Prion disease: PRNP sequences of wild animals from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
Tibetan antelope (Rhinopithecus), blue sheep (Pseudois nayauris), and plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) are wild animals living on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. There have been no reports of naturally occurring transmissible spongioform encephalopathies.....»»
Phage-derived enzyme targets E. faecalis biofilms to mitigate acute graft-versus-host disease
Allogenic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) involves transferring healthy donor stem cells to recipients with conditions such as blood cancer, bone marrow failure, or certain genetic blood disorders. Acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD.....»»
Certain bacteria or fungi could combat a plant pathogen that attacks common vetch
Anthracnose, a severe disease caused by the Colletotrichum spinaciae plant pathogen, often occurs in common vetch, a widely grown legume. Chemicals are not recommended for disease management because the plants are used as livestock feed. A new study.....»»
Rice gone wild: How humans have inadvertently selected for "weedy" rice
University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers have discovered that the anatomical adaptation helping weedy rice varieties to proliferate is not, as previously believed, confined only to these pest varieties. The research, published recently in the.....»»
Study shows leaf shape and size can"t reliably distinguish wild coca plants from those grown to make cocaine
A new paper in Molecular Biology and Evolution indicates that while the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has collected annual data on areas of coca cultivation in South America for decades to monitor the establishment of illegal plantations a.....»»
Researchers listen to the hearts of bats in flight
Researchers from Konstanz have measured the heart rate of bats over several days in the wild, including complete flights—the first time this has been done for a bat species. To record the heart rate of male common noctule bats during flight, the sc.....»»
Team develops new one-step method to make multiple edits to a cell"s genome
Genome editing has become a widely adopted technology to modify DNA in cells, allowing scientists to study diseases in the lab and develop therapies that repair disease-causing mutations. However, with current approaches, it's only possible to edit c.....»»
How a global collaboration is helping protect biodiversity
Ask a 10-year-old to name some extinct animals and they can usually rattle off ancient species such as the Tasmanian Tiger, Woolly Mammoth and Dodo. Some may even be able to tell you what the animals used to look like without searching online......»»
Global database reveals large gaps in our knowledge of four-footed animals
Researchers have developed TetrapodTraits—a global database of animals with four feet—which can now be applied for better ecology, evolution and conservation research. Mario Moura of the Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil, and Walter Jetz.....»»
Life underground suited newly discovered dinosaur, study finds
The age of dinosaurs wasn't conducted solely above ground. A newly discovered ancestor of Thescelosaurus shows evidence that these animals spent at least part of their time in underground burrows. The new species contributes to a fuller understanding.....»»
A genome-wide screen in live hosts reveals new secrets of parasite infection
Apicomplexan parasites are a common cause of disease, infecting hundreds of millions of people each year. They are responsible for spreading malaria; cryptosporidiosis—a severe childhood diarrheal disease; and toxoplasmosis—a disease that endange.....»»
"Sacrifice" of virus data clears the path to open a disease discovery pipeline
Tens of millions of still-unknown or misunderstood viruses can cause diseases—including new pandemics—and affect the health of valuable terrestrial and marine environments......»»
As ocean surfaces acidify, a deep-sea acidic zone is expanding, and marine habitats are being squeezed
In the deepest parts of the ocean, below 4,000 meters, the combination of high pressure and low temperature creates conditions that dissolve calcium carbonate, the material marine animals use to make their shells......»»
Disease has killed most of UK"s elm trees since the 1960s—but there are signs they may be making a comeback
Elm trees were once stalwarts of the UK countryside that towered out of hedgerows, lined fields and woodlands. Glance at the landscape paintings of John Constable for a vague idea of what has been lost. Elm timber made ships, chairs and even water pi.....»»
A wildlife crossing is proposed for Highway 17 in the Santa Cruz Mountains
People view highways as a way to move from Point A to Point B, but to the animals that inhabit either side of a busy roadway, the lanes are a potentially deadly barrier......»»
Features of H5N1 influenza viruses in dairy cows may facilitate infection, transmission in mammals
A series of experiments with highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza (HPAI H5N1) viruses circulating in infected U.S. dairy cattle found that viruses derived from lactating dairy cattle induced severe disease in mice and ferrets when administered via.....»»
New platform integrates microfluidics and metasurface for kidney disease testing
Development of a new way to accurately measure human serum albumin (HSA) levels in people with chronic kidney disease has progressed in recent testing by Flinders University and Japanese researchers......»»
Low-cost depth imaging sensors achieve 97% accuracy in rapid plant disease detection
A research team has investigated low-cost depth imaging sensors with the objective of automating plant pathology tests. The team achieved 97% accuracy in distinguishing between resistant and susceptible plants based on cotyledon loss. This method ope.....»»
Brain size riddle solved as humans exceed evolutionary trend
The largest animals do not have proportionally bigger brains—with humans bucking this trend—a study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution has revealed......»»
Combining community values with science is key to ecosystem restoration, study demonstrates
Up on the "roof of the world," one of the world's largest ecosystem restoration projects is taking place. The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) in western China is the world's highest plateau and covers a land area roughly five times the size of France......»»
Alaska’s top-heavy glaciers are approaching an irreversible tipping point
As the plateau of the icefield thins, ice and snow reserves at higher altitudes are lost. Enlarge / Taku Glacier is one of many that begin in the Juneau Icefield. (credit: Mauricio Handler / Getty Images) The melting of.....»»