(Phys.org) -- When tropical marine cone snails sink their harpoon-like teeth into their prey, they inject paralyzing venoms made from a potent mix of more than 100 different neurotoxins.
Biotechnology
Apr 10, 2012
3
0
Prions, the much-maligned proteins most commonly known for causing "mad cow" disease, are commonly used in yeast to produce beneficial traits in the wild. Moreover, such traits can be passed on to subsequent generations and ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 15, 2012
0
0
A University of Rhode Island biologist who released lizards on tiny uninhabited islands in the Bahamas has shed light on the interaction between evolutionary processes that are seldom observed.
Plants & Animals
Feb 2, 2012
0
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- When it comes to voter preference, the issues count. But some may pull the handle for a more primal reason: Physical fitness and stature against an opponent.
Social Sciences
Oct 18, 2011
7
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- For several decades, the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) has been decimating frogs, yet some populations and species have been able to resist the fatal disease, called chytridiomycosis.
Plants & Animals
Sep 27, 2011
0
0
Researchers from Trinity College Dublin have uncovered the evolutionary mechanisms that have caused increases or decreases in the numbers of chromosomes in a group of yeast species during the last 100-150 million years. The ...
Biotechnology
Jul 21, 2011
0
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- It may have been 1 billion years since plants and animals branched apart on the evolutionary tree but down through the ages they have developed strikingly similar mechanisms for detecting microbial invasions ...
Biotechnology
Nov 18, 2010
0
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- If a Tiger's feet were built the same way as a mongoose's feet, they'd have to be about the size of a hippo's feet to support the big cat's weight. But they're not.
Plants & Animals
Feb 24, 2010
0
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- A painstaking analysis of thousands of genes and the proteins they encode shows that human beings are biologically complex, at least in part, because of the way humans evolved to cope with redundancies arising ...
Evolution
Nov 3, 2009
1
0
That's one conclusion from a new study that looked at how virulence evolves in parasites. The research examined whether parasites evolve to be more or less aggressive depending on whether they are closely connected to their ...
Cell & Microbiology
May 27, 2009
0
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