Life Sciences and Chemistry

First map of an entire global biome at useable level of detail

Researchers publish vegetation map of the Arctic Tundra Biome

Institute of Arctic Biology (IAB) researcher Donald (Skip) Walker and an international team of Arctic vegetation scientists have published the Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Map (CAVM) – the first map of an entire global biome at such a level of detail.

The 11-year CAVM project, directed by Walker, who also heads IAB’s Alaska Geobotany Ce

New insight into the molecular-level interactions between bacteria and minerals may some day help scientists design bacteria with the express purpose of cleaning up toxic waste.

Hazardous waste experts know that certain bacteria can essentially eat toxic waste, reducing it to less noxious substances. But until now they didn’t know what mechanisms allowed these bacteria to devour chemicals.

A new study by Ohio State and Virginia Tech universities showed how a particular b

Scientists have found the gene that sends a signal through plant immune systems, saying, in effect: “Take two aspirin and call out the troops – we’re under attack!”

Discovery of the salicylic acid-binding protein 2 (SABP2) gene, by scientists at Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research (BTI) at Cornell University, is being called an important step toward new strategies to boost plants’ natural defenses against disease and for reducing the need for agricultural pesticides.

Study Shows Why Each Parasite Species Often Infests a Favorite Host Species

University of Utah biologists twirled louse-infested bird feathers on an electric fan and flew pigeons and doves like kites on strings in a study that found small lice stick to small birds and big lice prefer big birds.

The study also showed why size matters to parasites: Lice infest bird species with feathers that are just the right size so the insects can hide between individual “barbs” – the hair

Disabling a set of genes in a strain of the tuberculosis bacteria surprisingly led to a mutant form of the pathogen that multiplied more quickly and was more lethal than its natural counterpart, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.

As early as two weeks after infection, researchers found significantly more bacteria from the organs of mice infected with the mutated tuberculosis (TB) bacteria than for mice infected with the unmodified, or “wil

The measurement of new genes at diagnosis in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), discovered through new technologies from the human genome project, may be highly predictive of therapeutic outcomes, according to a study presented today during the 45th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). OPAL 1 (Outcome Predictor in Acute Leukemia 1), a novel, fully cloned human gene, and additional newly identified genes, have a strong predictive power to identify patients who may