'Rewilding with taxon substitutes', the intentional introduction of exotic species to fulfil key functions in ecosystems following the loss of recently extinct species, is highly controversial, partly due to a lack of rigorous scientific studies.
In a paper published today in Current Biology, Christine Griffiths of Bristol's School of Biological Sciences and colleagues present the first empirical evidence that rewilding can work.
Scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig, Germany have discovered a new, hitherto unknown mechanism of Salmonella invasion into gut cells: In this entry mode, the bacteria exploit the muscle power of cells to be pulled into the host cell cytoplasm. Thus, the strategies Salmonella use to infect cells are more complex than previously thought. According to the World Health Organization, the number of Salmonella infections is continuously rising, and the severity of infections is increasing.
A discovery by Johns Hopkins scientists about how a single-celled fungus survives in low-oxygen settings may someday help humans whose immune systems are compromised by organ transplants or AIDS.
A report on the discovery in a yeast called Schizosaccharomyces pombe appears April 22 in Molecular Cell.
Previous work by the Hopkins team showed that Schizosaccharomyces pombe, a model organism that's often used to study individual genes, contains a protein named Sre1 that allows the organism to adapt to conditions in which oxygen is very low or missing altogether.
Acupuncture provides long-lasting relief to hot flashes, heart palpitations and anxiety due to side effects of the hormone given to counteract testosterone, the hormone that induces prostate cancer, according to a study published in the April issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology•Biology•Physics, an official journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
Fresh insight into the survival strategy of the parasite that causes sleeping sickness could help inform new treatments for the disease.
Scientists have found that the parasite, which can transform itself into either of two physical forms, has developed a careful balance between these. One of these types ensures infection in the bloodstream of a victim, and the other type is taken up by the tsetse fly and spread to another person or animal.
Church attendance in western democracies has declined; yet, a new University of Missouri study shows religious beliefs still influence people at the polls.
Chris Raymond, a graduate instructor of political science in the MU College of Arts and Science, said that many political experts consider voters around the world as "floating without party loyalties," and that religion does not influence voters. Raymond's new study says religion still has a large impact on how people vote and helps define many of the platforms represented in the party system.
ANN ARBOR, MICH. -- A Data and Safety Monitoring Committee (DSMC) has determined that patients in a phase III clinical trial given atrasentan in addition to a standard chemotherapy regimen for advanced prostate cancer did not have longer survival or longer progression-free survival than patients on the same chemotherapy regimen who got a placebo rather than atrasentan.
When a high school athlete drops dead, the rare but fatal condition called "sudden death syndrome" dominates the headlines. For reasons that remain a mystery to scientists, some young athletes — especially young males — begin to experience an unusual heart arrhythmia. With over-exertion, their hearts stop pumping, leading to sudden death.
The happiest countries and happiest U.S. states tend to have the highest suicide rates, according to research from the UK's University of Warwick, Hamilton College in New York and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
A new procedure devised by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists and colleagues can improve polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods of detecting plant disease organisms.
A lawn of regionally native grasses would take less resources to maintain while providing as lush a carpet as a common turfgrass used in the South, according to a study by ecologists at The University of Texas at Austin's Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
"We created a lawn that needs less mowing and keeps weeds out better than a common American lawn option," said Dr. Mark Simmons, director of the center's Ecosystem Design Group, noting that this new approach could have a huge impact on pocketbooks and the environment.
CINCINNATI—Nanotechnology researchers have known for years that RNA, the cousin of DNA, is a promising tool for nanotherapy, in which therapeutic agents can be delivered inside the body via nanoparticles. But the difficulties of producing long-lasting, therapeutic RNA that remains stable and non-toxic while entering targeted cells have posed challenges for their progress.
MADISON -- Research in the worm is shedding light on a protein associated with a number of different human cancers, and may point to a highly targeted way to treat them.
University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists were studying a worm protein called TFG-1, which is present in many cell types but whose exact role had never been understood. The scientists discovered that the protein controls key aspects of the movement, or secretion, of growth factors out of cells.
Efforts to engineer new metabolic pathways into microbes for the inexpensive production of valuable chemical products, such as biofuels or therapeutic drugs, should get a significant boost in a new development from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI). Researchers there have successfully demonstrated a technique they call "targeted proteomics" that speeds up and improves the ability to identify and quantify specific proteins within a cell or microorganism.