In a genetic research first, researchers turn zebrafish genes off and on

Mayo Clinic researchers have designed a new tool for identifying protein function from genetic code. A team led by Stephen Ekker, Ph.D., succeeded in switching individual genes off and on in zebrafish, then observing embryonic and juvenile development.

1

1

Gulf oil spill one year later - The Big Picture - Boston.com

1

1

Air Pollution Exposure Affects Chances of Developing Premenopausal Breast Cancer, Study Finds

Exposure to air pollution early in life and when a woman gives birth to her first child may alter her DNA and may be associated with premenopausal breast cancer later in life, researchers at the University at Buffalo have shown.

2

2

Washing Away The Arctic Coastline

Two-thirds of the Arctic coastline is made of permafrost — an environment that is very sensitive to warming temperatures. A new report says erosion is causing these coastline regions to recede by an average of 1.5 feet per year.

5

20

New research suggests right-handedness prevailed 500,000 years ago

Research by University of Kansas professor David Frayer shows that distinctive markings on fossilized teeth correlate to the right or left-handedness of individual prehistoric humans.

3

5

Long-Sought Fossil Mammal With Transitional Middle Ear

Paleontologists from the American Museum of Natural History and the Chinese Academy of Sciences announce the discovery of Liaoconodon hui, a complete fossil mammal from the Mesozoic found in China that includes the long-sought transitional middle ear.

5

1

Band of Gorillas Makes Comeback in Congo

A small population of gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo not only has survived over the past six turbulent years but has increased, a conservation group announced.

7

10

Penguin declines may come down to krill

Disruptions in the food supply, caused in part by warming climate, are to blame for shrinking populations of Adélie and chinstrap penguins across the West Antarctic Peninsula, a team of U.S. researchers argues.

2

2

Vehicle Pollution Significantly Damages the Brain, Mouse Study Suggests

If mice commuted, their brains might find it progressively harder to navigate the maze of Los Angeles freeways.

3

2

Plants and caterpillars make the same cyanide

With an amazing example of convergent evolution, Niels Bjerg Jensen of the University of Copenhagen published a report in Nature Communications discussing the bird's-foot trefoil plant and the burnet moth and their ability to produce cyanide.

1

1

Cephalopods experience massive acoustic trauma from noise pollution in the oceans

Noise pollution in the oceans has been shown to cause physical and behavioral changes in marine life, especially in dolphins and whales, which rely on sound for daily activities.

2

1

New Genetic Study Helps Solve Darwin's Mystery About Ancient Evolution of Flowering Plants

The evolution and diversification of the more than 300,000 living species of flowering plants may have been "jump started" much earlier than previously calculated, a new study indicates.

4

9

Scientists Scramble Ahead Of Potential Shutdown

Officials at federal science agencies from NASA to the National Institutes of Health are trying to figure out what a shutdown would mean for the thousands of researchers who work for the government.

4

0

Instant evolution in whiteflies: Just add bacteria

In just six years, bacteria in the genus Rickettsia spread through a population of the sweet potato whitefly (Bemisia tabaci), an invasive pest of global importance.

3

2

Biodiversity Improves Water Quality in Streams Through a Division of Labor

Biologically diverse streams are better at cleaning up pollutants than less rich waterways, and a University of Michigan ecologist says he has uncovered the long-sought mechanism that explains why this is so.

4

3

'Tree of lice' suggests mammals did OK under dinos

They may be irritating and harmful, but lice have their uses. A study of their evolution suggests that the parasitic lice that plague modern birds and mammals began diversifying while dinosaurs ruled the Earth.

2

4

Worries grow over monarch butterflies

North America's beloved monarch butterfly may be sliding into a long-term decline. While monarch numbers have fluttered up and down over recent decades, one research group now says that there's enough data to spot a downward trend.

3

1

Spread of Invasive Ladybugs Explained

A University of Georgia researcher studying invasive ladybugs has developed new models that help explain how these insects have spread so quickly and their potential impacts on native species.

3

2

Like Products, Plants Wait for Optimal Configuration Before Market Success

The issue: When does a grouping of plants with the same ancestor, called a clade, begin to spin off new species? Biologists have long assumed that rapid speciation occurred when a clade first developed a new physical trait or mechanism and had begun its own genetic branch.

1

4

Whale and dolphin death toll during Deepwater disaster may have been greatly underestimated

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010 devastated the Gulf of Mexico ecologically and economically. However, a new study published in Conservation Letters reveals that the true impact of the disaster on wildlife may be gravely underestimated.

8

13

Human Virus Linked to Deaths of Endangered Mountain Gorillas; Finding Confirms That Serious Diseases Can Pass to Gorillas from People

For the first time, a virus that causes respiratory disease in humans has been linked to the deaths of wild mountain gorillas, reports a team of researchers in the United States and Africa.

1

1

Traits, genes associated with establishment of new populations revealed in butterfly study

A team of scientists has discovered that descendants of "exploratory" butterflies that colonized new habitats differ genetically from their more cautious cousins.

1

1

An Ancestral Link Between Genetic and Environmental Sex Determination

Researchers from Osaka University and the National Institute for Basic Biology, Japan, have found a highly significant connection between the molecular mechanisms underlying genetic and environmental sex determination.

4

1

Speedy toads advance theory of evolution

Three Australian biologists, including lead author, Professor Rick Shine, from the University of Sydney's School of Biological Sciences, believe they have identified a new evolutionary process based on their invasive cane toad research.

3

6

Malaria mosquitoes reveal pathogen defense strategies

Genes in animal immune systems may evolve in one of two main ways in the constant fight against pathogens: They may evolve diverse forms of genes (alleles) to fight a wide variety of pathogens, or when only a few pathogens dominate, they may evolve one or a few alleles that speci …

2

1