Saijo, Hiroshima, Japan - Biologists at Hiroshima University, located in the historic sake brewing town of Saijo, have identified the genetic mutation that could ruin the brew of one particular type of yeast responsible for high-quality sake. The research was part of an academic-government-industry collaboration involving the National Institute of Brewing (Japan), the Asahi Sake Brewing Company (Niigata), the Brewing Society of Japan, The University of Tokyo, The University of Pennsylvania, and Iwate University.
Body
The high sea ice production of Antarctic coastal polynyas is attributable to the formation of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW), which is a driving force for global ocean circulation. Sea ice production varies year to year as well as seasonally; however, there are various explanations for the factors that increase or decrease this production, such as wind, temperature, and surrounding ice conditions, which have not been understood till date.
A battle between the sexes may be behind a dramatic shift in diving beetle populations over the past three decades, a new study shows.
Female choosiness has led to the evolution of rough body surfaces in some species which make it harder for males to hold on to them during mating. In a few cases, 'rough' and 'smooth' females are found within the same species, sometimes having different geographical ranges.
Coyote tobacco (Nicotiana attenuata) produces a potent neurotoxic substance: nicotine. The production of nicotine is regulated by plant hormones called jasmonates. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, the University of Bern, Switzerland, and Washington State University have now demonstrated the importance of jasmonate-dependent nicotine production for the survival of tobacco plants which are attacked by mammalian herbivores.
Big data has a bright future in personalized medicine, as demonstrated by an international competition centered at Rice University that suggested ways forward for treatment of patients with leukemia.
In the DREAM 9 challenge, 31 teams of computational researchers applied competing methods to a unique set of patient data gathered from hundreds of patients with acute myeloid leukemia at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
It comes down to starting healthy habits early. Fortunately, it's never too late to adopt a healthier lifestyle, and losing weight is great for reducing your risk of heart attack. But you can still be at a higher risk for other heart problems if you're late in changing your habits.
Excessive weight at a young age puts one at a far higher risk of heart failure as compared with maintaining a healthy weight throughout one's life. Even slight overweight increases risk by 45 per cent as compared with normal weight.
In a study appearing in the June 28 issue of JAMA, Isabelle Boutron, M.D., Ph.D., of Paris Descartes University, Paris, and colleagues investigated the proportion of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) registered at ClinicalTrials.gov that were listed at the Clinical Study Data Request website, where companies voluntarily list studies for which data can be requested.
MADISON, Wis. -- University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers studying monkeys have shown that one infection with Zika virus protects against future infection, though pregnancy may drastically prolong the time the virus stays in the body.
The researchers, led by UW-Madison pathology Professor David O'Connor, published a study today (June 28, 2016) in the journal Nature Communications describing their work establishing rhesus macaque monkeys at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center as a model for studying the way Zika virus infections may progress in people.
Alcohol consumption in Australia has declined steadily during the past decade, with per capita consumption in 2013-14 reaching its lowest level since the early 1960s. A new study published today by the scientific journal Addiction shows that the overall decline in drinking is due mainly to less drinking among people in their teens and early twenties.
New animal research has shown that measuring copper concentrations and isotope ratios in blood and other tissue may allow early diagnosis of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). At present, there is no test for this disease, meaning that the illness needs to develop before care can begin. The work is being presented at the Goldschmidt conference in Yokohama, Japan.
The persistence of heritable disease raises an evolutionary paradox. When DNA goes awry, and a harmful mutation sprouts up that affects survival, why aren't these simply purged from a population over generations?
Scientists have speculated that there are evolutionary trade-offs at work, that perhaps, carrying a harmful disease mutation may be counterbalanced by other, favorable effects, eventually promoting the long-term survival of a species.
Dolphins, lizards and hyenas may not be on Facebook or Twitter, but, as social species, their social networks influence every pivotal aspect of their lives: finding a mate, reproducing, becoming ill or surviving.
A period of controversy over the risks and benefits of statins, covered widely in the UK media, was followed by a temporary increase in the number of people stopping their statin treatment, finds a study in The BMJ today.
The increase in stopping was seen among patients taking statins for existing heart disease (known as secondary prevention) as well as patients at high risk of developing disease in the next 10 years (known as primary prevention).
Human use of artificial light is causing Spring to come at least a week early in the UK, researchers at the University of Exeter in Cornwall have found.
New research led by a team of biologists based at the University's Penryn campus highlights for the first time and at a national scale the relationship between the amount of artificial night-time light and the date of budburst in woodland trees.
Our ancestors evolved three times faster in the 10 million years after the extinction of the dinosaurs than in the previous 80 million years, according to UCL researchers.
The team found the speed of evolution of placental mammals -- a group that today includes nearly 5000 species including humans -- was constant before the extinction event but exploded after, resulting in the varied groups of mammals we see today.