News tagged with chemical signal

Deterring signals: Tobacco plants advertise their defensive readiness to attacking leafhoppers

Following herbivory, plants produce jasmonic acid, a hormone which activates several plant defense reactions. Scientists found that leafhoppers can evaluate whether tobacco plants are ready for defense when attacked. If jasmonate-signaling ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 23, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Dip chip technology tests toxicity on the go

From man-made toxic chemicals such as industrial by-products to poisons that occur naturally, a water or food supply can be easily contaminated. And for every level of toxic material ingested, there is some level of bodily ...

Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry

created May 14, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Scientists solve a mystery of bacterial growth and resistance

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have unraveled a complex chemical pathway that enables bacteria to form clusters called biofilms. Such improved understanding might eventually aid the development ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Apr 26, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Plant perfumes woo beneficial bugs

Scientists funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have discovered that maize crops emit chemical signals which attract growth-promoting microbes to live amongst their roots. This is the ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Apr 24, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers present a shiny new tool for imaging biomolecules

At the heart of the immune system that protects our bodies from disease and foreign invaders is a vast and complex communications network involving millions of cells, sending and receiving chemical signals ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Mar 23, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Finding explosives with laser beams

Scientists at Vienna University of Technology have found a way to detect chemicals over long distances, even if they are enclosed in containers.

Technology / Engineering

created Feb 27, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

'Worm speak' uses chemicals to communicate

(PhysOrg.com) -- A species of small, transparent roundworms have a highly evolved language in which they combine chemical fragments to create precise molecular messages that control social behavior, reports ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Jan 26, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (13) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Flaky graphene makes reliable chemical sensors

Scientists from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the company Dioxide Materials have demonstrated that randomly stacked graphene flakes can make an effective chemical sensor.

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Jan 17, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Twist-and-glow molecules aid rapid gas detection

In an emergency such as a factory fire, ascertaining which gases are present in the air is critical to preventing or minimizing poisoning (Fig. 1). This requires gas sensors that react quickly and provide ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Jan 13, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Light now in sight: Control of a 'blind' neuroreceptor with an optical switch

When nerve cells communicate with one another, specialized receptor molecules on their surfaces play a central role in relaying signals between them. A collaborative venture involving teams of chemists based at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Jan 10, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Scientists elevate little-studied cellular mechanism to potential drug target

For years, science has generally considered the phosphorylation of proteins -- the insertion of a phosphorous group into a protein that turns it on or off -- as perhaps the factor regulating a range of cellular processes ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Dec 11, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Mice with fewer insulin-signaling receptors don't live longer

Scientists studying longevity thought it might be good to lack a copy of a gene, called IGF1 receptor, that is important in insulin signaling. Previous studies showed invertebrates that lacked the copy lived longer, even ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Nov 23, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

New strategy could lead to dose reduction in X-ray imaging

For more than a century, the use of X-rays has been a prime diagnostic tool when it comes to human health. As it turns out, X-rays also are a crucial component for studying and understanding molecules, and a new approach ...

Physics / General Physics

created Nov 22, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Living cells say: Can you hear me now?

It has long been known that cells release chemical signals in response to outside conditions, triggering reactions inside the cell.

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 17, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Novel nanocrystals with advanced optical properties developed for use as luminescent biomarkers

Upconversion emission materials are ideal for bioimaging due to its effectiveness as contrast agents for the detection of cancer cells, more so when the background emission of non-cancerous tissues can be minimised. These ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Nov 14, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0