A Blog Around The Clock

Novel Kind Of Learning Gene Discovered:

Scientists at the Freie Universität Berlin have come one step closer to unraveling the molecular basis of learning. A team led by neurobiologist Björn Brembs has discovered the first gene for operant conditioning in the fruit fly Drosophila.

Family Type Has Less-than-expected Impact On Parental Involvement, Study Finds:

Children in step-families and in other non-traditional families get just as much quality time with their parents as those in traditional families, with only a few exceptions, according to research to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association today.

Homeownership In Disadvantaged Neighborhoods Linked To Increased Political Participation:

Homeowners in disadvantaged neighborhoods are more likely to vote than renters and those who own homes in more privileged communities, according to research to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association (ASA).

Teacher-student Relationships Key To Learning Health And Sex Education:

When it comes to learning life-changing behaviors in high school health classes, the identity of the person teaching may be even more important than the curriculum, a new study suggests.

Paradox Of Higher Education, Crime: Male College Students More Likely Than Less-educated Peers To Commit Property Crimes, Study Finds:

Men who attend college are more likely to commit property crimes during their college years than their non-college-attending peers, according to research to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association.

New Role Found For A 'Foxy Old Gene':

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered that a protein called FOXA2 controls genes that maintain the proper level of bile in the liver. FOXA2 may become the focus for new therapies to treat diseases that involve the regulation of bile salts. The study was published online this week in Nature Medicine.

Extinction Threat To Monkeys And Other Primates Due To Habitat Loss, Hunting:

Mankind's closest relatives - the world's monkeys, apes and other primates - are disappearing from the face of the Earth, with some literally being eaten into extinction.

Memory, Depression, Insomnia -- And Worms?:

Researchers have spent decades probing the causes of depression, schizophrenia and insomnia in humans. But a new study may have uncovered key insights into the origins of these and other conditions by examining a most unlikely research subject: worms.

Little Teeth Suggest Big Jump In Primate Timeline:

Tiny fossilized teeth excavated from an Indian open-pit coal mine could be the oldest Asian remains ever found of anthropoids, the primate lineage of today's monkeys, apes and humans, say researchers from Duke University and the Indian Institute of Technology.