Life Sciences and Chemistry

Study shows surprisingly sophisticated nesting behavior in common marsh birds

Coots, the Rodney Dangerfields of the bird world, just might start to get some respect as a result of a new study showing that these common marsh birds are able to recognize and count their own eggs, even in the presence of eggs laid by other birds.

The counting ability of female coots is part of a sophisticated set of defense mechanisms used to thwart other coots who lay eggs in their neighbors&#1

Ammonia is a problem. All animal cells produce it, but how do they get rid of it? New research by Dr Dirk Weihrauch (University of Illinois at Chicago) to be presented on Wednesday 2 April (session A2.2) suggests that the crab may have evolved a rather novel solution.

For us mammals, the key to getting rid of waste ammonia is to detoxify it into urea in the liver. Marine organisms can employ the rather simpler solution of allowing the toxic ammonia to diffuse into their environment. However,

In a new study published in the April 1, 2003 issue of Genes and Development, scientists at University Health Network’s Advanced Medical Discovery Institute (AMDI)/Ontario Cancer Institute (OCI) have shown that a molecule called caspase-8 plays a key role in the immune system response, by controlling how T-cells are activated to respond to infections.

T-cells are white blood cells that recognize and fight off viruses and bacteria. When T-cells encounter these foreign invaders they build up

EMBL researchers discover a mechanism by which cells monitor estrogen

The hormone estrogen is recognized by most people because of its important role in women’s reproductive cycles. It also has other functions in the body: it drives some types of cells to replicate themselves, and it has been linked to the development of tumors. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg have now described a new model of how cells constantly monitor their exposur

Until now, scientists believed that a single area in the brain generated breathing rhythm, enabling breathing to speed up or slow down to adapt to the body’s activity and position. But UCLA neurobiologists have discovered that two systems in the brain interact to generate breathing rhythm — a finding that may translate into better treatment for sleep apnea and sudden infant death syndrome. The journal Neuron reported the findings in its March 6 issue.

“We originally thought that only one bra

Unique Hand-Over-Hand Rotation Transports Molecules Through Cells

Within every neuron is a vast protein trail system traversed by a small protein engine called Myosin V. The long-standing question of how this molecule moves may have finally been resolved by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Their findings, presented in this week’s issue of Nature, show how myosin V can move ’hand-over-hand’ on tracks, composed of a protein called actin,