Diabetes Prevented Reversed In Lab Study At Children's Hospital Of Pittsburgh

Microspheres carrying targeted nucleic acid molecules fabricated in the laboratory have been shown to prevent and even reverse new-onset cases of type 1 diabetes in animal models. The results of these studies were reported by diabetes researchers at the John G.

Human Ancestry Analyzed By Genetics

A new statistical approach has been determined to study the geneticvariation in populations, and has potential to answer new questions about human migration, according to an article released May 23, 2008 in the open access journal PLoS Genetics.

Concealed Weapons: Erectile Claws In African Frogs

Certain frogs of Central Africa possess bizarre defensive weapons. Unlike the claws of most vertebrates, which are externally visible and attached to the digit tip, the bony claws of these frogs lie hidden. There is no keratinous covering and the sharp, curved bone is concealed entirely within the toe.

Successful Same Sex Pairing In Laysan Albatross

What's a girl to do if there's a shortage of males and she wants to have a family? In the case of Laysan Albatross, employ a strategy called reciprocity where unrelated females pair together and take turns raising offspring. On Oahu, Hawaii, 31% of nests are female-female pairs.

A Coalescent Framework For Comparing Alternative Models Of Population Structure With Genetic Data: Evolution Of Celebes Toads

The Indonesian island of Sulawesi is home to a suite of species found nowhere else.This extraordinary diversity may be clustered in distinct geographical regions, or areas of endemism.We used a simulation approach based on genetic data to test whether areas of endemism of Sulawesi monkeys correspond with those of toads that live in the same habitat.

Phylogenomics Reveals A New Megagroup Including Most Photosynthetic Eukaryotes

In this study, we have used a huge alignment of 135 genes and 65 species to investigate very ancient evolutionary relationships within the eukaryotic tree of life.Interestingly, the paper resents evidence that there may be only 2 major groupings of eukaryotes and that one of these encloses nearly all photosynthetic lineages, thus raising the question of a possible unique origin of plastids.

Sex Differences In Responsiveness To Begging In A Cooperative Mammal

In many animals, parents feed hungry young in response to begging, with mothers often responding more than fathers.In species living in cooperative groups, both parents and helpers feed young, but less is known about how they respond to begging.We played low and high rate begging calls to meerkats and found that, while parents and helpers respond in the same way, females are better at feeding hungrier young than males.

Boolean Network Models Of Cellular Regulation: Prospects And Limitations

The processes of life of cells and organisms are controlled by small computer-like machines within our cells, made of complex networks of genes and proteins that form a web of interactions. Drawing the analogy with computers, one can extract the digital information processing that these complex molecular machines perform.

A Common Tendency For Phylogenetic Overdispersion In Mammalian Assemblages

Close relatives keep their distance. Darwin suggested that competition would be strongest between closely related species, because they need the same resources. A prediction of Darwin's idea is that ecological communities should not contain many closely related species because of the strong competition between them.

Leemor Joshua-Tor, Ph.D., CSHL Biologist And WSBS Dean, Is Named An HHMI Investigator

Leemor Joshua-Tor, Ph.D., a CSHL professor and Dean of the Watson School of Biological Sciences, has been named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator.Dr. Joshua-Tor, a structural biologist whose work is known and respected worldwide, is one of 56 new HHMI Investigators selected from among 1, 070 applicants.