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Totally rad: Scientists create rewritable digital data storage in DNA

(Phys.org) -- Scientists from Stanford's Department of Bioengineering have devised a method for repeatedly encoding, storing and erasing digital data within the DNA of living cells.

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 21, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (15) | comments 9 | with audio podcast

Bacteria alive (more or less) in 86-million-year-old seabed clay

(Phys.org) -- A new study by scientists from Denmark and Germany has found live bacteria trapped in red clay deposited on the ocean floor some 86 million years ago. The bacteria use miniscule amounts of oxygen ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created May 18, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (15) | comments 10 | with audio podcast report

More plant species responding to global warming than previously thought

(Phys.org) -- Far more wild plant species may be responding to global warming than previous large-scale estimates have suggested.

Biology / Ecology

created May 22, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (13) | comments 16 | with audio podcast

New technique reveals unseen information in DNA code

Imagine reading an entire book, but then realizing that your glasses did not allow you to distinguish "g" from "q." What details did you miss? Geneticists faced a similar problem with the recent discovery ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created May 17, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (12) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Seeing color traced back to genetic mutations

From the inside of our heads, it feels as if colors are intrinsic aspects of the outside world and our eyes are beautifully designed to see them. But we humans are merely sampling the possible ways of sensing the spectrum ...

Biology / Evolution

created May 21, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (11) | comments 4

Group finds circadian clock common to almost all life forms

(Phys.org) -- A group of biology researchers, led by Akhilesh Reddy from Cambridge University have found an enzyme that they believe serves as a circadian clock that operates in virtually all forms of life. ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created May 17, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 8 | with audio podcast report

Study finds modern dog breeds genetically disconnected from ancient ancestors

Cross-breeding of dogs over thousands of years has made it extremely difficult to trace the ancient genetic roots of today's pets, according to a new study led by Durham University.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 21, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (7) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Hacking code of leaf vein architecture solves mysteries, allows predictions of past climate

(Phys.org) -- UCLA life scientists have discovered new laws that determine the construction of leaf vein systems as leaves grow and evolve. These easy-to-apply mathematical rules can now be used to better ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created 21 hours ago | popularity 3.6 / 5 (8) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Research suggests cells communicate via biophotons

(Phys.org) -- Biologists have long been familiar with luminescence in organisms, where plants and animals produce visible light, but more intriguing perhaps is the newer field of study centered around biophotons, ...

Biology / Other

created 18 hours ago | popularity 4 / 5 (7) | comments 1 | with audio podcast weblog

How one strain of MRSA becomes resistant to last-line antibiotic

Researchers have uncovered what makes one particular strain of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) so proficient at picking up resistance genes, such as the one that makes it resistant to vancomycin, the last ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created May 22, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Today's environment influences behavior generations later: research

Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and Washington State University have seen an increased reaction to stress in animals whose ancestors were exposed to an environmental compound generations earlier. The findings, ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 21, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (5) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Researchers establish how super strong insect legs are

(Phys.org) -- Researchers from Trinity College Dublin have shown that insects are made from one of the toughest natural materials in the world. The study’s findings have been recently published in the ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 18, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 1

Garlic constituent blocks biofilm formation, could benefit CF patients and others

E Pluribus Unum, the motto of the United States, could just as well apply to biofilm-forming bacteria. Bacterial biofilms are far more resistant than individual bacteria to the armories of antibiotics we have devised to combat ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created May 22, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Velvet spiders emerge from underground in new cybertaxonomic monograph

Velvet spiders include some of the most beautiful arachnids in Europe and some of the world's most cooperative species. Social species can be very abundant in parts of tropical Africa and Asia with conspicuous co ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created 15 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Newly discovered sensory organ in the chin of baleen whales allows them to be world's largest hunters

Lunge feeding in rorqual whales (a group that includes blue, humpback and fin whales) is unique among mammals, but details of how it works have remained elusive. Now, scientists from the Smithsonian Institution ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created 14 hours ago | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 1 | with audio podcast