Microbiology
- Magnetotactic Bacteria And Their Biological Compass Get A Genome Analysis
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Magnetotactic bacteria are the smallest organisms to use a biological compass but exactly how these bacteria create their cellular magnets is a mystery. In a study published online in Genome Research, scientists have used genome sequencing to unlock new se ...
Article - News Staff - Sep 8 2010 - 6:56pm
- Bionanomachines And Cellular Friction
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A Dresden research team using laser tweezers measured the friction between a single motor protein molecule and its track and say that within our cells, motors work against the resistance of friction and are restrained in its operation—usually by far not a ...
Article - News Staff - Aug 14 2009 - 4:47pm
- Ediacara Organisms- New Take On The Controversial Feeding Method Says Osmosis
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Researchers at Virginia Tech believe they have solved the controversy over how the oldest complex life forms, which lived more than 540 million years ago, ate. Osmosis, they say. The researchers studied two groups of modular Ediacara organisms, the fern ...
Article - News Staff - Aug 19 2009 - 11:09pm
- Microfluidic Arrays- Now LEGOs Can Do Anything!
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Little LEGO pieces shaped like pegs can re-create microscopic activity taking place inside lab-on-a-chip devices, also known as microfluidic arrays, at a scale scientists can more easily observe. Microfluidic arrays are commonly used to sort tiny samples b ...
Article - News Staff - Sep 8 2010 - 6:56pm
- Fatostatin Molecule Is Turnoff For Fat-Making Genes
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A small molecule known as 125B11 but also called Fatostatin and reportedly having both anti-fat and anti-cancer abilities is also a literal turnoff for fat-making genes, according to a new report in the journal Chemistry and Biology. The chemical blocks t ...
Article - News Staff - Aug 27 2009 - 1:31pm
- 'S' Is For Anticoagulant Protein
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Protein S, a well-known anticoagulant protein, also contributes to the formation and function of healthy blood vessels, say researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. They found that mice lacking protein S suffered massive blood clots, but ...
Article - News Staff - Sep 8 2010 - 6:56pm
- Bacteria Building Better Bone Replacements
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Bacteria that manufacture hydroxyapatite (HA) could be used to make stronger, more durable bone implants. Professor Lynne Macaskie from the University of Birmingham this week (7-10 September) presented work to the Society for General Microbiology’s meeting ...
Article - News Staff - Sep 6 2009 - 3:10pm
- Do I really have time for this?
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Probably not. However, sometimes when I have too much to do, I actually get more done... Scientist's in general seem to love to rant about how busy they are. Especially to each other. Perhaps its just a form of one upping the other guy, but latel ...
Blog Post - Christopher Schadt - Sep 5 2009 - 8:19pm
- Microbiology Takes On Oil Spills
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Microbiologists from the University of Essex have shown they can break down and remove toxic compounds from crude oil and tar sands using microbes. These acidic compounds persist in the environment, taking up to 10 years to break down. Tar sand deposits co ...
Article - News Staff - Sep 8 2009 - 5:46pm
- 'Death Stench'- A 400 Million Year Old Warning Signal
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The smell of 'death' that repels insects turns out to be a truly ancient signal for avoiding disease or predators, says David Rollo, professor of biology at McMaster University in the journal Evolutionary Biology. What do the death stench of corp ...
Article - News Staff - Sep 11 2009 - 12:34pm