(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study suggests that genes are transferred from one micro-organism to another up to a hundred million times more frequently than previously thought.
Bacteria in the human body are sharing genes with one another at a higher rate than is typically seen in nature, and some of those genes appear to be traveling—independent of their microbial hosts—from one part of the ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 11, 2019
0
928
If you still remember that "Dear King Phillip Came Over For Good Spaghetti," you'll likely also recall the corresponding taxonomic ranks of biology: domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species. The domains ...
Evolution
Jan 15, 2024
0
92
(PhysOrg.com) -- In On The Origin of Species, Darwin used the image of a tree of life to illustrate how species evolve, one from another. Even today, branches sprouting from lower branches (representing ancestors) is how ...
Indiana University scientists have made the first direct observation of a key step in the process that bacteria use to rapidly evolve new traits, including antibiotic resistance.
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 11, 2018
1
371
(Phys.org)—A team of researchers from New Zealand and Australia has found that cultural exchange in human populations sometimes occurs at a much slower rate than genetic divergence. As the group explains in their paper ...
(Norwich BioScience Institutes) Scientists at the Institute of Food Research have been mining the genome of C. botulinum to uncover new information about the toxin genes that produce the potent toxin behind botulism.
Cell & Microbiology
May 14, 2013
0
0
A study from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators has found a surprising role for what had been considered a nonfunctional "junk" RNA molecule: controlling the cellular response to stress. In their report in ...
Cell & Microbiology
Dec 15, 2016
1
829
What defines the habitat—the ecological niche—of a microorganism? It is a combination of environmental factors such as temperature, moisture, and nutrient content. But the exact contribution of each of these factors is ...
Ecology
Apr 3, 2023
0
137
Some parasitic plants steal genetic material from their host plants and use the stolen genes to more effectively siphon off the host's nutrients. A new study led by researchers at Penn State and Virginia Tech reveals that ...
Biotechnology
Jul 22, 2019
1
937
