Genetic Surprise: Mobile Genes Found To Pressure Species Formation:
Biologists at the University of Rochester have discovered that an old and relatively unpopular theory about how a single species can split in two turns out to be accurate after all, and acting in nature. The finding, reported in today's issue of Science, reveals that scientists must reassess the forces involved in the origin of species. The beginnings of speciation, suggests the paper, can be triggered by genes that change their locations in a genome.
General Mechanism Of Cellular Aging Found; Tumor Suppressor Gene May Be Key:
Three separate studies confirm a gene that suppresses tumor cell growth also plays a key role in aging. Teams from the medical schools at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Michigan and Harvard University observed similar results in pancreatic islet cells and brain and blood stem cells.
Ocean Seep Mollusks May Share Evolutionary History With Other Deep-sea Creatures:
The unusual mollusks of oceanic cold seeps -- strange clams, mussels and sea snails that thrive in the sulfur and methane-rich environments -- are on average older than the marine mollusk community as a whole, according to a new report in the journal Science.
Study Illuminates How The Plague Bacterium Causes Disease:
The bacteria responsible for the plague and some forms of food poisoning "paralyze" the immune system of their hosts in an unexpected way, according to a new study in the Sept. 8, 2006, issue of the journal Cell, published by Cell Press.
Why Are There So Many Weeds In Your Garden This Year?:
Some years, no matter how diligently you pull, your backyard garden is always covered with weeds. Other years, with the minimum of effort, your garden remains weed-free. What is the cause of these oscillations? A group of weed scientists based at the Spanish National Research Council spent 15 years studying flixweed -- a member of the mustard family commonly found in areas where the ground has been cultivated or disturbed -- in an attempt to identify the processes underlying these fluctuations.
Health Effects Of 'Functional Foods' Featured During Four-day Symposium:
Scientists worldwide are discovering new and unexpected health benefits -- such as protection against heart disease and cancer -- from so-called "functional foods," defined as those foods which provide health benefits beyond their basic nutritional value. More than 50 research papers on this topic will be presented during a four-day symposium, Sept. 10-13, in San Francisco at the national meeting of the of the American Chemical Society.
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