The extraction and purification of DNA is a fundamental process in all aspects of molecular biology, ranging from disease diagnosis, such as cancer, to cloning procedures, and the identification of GMOs or infectious agents. To accomplish this,…
Category: 5. Biology
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A hit of dopamine tells baby birds when their song practice is paying off
In his home office in Durham, Duke neuroscientist Richard Mooney shows a series of images of a bird’s brain on song.
In one, what looks like a pointillist painting illustrates a young zebra finch’s myriad attempts to sound more like an adult,…
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Ecologists document Utah’s bee species and say beehive state is rich in bee diversity
Wildlife conservation is critical to sustaining the planet’s biodiversity and health. But putting together a conservation plan is a tall order. First of all, you need to determine what species you’re conserving, along with their numbers, habitat…
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Pacific Oysters Push East: Invasive Species Breach Baltic Barrier
Pacific oysters are adapting to less salty waters and may soon spread into the Baltic Sea, aided by warmer seas and genetic traits. Pacific oysters, an invasive species, have successfully adapted to the lower salinity of waters off the coast of…
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Appetite-Controlling Neurohormone Has Ancient Evolutionary Origin, New Study Shows
A satiety-inducing molecule called bombesin is not only present in humans and other vertebrates but also in invertebrates such as starfish and their marine relatives, according to new research.
The common starfish (Asterias rubens) in…
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Engineering antibodies with a novel fusion protein
The Food and Drug Administration has approved more than 100 monoclonal antibodies to treat a range of diseases. Other antibodies are used by physicians to diagnose conditions or by scientists to advance research projects.
Even with significant…
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New software finds aging cells that contribute to disease and health risks
For human health, prematurely aging cells are a big problem. When a cell ages and stops growing, its function changes, which can cause or worsen cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease and other chronic diseases. But these cells are also like…
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Ocean eddies — the food trucks of the sea
How is organic matter transported from productive coastal areas to the open ocean? Researchers from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and MARUM — Centre for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen have now…
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Antibiotic exposure in infancy may boost Type 1 diabetes risk
Exposure to antibiotics during a key developmental window in infancy can stunt the growth of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas and may boost risk of diabetes later in life, new research in mice suggests.
The study, published this month in…
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Baby hummingbird appears to mimic caterpillar to avoid death
A baby hummingbird might have a special way of warding off predators, which threaten tropical hummingbird species in infancy. Baby White-necked jacobins (Florisuga mellivora) in Panama seem to pretend to be a fuzzy and dangerous…
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