Making sense of our evolution
The science about our our special senses - vision, smell, hearing and taste - offers fascinating and unique perspectives on our evolution.
The science about our our special senses - vision, smell, hearing and taste - offers fascinating and unique perspectives on our evolution.
Evolution
Jul 13, 2015
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The Drosophila, the so-called fruit fly, attends all day long to its activities. It flutters, has naps, lays its eggs or emerges from the pupa, the stage of metamorphosis preceding maturity. At the University of Geneva (UNIGE), ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 1, 2015
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66
Until today, the proteins known as ubiquitin receptors have been associated mainly with protein degradation, a basic cell cleaning process. A new function now described for the protein dDsk2 by the team headed by Ferran Azorín, ...
Biotechnology
Apr 28, 2015
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A University of Michigan-led study of penguin genetics has concluded that the flightless aquatic birds lost three of the five basic vertebrate tastes—sweet, bitter and the savory, meaty taste known as umami—more than ...
Biotechnology
Feb 16, 2015
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UA researchers have discovered some of the changes in genes, physiology and behavior that enable a species to drastically change its lifestyle in the course of evolution.
Evolution
Jan 28, 2015
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One key to animal survival is bitter taste——the better to avoid ingesting potentially harmful poisons or foods. The evolution of bitter taste has been a hot topic amongst evolutionary biologists, and with more and more ...
Evolution
Oct 8, 2014
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Researchers have discovered that some common messenger molecules in human cells double as hormones when bound to a protein that interacts with DNA. The finding could bring to light a class of previously unknown hormones and ...
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 7, 2014
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Elephants possess a sense of smell that is likely the strongest ever identified in a single species, according to a study by Japanese scientists out Tuesday.
Plants & Animals
Jul 22, 2014
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(Phys.org) —A pair of researchers in China has found vampire bats have difficulty tasting bitter flavors. In their paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Wei Hong and Huabin Zhao of ...
A unique study of the white-throated sparrow has identified a biological pathway connecting variation in the birds' aggression and parenting behaviors in the wild to variation in their genome.
Plants & Animals
Jan 14, 2014
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