Body

It can be hard to get noticed when you're a little chick in a big colony, but new research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Ecology reveals that baby birds in need of a feed have individual ways of letting their parents know.

T.rex hunted like a lion, rather than regularly scavenging like a hyena, reveals new research published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

The findings end a long-running debate about the hunting behaviour of this awesome predator.

Scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) used an ecological model based on predator relationships in the Serengeti to determine whether scavenging would have been an effective feeding strategy for T.rex.

Biologists' favorite worm gets viruses

A workhorse of modern biology is sick, and scientists couldn't be happier.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the Jacques Monod Institute in France and Cambridge University have found that the nematode C. elegans, a millimeter-long worm used extensively for decades to study many aspects of biology, gets naturally occurring viral infections.

Cholera vaccination beneficial, post-outbreak

A workhorse of modern biology is sick, and scientists couldn't be happier. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the Jacques Monod Institute in France and Cambridge University have found that the nematode C. elegans, a millimeter-long worm used extensively for decades to study many aspects of biology, can be targeted by naturally occurring viral infections. The discovery means C. elegans is likely to help scientists study the way viruses and their hosts interact.

SEATTLE – Women who have experienced hot flushes and other symptoms of menopause may have a 50 percent lower risk of developing the most common forms of breast cancer than postmenopausal women who have never had such symptoms, according to a recent study by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

The results of the first study to examine the relationship between menopausal symptoms and breast cancer risk are available online ahead of the February print issue of Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention.

Evolution by mistake

Charles Darwin based his groundbreaking theory of natural selection on the realization that genetic variation among organisms is the key to evolution.

Some individuals are better adapted to a given environment than others, making them more likely to survive and pass on their genes to future generations. But exactly how nature creates variation in the first place still poses somewhat of a puzzle to evolutionary biologists.

An analysis of data on more than 45,000 patients who underwent coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery at an academic medical center over the past 30 years finds that the occurrence of stroke after CABG has declined, despite an increase in risk profiles of patients, according to a study in the January 26 issue of JAMA.

The study, which was conducted at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg and at Alingsås Hospital, included 102 IBS patients between the ages of 18 and 65. Half the group was randomly allocated to increase their physical activity and the other half to maintain their usual lifestyle. Both groups received supportive phone calls from a physiotherapist. The active group increased their physical activity on their own, but with the advice and support from the physiotherapist.

Study raises safety concerns about experimental cancer approach

A study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has raised safety concerns about an investigational approach to treating cancer.

New method for rapidly producing protein-polymers

DURHAM, NC – Duke University bioengineers have developed a new method for rapidly producing an almost unlimited variety of man-made DNA sequences.

Surgery has not been an option in the past for children with ACL tears because of the possible damage to the growth plate that can cause serious problems later in life.

With this new technology, surgeons can actually see from one point to the other on either side of the knee, and can safely position the tunnels where they will place the new ligament.