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In a report published today in the journal Genome Research, scientists report finding strong genetic evidence supporting the theory there are several species of killer whales (Orcinus orca, also known as orcas) throughout the world's oceans.

Viruses have evolved a broad range of strategies that enable them to evade the immune systems of their hosts. A team of researchers led by LMU virologist Professor Jürgen Haas has been studying a novel, recently discovered mechanism that pathogenic viruses exploit for this purpose, and their latest results could point the way to new antiviral therapies. The mechanism is based on the production of short RNA molecules, called microRNAs, by the virus.

DURHAM, N.C. -- A group of scientists who have studied the life history of primates for decades got to thinking about their own life histories and decided they had better do something to preserve their work for posterity.

April 22, 2010 – (BRONX, NY) – Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have determined the crystal structures of two key fluorescent proteins – one blue, one red – used to "light up" molecules in cells.

In the battle against cancer and other diseases, precise analysis of specific proteins can point the way toward targeted treatments. Scientists at theTechnische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM), together with Fujitsu Laboratories of Japan, have developed a novel biosensor chip that not only recognizes proteins that are characteristic for specific diseases, but also can show if these proteins are changed through the influence of disease or drugs.

DETROIT – Henry Ford Hospital researchers have brought the use of electronic medical records out of the hospital setting and into the streets by using the technology for a marathon.

Volunteer medical providers at the 2009 Detroit Free Press Marathon were able to coordinate care for the 19,372 participants via laptops and a website, showing that the technology can help facilitate the care of runners.

HOUSTON – Deleting a gene in mouse embryos caused cardiac defects and early death, leading researchers to identify a mechanism that turns developmental genes off and on as an embryo matures, a team led by a scientist at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reported today in Molecular Cell.

Scientists have been working for more than a decade to understand how tiny molecules called microRNA regulate genes within cells. Now researchers have discovered that microRNA actually moves between cells to help them communicate with each other and ultimately determine the types of cells that grow and develop.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The Galapagos Islands, made famous by Charles Darwin, have a unique biota now highly threatened by invasive species because of increased tourism and population growth. Indeed, alien or exotic insects today constitute 23 percent of the Galapagos insect fauna. One of these insect invaders is the cottony cushion scale, a sap sucking bug native to Australia.

Viruses have evolved a broad range of strategies that enable them to evade the immune systems of their hosts. A team of researchers led by LMU virologist Professor Jürgen Haas has been studying a recently discovered mechanism that pathogenic viruses exploit for this purpose, and their latest results could point the way to new antiviral therapies.

Martial arts could be the key to helping osteoporosis sufferers fall more safely. A study published in the open access journal BMC Research Notes has found that martial arts training can likely be carried out safely.

Children born to mothers prescribed the heroin substitute methadone during pregnancy may be at risk of wide-ranging sight problems, indicates a small study published ahead of print in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

There may be as many as 350,000 children in the UK whose parents are problem drug users, say the authors.

Methadone is a synthetic opioid, which provides a longer lasting "high" than most opioids, and is much less likely to be misused.

Despite lengthier active resuscitation of very preterm babies over the past 15 years, their survival rates have not improved, indicates research published ahead of print in the Fetal & Neonatal Edition of Archives of Disease in Childhood.

The authors base their findings on a case note review of babies born alive after 22 or 23 completed weeks of pregnancy between 1993 and 2007, in one region in the north of England.

Scientists are reporting discovery of what may be the "ancestral Eve" crystal that billions of years ago gave life on Earth its curious and exclusive preference for so-called left-handed amino acids.

Those building blocks of proteins come in two forms — left- and right-handed — that mirror each other like a pair of hands.

The study may help resolve one of the most perplexing mysteries about the origin of life and is in Crystal Growth & Design.

Measuring Energetics and Behaviour Using Accelerometry in Cane Toads Bufo marinus

Abstract

Background: Cane toads Bufo marinus were introduced to Australia as a control agent but now have a rapidly progressing invasion front and damage new habitats they enter. Predictive models that can give expansion rates as functions of energy supply and feeding ground distribution could help to maximise control efficiency but to date no study has measured rates of field energy expenditure in an amphibian.