News tagged with physiological

New details about gene regulation explained

(Phys.org) -- When genetic information is read from the genetic blueprint DNA, RNA polymerase II translates it into RNA molecules. The C-terminal domain, abbreviated as CTD, is an important area of the polymerase ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 21, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Is it ripe? Carbon nanotube-based ethylene sensor establishes fruit ripeness

(Phys.org) -- The term ethylene (ethene) generally brings to mind polyethylene plastics, not fruit. However, ethylene is more than just a feedstock for chemical industry, it is also the smallest plant hormone, ...

Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry

created May 19, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (5) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

Breeder works to reduce aluminum toxicity in rice

(Phys.org) -- As rice farmers around the world begin to turn from wet paddies to dry fields in an attempt to conserve water and mitigate climate change, they are facing a new foe: aluminum.

Biology / Biotechnology

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

Researchers plan to double biofuel yield from a non-food oil seed crop

One of the most promising avenues for reducing our national dependence on imported oil, lowering greenhouse gases and boosting domestic fuel production is biofuel from non-food plant seed oils. Recently, a University of Massachusetts ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 08, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

Bioengineers develop artificial chip for testing how drugs interact with ion channels

(Phys.org) -- Ion channels, proteins embedded in cell membranes, are central to many of the human body's physiological processes, including cardiac activity. For this reason, they are also important targets for cardiac drugs. ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Apr 10, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Novel approach to curing crop diseases tested

(PhysOrg.com) -- Sugar may be a treat for humans, but for aphids it can be life threatening. A $452,000 grant to Cornell and Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research (BTI) will fund research exploiting ...

Biology / Ecology

created Apr 03, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Exercise has benefits, even when it's done in space

Astronauts have been taking part in short spaceflight missions since 1961. They have only recently begun to spend significantly longer times in space, with missions extending for months, since the days of the Russian Mir ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Mar 22, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Wild orangutans stressed by eco-tourists, but not for long, study out of Borneo finds

Wild orangutans that have come into contact with eco-tourists over a period of years show an immediate stress response but no signs of chronic stress, unlike other species in which permanent alterations in ...

Biology / Ecology

created Mar 15, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Health monitoring? There's an app for that

Researchers in New Zealand have developed a prototype Bluetooth-enabled medical monitoring device that can be connected wirelessly to your smart phone and keep track of various physiological parameters, such as body temperature, ...

Technology / Engineering

created Mar 09, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

A bird's song may teach us about human speech disorders

(PhysOrg.com) -- Can the song of a small bird provide valuable insights into human stuttering and speech-related disorders and conditions, including autism and stroke? New research by UCLA life scientists ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Mar 06, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Biology-oriented synthesis (BIOS) - cancer drugs based on natural models

The search for new drug candidates for cancer treatment is laborious and time-consuming. Only a fraction of the promising chemical compounds identified completes the transition to the market. Herbert Waldmann ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Feb 28, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Chronic stress in elephants can affect long-term behavior

Stress is known to lead to short-term escape behavior, and new research on elephants in South Africa shows that it can also cause long-term escape behavior, affecting the extent that elephants use their habitat. The work ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Feb 22, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Hermetic bags save African crop, but not how experts once thought

The hermetic grain storage bags that cut off oxygen to weevils and have saved West and Central African farmers hundreds of millions of dollars by putting the brakes on the insects' rapid multiplication don't ...

Biology / Ecology

created Feb 22, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Decoding corn defenses for improved pest resistance

(PhysOrg.com) -- A clearer picture of corn's biochemical responses to insect and fungal attacks is emerging, thanks to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) studies in Gainesville, Fla.

Biology / Biotechnology

created Jan 06, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

The biology of politics: Liberals roll with the good, conservatives confront the bad

From cable TV news pundits to red-meat speeches in Iowa and New Hampshire, our nation's deep political stereotypes are on full display: Conservatives paint self-indulgent liberals as insufferably absent on urgent national ...

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Jan 05, 2012 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (16) | comments 55 | with audio podcast