News tagged with gene activity

Related topics: cells , genes , proceedings of the national academy of sciences , nerve cells , gene expression

Functional genomics gets tiny

A little more than a decade ago, researchers discovered an ancient mechanism that cells use to silence genes. Like a dimmer switch turning down a light, RNA interference (RNAi) dials down gene activity in ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

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

Wild birds respond differently to the first long days of a year

The lengthening of days in late winter is an important signal that stimulates the reproductive activity of many animals. Animals living in the milder climatic conditions of southern Europe usually begin breeding ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Apr 24, 2012 | popularity 3 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Researchers discover new layer of genetic information that helps determine how fast proteins are produced

A hidden and never before recognized layer of information in the genetic code has been uncovered by a team of scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) thanks to a technique developed ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Mar 28, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (16) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Japanese honeybees swarm huge hornet predator to kill it with heat

Japanese honeybees face a formidable foe in the Asian giant hornet, a fierce predator that can reach 40mm long or larger, but the bees have developed a novel defense mechanism: they create a "hot defensive bee ball," swarming ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Mar 14, 2012 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 3

Clock gene helps plants prepare for spring flowering, study shows

Scientists have made fresh discoveries about the processes that govern plants' internal body clocks and help them adjust to changing seasons, triggering the arrival of flowers in spring.

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Mar 08, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Honey bees study finds that insects have personality too

A new study in Science suggests that thrill-seeking is not limited to humans and other vertebrates. Some honey bees, too, are more likely than others to seek adventure. The brains of these novelty-seeking bees e ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Mar 08, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (7) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Study provides new insights into an ancient mechanism of mammalian evolution

A team of geneticists and computational biologists in the UK today reveal how an ancient mechanism is involved in gene control and continues to drive genome evolution. The new study is published in the journal ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Jan 12, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Finnish researchers discover regulator of human cell activity

The research teams headed by Prof. Johanna Ivaska (University of Turku and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland) and Prof. Marko Salmi (University of Turku and the National Institute for Health and Welfare) have discovered ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 16, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Good preparation is key -- even for plant cells and symbiotic fungi

Not only mineral oil and petroleum gas, also phosphorous is a scarce resource. According to well-respected scientists who gathered together for a conference in Cambridge this August, we will face significant problems relating ...

Biology / Biotechnology

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

Muscling toward a longer life: Genetic aging pathway identified in flies

Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have identified a set of genes that act in muscles to modulate aging and resistance to stress in fruit flies.

Biology / Biotechnology

created Oct 17, 2011 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

'TF beacons' may light path to new cancer tests and drugs

Scientists are reporting development of a long-sought new way to detect the activity of proteins that bind to the DNA in genes, often controlling the activity of genes in ways that make cells do everything ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Sep 07, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Before animals first walked on land, fish carried gene program for limbs

Genetic instructions for developing limbs and digits were present in primitive fish millions of years before their descendants first crawled on to land, researchers have discovered.

Biology / Biotechnology

created Jul 11, 2011 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (17) | comments 35 | with audio podcast

Researchers flip the switch between development and aging in C. elegans

When researchers at the Buck Institute dialed back activity of a specific mRNA translation factor in adult nematode worms they saw an unexpected genome-wide response that effectively increased activity in specific stress ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Jul 05, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A knockout resource for mouse genetics

An international consortium of researchers report today in Nature that they have knocked out almost 40 per cent of the genes in the mouse genome. The completed resource will power studies of gene activity in models of hum ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Jun 15, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Birdsong independent of brain size

(PhysOrg.com) -- The brains of all vertebrates display gender-related differences. In songbirds, for example, the size of the brain areas that control their singing behaviour could be linked to the size of ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jun 13, 2011 | popularity 3 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast