News tagged with evolutionary biology

Study shows how insulin-like molecules play critical role in learning and memory

Though it's most often associated with disorders like diabetes, Harvard researchers have shown how the signaling pathway of insulin and insulin-like peptides plays another critical role in the body – helping ...

Neuroscience created Feb 26, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Fruit flies with Restless Legs Syndrome point to a genetic cause

When flies are made to lose a gene with links to Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS), they suffer the same sleep disturbances and restlessness that human patients do. The findings reported online on May 31 in Current Biology strong ...

Genetics created May 31, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Social stress affects immune system gene expression in monkeys

The ranking of a monkey within her social environment and the stress accompanying that status dramatically alters the expression of nearly 1,000 genes, a new scientific study reports. The research is the first ...

Genetics created Apr 09, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (8) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Leading explanations for whooping cough's resurgence don't stand up to scrutiny

Whooping cough has exploded in the United States and some other developed countries in recent decades, and many experts suspect ineffective childhood vaccines for the alarming resurgence.

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created May 20, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

When timing is everything: Research says beneficial mutations need specific circumstances to win out

When it comes to the sort of beneficial mutations that drive natural selection, there's new evidence that, evolutionarily speaking, timing is everything.

Genetics created Mar 20, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Study casts light on deadly immune response

(Medical Xpress)—Examining a case study of near-death experiences for six healthy men who volunteered to test an experimental drug in London has yielded important insights into potentially deadly over-reactions ...

Immunology created Mar 19, 2013 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

'Defective' virus surprisingly plays major role in spread of disease

(Medical Xpress)—Defective viruses, thought for decades to be essentially garbage unrelated to the transmission of normal viruses, now appear able to play an important role in the spread of disease, new ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Feb 28, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Two studies reveal genetic variation driving human evolution

A pair of studies published by Cell Press on February 14th in the journal Cell sheds new light on genetic variation that may have played a key role in human evolution. The study researchers used an animal ...

Genetics created Feb 14, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

First animal model of recent human evolution

The first animal model of recent human evolution reveals that a single mutation produced several traits common in East Asian peoples, from thicker hair to denser sweat glands, an international team of researchers reports.

Genetics created Feb 14, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Modern growing methods may be culprit of 'coffee rust' fungal outbreak

A shift away from traditional coffee-growing techniques may be increasing the severity of an outbreak of 'coffee rust' fungus that has swept through plantations in Central America and Mexico, according to a University of ...

Health created Feb 12, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1 | with audio podcast

A history lesson from genes: Using DNA to tell us how populations change

When Charles Darwin first sketched how species evolved by natural selection, he drew what looked like a tree. The diagram started at a central point with a common ancestor, then the lines spread apart as ...

Genetics created Jan 09, 2013 | popularity 4 / 5 (6) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Emerging vector-borne diseases create new public health challenge

Human activities are advancing the spread of vector-borne, zoonotic diseases such as West Nile virus, Lyme disease and dengue fever, report scientists publishing a series of papers today in the journal The ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Nov 30, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

A class of RNA molecules protects germ cells from damage, researchers show

Passing one's genes on to the next generation is a mark of evolutionary success. So it makes sense that the body would work to ensure that the genes the next generation inherits are exact replicas of the originals.

Genetics created Nov 15, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Study says people are inclined to help others

Feeling generous? Think it over a little and then see how you feel.

Psychology & Psychiatry created Sep 25, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

Common antifungal drug decreases tumor growth and shows promise as cancer therapy

An inexpensive antifungal drug, thiabendazole, slows tumor growth and shows promise as a chemotherapy for cancer. Scientists in the College of Natural Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin made this ...

Cancer created Aug 21, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Evolutionary biology

Evolutionary biology is a sub-field of biology concerned with the origin of species from a common descent and descent of species, as well as their change, multiplication and diversity over time. Someone who studies evolutionary biology is known as an evolutionary biologist.

For more information about Evolutionary biology, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.