News tagged with plos biology

Related topics: fruit flies , genes , protein , brain , cells




Chance finding reveals new control on blood vessels in developing brain

(Medical Xpress)—Zhen Huang freely admits he was not interested in blood vessels four years ago when he was studying brain development in a fetal mouse.

Medical research created Jan 24, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | 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

Your brain on Big Bird: Sesame Street helps to reveal patterns of neural development

Using brain scans of children and adults watching Sesame Street, cognitive scientists are learning how children's brains change as they develop intellectual abilities like reading and math.

Neuroscience created Jan 03, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

The factor that could influence future breast cancer treatment

Australian scientists have shown in the laboratory how a 'transcription factor' causes breast cancer cells to develop an aggressive subtype that lacks sensitivity to estrogen and does not respond to known anti-estrogen therapies. ...

Cancer created Dec 27, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Research reveals new drug target urgently needed for tuberculosis therapy

One third of the world is infected with the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB), a disease that is increasingly difficult to treat because of wide spread resistance to available drugs. Researchers from the Institute of ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Dec 20, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Scientists discover how HIV virus gains access to carrier immune cells to spread infection

Scientists from the AIDS Research Institute IrsiCaixa have identified how HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, enters the cells of the immune system enabling it to be dispersed throughout an organism. The new ...

HIV & AIDS created Dec 18, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Ebola virus uses a protein decoy to subvert the host immune response

In a study published today in the Open Access journal PLOS Pathogens, researchers at Emory University have discovered a potentially important mechanism by which the Ebola virus alters and evades the immune response of its ...

Immunology created Dec 13, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Combining two genome analysis approaches supports immune system contribution to autism

Researchers using novel approaches and methodologies of identifying genes that contribute to the development of autism have found evidence that disturbances in several immune-system-related pathways contribute to development ...

Autism spectrum disorders created Dec 06, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

It's genetic: Some smokers have biological resistance to anti-tobacco policies

(Medical Xpress)—Despite concerted government efforts to curtail tobacco use, the number of smokers in the United States has remained stable in recent years, rather than declining. The reason: genetics.

Genetics created Dec 06, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Breast cancer drug could hold the key to fighting other tumours

New research out of the United Kingdom is showing that a common drug used in the fight against breast cancer could also be employed in the fight against other tumours. The drug in question is geldanamycin, ...

Cancer created Dec 05, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Crag keeps the light 'fantastic' for photoreceptors

The ability of the eye of a fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) to respond to light depends on a delicate ballet that keeps the supply of light sensors called rhodopsin constant as photoreceptors turn on and off in respon ...

Neuroscience created Dec 04, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Computer model enables better understanding of what happens during and after stroke

(Medical Xpress)—At the moment that someone is suffering a stroke, the immediate concern is getting them stabilized. Once the initial attack has passed, additional treatment and preventive measures can ...

Medical research created Nov 27, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Scanning innovation can improve personalized medicine

New combinations of medical imaging technologies hold promise for improved early disease screening, cancer staging, therapeutic assessment, and other aspects of personalized medicine, according to Ge Wang, director of Virginia ...

Medical research created Nov 26, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Human obedience: The myth of blind conformity

In the 1960s and 1970s, classic social psychological studies were conducted that provided evidence that even normal, decent people can engage in acts of extreme cruelty when instructed to do so by others. However, in an essay ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Nov 20, 2012 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (17) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

The evolution of human intellect: Human-specific regulation of neuronal genes

A new study published November 20 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology has identified hundreds of small regions of the genome that appear to be uniquely regulated in human neurons. These regulatory differences distinguish us fro ...

Genetics created Nov 20, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast