Key genes may contain insight into evolution of dinosaurs

(PhysOrg.com) -- Birds and alligators have little in common, other than that the first is sometimes the other's lunch. That hasn't always been the case, though, and that's what attracts Arkhat Abzhanov.

A worm bites off enough to chew (w/ Video)

Dramatic scenes are played out under Ralf Sommer's microscope: his research object, the roundworm Pristionchus pacificus, bites another worm, tears open a hole in its side and devours the oozing contents. The squirming victim ...

Scientists breed goats that produce spider silk

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from the University of Wyoming have developed a way to incorporate spiders' silk-spinning genes into goats, allowing the researchers to harvest the silk protein from the goats’ milk for a variety ...

How plants put down roots

In the beginning is the fertilized egg cell. Following numerous cell divisions, it then develops into a complex organism with different organs and tissues. The largely unexplained process whereby the cells simply "know" the ...

Spare gene is fodder for fishes' evolution

Scientists have suspected that spare parts in the genome—extra copies of functional genes that arise when genes or whole genomes get duplicated -- might sometimes provide the raw materials for the evolution of new traits. ...

'Fuzzy logic' reveals cells' inner workings

(PhysOrg.com) -- Living cells are bombarded with messages from the outside world -- hormones and other chemicals tell them to grow, migrate, die or do nothing. Inside the cell, complex signaling networks interpret these cues ...

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