science newsletter: Science News SciGuru.com

Πέμπτη 1 Μαΐου 2014

Science News SciGuru.com

Butterflies and bees drink from crocodile tears
A “wimpy” dwarf fossil galaxy reveals new facts about early universe
Diagnosis of childhood TB could be improved by genetic discovery
Neandertal demise due to interbreeding and assimilation rather than inferiority
Prostate Cancer and Blood Lipids Share Genetic Links
Study identifies novel regulator of key gene expression in cancer

Butterflies and bees drink from crocodile tears

Posted: 01 May 2014 07:20 AM PDT

We are warned to beware of ‘crocodile tears’ but in nature they apparently help satisfy the need of insects for essential minerals. When aquatic ecologist Carlos de la Rosa observed a butterfly (Dryas iulia) and a bee (Centris sp.) sipping tears from a crocodile (Caiman crocodilus) on the banks of the Río Puerto Viejo in northeastern Costa Rica, he captured the moment on film. The observation prompted Dr de la Rosa to ask why the insects might be behaving in this way.

A “wimpy” dwarf fossil galaxy reveals new facts about early universe

Posted: 01 May 2014 07:08 AM PDT

Out on the edge of the universe, 75,000 light years from us, a galaxy known as Segue 1 has some unusual properties: It is the faintest galaxy ever detected. It is very small, containing only about 1,000 stars. And it has a rare chemical composition, with vanishingly small amounts of metallic elements present.

Diagnosis of childhood TB could be improved by genetic discovery

Posted: 30 Apr 2014 02:00 PM PDT

A distinctive genetic 'signature' found in the blood of children with tuberculosis (TB) offers new hope for improved diagnosis of the disease. TB is very difficult to diagnose in children and is often recognised late when the child is already critically ill and the disease has spread from the lungs to the brain or other organs. Now an international team of researchers has shown that the disease can be identified in over 80 percent of cases by looking at 51 specific genes in the blood of affected children.

Neandertal demise due to interbreeding and assimilation rather than inferiority

Posted: 30 Apr 2014 02:00 PM PDT

The demise of Neandertals approximately 40,000 years ago has been routinely explained in terms of inferiority of Neandertals in both cultural traditions and cognitive capacity compared to modern humans (Homo sapiens). However, a new study suggests that the archaeological record does not support theories that the Neandertals were substantially inferior in areas such as weaponry, subsistence strategies, use of space, innovation capacity and use of technologies such as heat treatment.

Prostate Cancer and Blood Lipids Share Genetic Links

Posted: 30 Apr 2014 11:55 AM PDT

Numerous studies have suggested a relationship between cardiovascular disease risk factors and prostate cancer. A new study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues in Norway, significantly refines the association, highlighting genetic risk factors associated with low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and triglycerides as key players and identifying 17 related gene loci that make risk contributions to levels of these blood lipids and to prostate cancer.

Study identifies novel regulator of key gene expression in cancer

Posted: 30 Apr 2014 09:51 AM PDT

Scientists at the Salk Institute have identified a key genetic switch linked to the development, progression and outcome of cancer, a finding that may lead to new targets for cancer therapies.

The switch, a string of amino acids dubbed a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), does not code for proteins like regular RNA. Instead, the scientists found, this particular lncRNA acts as an on/off switch for a key gene, COX-2, whose excessive activity is tied to inflammation and cancer.