http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (PhysOrg.com) -- The evolution and diversification of the more than 300,000 living species of flowering plants may have been "jump started" much earlier than previously calculated, a new study indicates. According to Claude dePamphilis, a professor of biology at Penn State University and the lead author of the study, which includes scientists at six universities, two major upheavals in the plant genome occurred hundreds of millions of years ago -- nearly 200 million years earlier than the events that other research groups had described. The research also indicates that these upheavals produced thousands of new genes that may have helped drive the evolutionary explosion that led to the rich diversity of present-day flowering plants. http://phys.org/news221659750.html Biology Sun, 10 Apr 2011 13:09:31 EST news221659750 (PhysOrg.com) -- Australian researchers have uncovered a new mutation in stem cells that may be linked to the development of leukaemia, breast and colon cancer. http://phys.org/news197789031.html Medicine & Health Thu, 08 Jul 2010 06:31:57 EST news197789031 (PhysOrg.com) -- A comparison of the genomes of 50 Tibetans and 40 Han Chinese shows that ethnic Tibetans split off from the Han less than 3,000 years ago and since then rapidly evolved a unique ability to thrive at high altitudes and low oxygen levels. http://phys.org/news197205498.html Medicine & Health Thu, 01 Jul 2010 14:00:06 EST news197205498 University of Rhode Island Pharmacy Professor Bongsup Cho knows there are cancer-causing chemicals in diesel fumes and cigarette smoke. http://phys.org/news196597279.html Space & Earth Thu, 24 Jun 2010 11:40:01 EST news196597279 Genetic variation due to DNA mutation is a driving force of adaptation and evolution, as well as a contributing factor to disease. However, the mechanisms governing DNA mutation rate are not well understood. In a report published online today in Genome Research, researchers have identified intrinsic properties of DNA that influence mutation rate, shedding light on mechanisms involved in genome maintenance and potentially disease. http://phys.org/news193912875.html Medicine & Health Mon, 24 May 2010 09:41:35 EST news193912875 A typical human cell contains hundreds of mitochondria—energy-producing organelles—that continually fuse and divide. Relatively little is known, however, about why mitochondria undergo this behavior. http://phys.org/news190556223.html Biology Thu, 15 Apr 2010 13:17:25 EST news190556223 Fungi have significant potential for "horizontal" gene transfer, a new study has shown, similar to the mechanisms that allow bacteria to evolve so quickly, become resistant to antibiotics and cause other serious problems. http://phys.org/news188045426.html Biology Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:00:05 EST news188045426 Living organisms have good reason for engaging in sexual, rather than asexual, reproduction according to Maurine Neiman, assistant professor of biology in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and researcher in the Roy J. Carver Center for Genomics. http://phys.org/news183318256.html Biology Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:44:34 EST news183318256 A team of scientists from The University of Alabama used worms to reel in information that they hope will lead to a greater understanding of cellular mechanisms that may be exploited to treat epilepsy. In a new research report in the journal Genetics, the researchers explain how the transparent roundworm, C. elegans, helped them identify key "molecular switches" that control the transport of a molecule (gamma-aminobutyric acid or "GABA") that if manipulated within our cells, might prevent the onset of seizures. http://phys.org/news179588495.html Medicine & Health Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:43:06 EST news179588495