Life Sciences and Chemistry

The genetic signal that makes a honeybee male or female has been identified by researchers in Germany, the U.S. and Norway. The finding, published in the August 22 issue of the journal Cell, shows how male bees can have no father, a scientific puzzle going back over 150 years and the explanation for why bees, ants and wasps often form colonial societies. It could also make it easier to breed honeybees.

The researchers found that female bees have two different versions of a gene called csd,

In the United States, nearly 2.6 million couples have been treated for infertility with about 40 percent of those cases thought to be due to male infertility. Now, a study published in the August 22 issue of Cell identifies a new protein that is required for a sperm to bind to an egg during the process of fertilization. This research provides important new insight into the molecular mechanisms that are involved in the initial events of sperm-egg association and may shed light on what underlies some i

University of Utah biologist finds HIV gene makes a human gene turn bad

A human gene named ATR normally protects people by preventing the replication of cells damaged by radiation or toxic chemicals. Now, Utah and New York researchers have discovered how a gene in the AIDS virus hijacks the human gene and turns it into a weapon that prevents reproduction of immune-system white blood cells, leaving AIDS patients vulnerable to deadly infections and cancer.

The new study “puts

Two important questions face biologists studying the infectious proteins called prions: What stops prions that infect one species from infecting another species and what causes the invisible transmission barrier between species to fail sometimes?

In experiments with yeast prions reported in this week’s issue of Nature, Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have shown how point mutations in prions — which do not compromise their infectivity — can nevertheless cause prions to alter

Are there ’social behavior’ genes?

A rare genetic disorder may lead scientists to genes for social behavior, a Salk Institute study has found.

The study zeros in on the genes that may lead to the marked extroverted behavior seen in children with Williams syndrome, demonstrating that “hyper-sociability” – especially the drive to greet and interact with strangers — follows a unique developmental path.

The path is not only different from typical children bu

New discoveries about tiny genetic components called microRNAs explain why plant leaves are flat.

The study may be a first step, researchers say, in revolutionizing our understanding of how plants control their morphology, or shape. A plant’s ability to grow structures with a specific shape is critical to its normal function of capturing energy from the sun and producing products like grain and fiber.

As such, these findings could ultimately have profound implications fo