To whom it may concern,
After reviewing your comments concerning the Sea Shepard, it is quite apparent that you do not appose the killing of whales by the Japanese!! It is also apparent that you support such actions by these savages!! The efforts that [...]... Read more »
Nagtzaam, G., & Lentini, P. (2008) Vigilantes on the High Seas?: The Sea Shepherds and Political Violence. Terrorism and Political Violence, 20(1), 110-133. DOI: 10.1080/09546550701723658
- August 25, 2009
- 06:45 PM
- 1,811 views
Freeloading pays off, but only up to a point.
by Iddo Friedberg in Byte Size Biology
Quorum sensing
Social behavior is not exactly the first term that comes to mind with relation to microbes. After all, we assume a certain amount of intelligence and an ability to implement a behavioral pattern in response to peer actions. Humans, yes. Apes, yes. Birds of a feather flock together… so birds, yes. Ants and bees [...]... Read more »
Diggle, S., Griffin, A., Campbell, G., & West, S. (2007) Cooperation and conflict in quorum-sensing bacterial populations. Nature, 450(7168), 411-414. DOI: 10.1038/nature06279
Czárán T, & Hoekstra RF. (2009) Microbial communication, cooperation and cheating: quorum sensing drives the evolution of cooperation in bacteria. PloS one, 4(8). PMID: 19684853
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