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. While pearl millet is a major food staple in some of the fastest growing regions on Earth, relatively little is known about the drought-hardy grain. http://phys.org/news283783440.html Biology Fri, 29 Mar 2013 13:51:25 EST news283783440 Scientists are closing in on the capacity to clone extinct species using biotechnology and DNA samples from the ancient past, a process that is called "de-extinction." The prospect of bringing back extinct species was discussed last week at a conference hosted by National Geographic and TEDx, in which many conservationists, geneticists, and biotechnologists supported the idea. We asked Ronald Sandler, a professor of philosophy at Northeastern and author of the new book The Ethics of Species, to share his take on what has been described as the "mind-blowing idea of the year." http://phys.org/news283423829.html Biology Mon, 25 Mar 2013 09:50:36 EST news283423829 If we are to sustain fish as a global food source, then fisheries and conservation managers need to take account of new evidence showing how overfishing of the larger fish in a population actually changes the gene pool in favour of smaller less fertile fish. http://phys.org/news282812244.html Biology Mon, 18 Mar 2013 07:57:34 EST news282812244 Forget blurry pictures and casts of big foot-prints. A Texas veterinarian, Dr Melba Ketchum, and her collaborators have published an article, in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, proving the existence of Bigfoot. http://phys.org/news280742498.html Other Sciences Fri, 22 Feb 2013 08:02:29 EST news280742498 A team of plant geneticists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has successfully demonstrated what it describes as a "simple hypothesis" for making significant increases in yields for the maize plant. http://phys.org/news279115000.html Biology Sun, 03 Feb 2013 13:00:20 EST news279115000 Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) is one of the "big three" globally important crops, accounting for 20% of the calories consumed by people. Fully 35% of the world's 7 billion people depend on this staple crop for survival. Now an international team of scientists, including a group from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), has completed the first comprehensive analysis of its full genome. http://phys.org/news273327884.html Biology Wed, 28 Nov 2012 13:00:21 EST news273327884 A new, comprehensive review of humans' anthropological and genetic records gives the most up-to-date story of the "Out of Africa" expansion that occurred about 45,000 to 60,000 years ago. http://phys.org/news270134861.html Other Sciences Mon, 22 Oct 2012 14:27:51 EST news270134861 (Phys.org)—A new multidisciplinary study on the enigmatic large Horseshoe bat – found widespread throughout South and East Africa – has revealed that instead of just one species as previously believed, the bat is in fact five different species, four of which have just been classified for the first time following their discovery. http://phys.org/news266831849.html Biology Fri, 14 Sep 2012 08:57:51 EST news266831849 Human diversity in Africa is greater than any place else on Earth. Differing food sources, geographies, diseases and climates offered many targets for natural selection to exert powerful forces on Africans to change and adapt to their local environments. The individuals who adapted best were the most likely to reproduce and pass on their genomes to the generations who followed. http://phys.org/news262517530.html Biology Thu, 26 Jul 2012 12:20:03 EST news262517530 An international team, led by Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Science, and BGI, the world's largest genomics organization, has completed the genomic sequence and analysis of salt cress (Thellungiella salsuginea), a wild salt-tolerant plant. The salt cress genome serves as a useful tool for exploring mechanisms of adaptive evolution and sheds new lights on understanding the genetic characteristics underlying plant abiotic stress tolerance. The study was published online in PNAS. http://phys.org/news261391736.html Biology Fri, 13 Jul 2012 09:49:16 EST news261391736 Every organism produces a staggering variety of molecules, each with its own particular biological function. Complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors determines the production levels for each compound. By deciphering these factors, plant geneticists can use the information to derive organisms with useful properties, such as crops that are more resistant to pathogens. http://phys.org/news261384952.html Biology Fri, 13 Jul 2012 08:40:01 EST news261384952 (Phys.org) -- For some four thousand years, people in Tibet have relied on Yaks to help them survive in the high altitudes in which they live. The Yaks have proven over time that they are far better at dealing with high mountain living than are cows, which are more prevalent in other societies around the world. Scientists have known for years that cows and Yaks are closely related, and that the two were once the same species, having diverged just shy of five million years ago, which is roughly the same time span that humans and chimps went their separate ways. Now, new research by an international team of biologists and geneticists has taken apart the Yak genome and found, as they describe in their paper published in Nature Genetics, the genes that are responsible for allowing the Yak to thrive at such high altitudes. http://phys.org/news260524060.html Biology Tue, 03 Jul 2012 09:20:02 EST news260524060 There was no hanky-panky involved when a fairy-tale white foal was born to two brown Standardbreds at the Four Winds Farm in New Jersey. DNA tests confirm that the snowy foal, born May 6, is a mutant, but that's nothing to be ashamed of. So are most humans, according to a new analysis. http://phys.org/news257766434.html Biology Fri, 01 Jun 2012 11:00:02 EST news257766434 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 of a "sixth nucleotide" in the DNA alphabet. http://phys.org/news256474294.html Biology Thu, 17 May 2012 12:00:22 EST news256474294 As any crime show buff can tell you, DNA evidence identifies a victim's remains, fingers the guilty, and sets the innocent free. But in reality, the processing of forensic DNA evidence takes much longer than a 60-minute primetime slot. http://phys.org/news254761602.html Biology Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:06:54 EST news254761602 A current controversy raging in evolutionary biology is whether adaptation to new environments is the result of many genes, each of relatively small effect, or just a few genes of large effect. A new study published in Molecular Ecology strongly supports the first "many-small" hypothesis. http://phys.org/news252681021.html Biology Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:10:38 EST news252681021 (PhysOrg.com) -- The research findings, published this week in two papers in the journal Science provide new insights into the behavior of bacteria. http://phys.org/news250333239.html Biology Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:10:01 EST news250333239 BGI, the world's largest genomics organization, announced that a study on resequencing 50 accessions of cultivated and wild rice was published online today in Nature Biotechnology. The study provides one of the largest genome variation data sets for wild and cultivated rice, which is valuable for breeding and for identifying agronomically important genes in rice. This data also yields new insights for geneticists and biologists to deeply explore the domestication history of cultivated rice. http://phys.org/news242798360.html Biology Sun, 11 Dec 2011 13:00:06 EST news242798360 A new series of article-chapters to be published in the journal GENETICS (http://www.genetics.org) promises to help scientists better access the wealth of research knowledge obtained on an important experimental organism used to understand human gene function. The series will be authored by top geneticists from around the world and will cover practically all aspects of modern yeast research and its applications to human health and well-being. http://phys.org/news240508514.html Biology Mon, 14 Nov 2011 15:55:21 EST news240508514 Flower color in plants is determined by pigments such as aurones, anthocyanins, and carotenoids. Research has found that the ultimate color displayed is dependent not only on the pigment present, but also on other factors, including cell shape, presence of metal ions, and pH, among others. Information about the role of pH in creating color has allowed plant geneticists to engineer new hues, adding to the beauty and diversity of ornamental plants. http://phys.org/news228387582.html Biology Mon, 27 Jun 2011 09:59:56 EST news228387582 As billion-dollar agricultural losses continue to mount in the withering Texas heat, Texas AgriLife Research scientists in Corpus Christi are taking a closer look at why some cotton varieties do better than others in drought conditions. http://phys.org/news228155778.html Biology Fri, 24 Jun 2011 17:36:39 EST news228155778 (AP) -- Some sweetened tangerine juice. A little soy protein. A blender. Voila: A trendy, frothy dessert becomes a lesson in kitchen chemistry. http://phys.org/news217406133.html Medicine & Health Sun, 20 Feb 2011 06:35:49 EST news217406133 Just seven months after University of Utah geneticists took part in a landmark study that sequenced for the first time the genome of an entire Utah family, U of U researchers have taken part in another historic study that is the first large-scale genome sequencing project – 179 people representing three continents – and 60 Utahns played a major role in this study, too. http://phys.org/news207416827.html Medicine & Health Wed, 27 Oct 2010 16:47:14 EST news207416827 An international group of researchers has identified the genetic cause of an inherited condition that causes severe fetal abnormalities. http://phys.org/news194418536.html Medicine & Health Sun, 30 May 2010 13:00:07 EST news194418536 Potatoes come in all shapes, sizes and colors-including tubers with red, yellow, orange and purple flesh. This diversity also applies to phytonutrients, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in Prosser, Wash., are discovering. http://phys.org/news193486370.html Biology Wed, 19 May 2010 11:30:02 EST news193486370 One of Europe's gastronomic jewels, the fabled black Perigord truffle, has been genetically unravelled, a feat that could doom fakers who pass off inferior truffles as the real thing, scientists said on Sunday. http://phys.org/news189005490.html Biology Sun, 28 Mar 2010 14:32:19 EST news189005490 People who identify as African-American may be as little as 1 percent West African or as much as 99 percent, just one finding of a large-scale, genome-wide study of African and African-American ancestry released today. http://phys.org/news180632039.html Medicine & Health Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:40:30 EST news180632039 (PhysOrg.com) -- With “trick-or-treaters” coming soon, imagine two spirited new pepper varieties making an appearance in your neighborhood as well. The new pepper cultivars have been released by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and are trademarked “Lil’ Pumpkin” and “Pepper Jack.” http://phys.org/news173698898.html Biology Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:10:01 EST news173698898 giants of the fish world that strike terror only among tiny creatures like the plankton and krill they eat -- are imperiled by over-fishing of the species in parts of its ocean range. http://phys.org/news158331934.html Biology Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:05:57 EST news158331934 (PhysOrg.com) -- A system of opposing genetic forces determines why mammals develop a single row of teeth, while sharks sport several, according to a study published today in the journal Science. When completely understood, the genetic program described in the study may help guide efforts to re-grow missing teeth and prevent cleft palate, one of the most common birth defects. http://phys.org/news154882782.html Medicine & Health Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:00:09 EST news154882782