Showing 20 articles starting at article 1861

< Previous 20 articles        Next 20 articles >

Categories: Anthropology: Early Humans, Biology: Microbiology

Return to the site home page

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A tortoise from a Galápagos species long believed extinct has been found alive. Fernanda, named after her Fernandina Island home, is the first of her species identified in more than a century. Geneticist successfully extracted DNA from a specimen collected from the same island more than a century ago and confirmed that Fernanda and the museum specimen are members of the same species and genetically distinct from all other Galápagos tortoises.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study is providing an enhanced look at the intertwined evolutionary histories of polar bears and brown bears. Becoming separate species did not completely stop these animals from mating with each other. Scientists have known this for some time, but the new research draws on an expanded dataset -- including DNA from an ancient polar bear tooth -- to tease out more detail.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Modern humans are characterized by their prosociality, a broad term that encompasses intraspecies empathy, social tolerance, cooperation and altruism. These facets of social cognition have been associated with variations in the oxytocin and vasotocin genes (OT and VT) and their receptors (OTR and VTR).To shed light on the genetic basis of this behavior, scientists carried out a new study comparing the available genomic sequences of these genes between modern humans, non-human primate species (e.g., chimpanzees, bonobos, and macaques) and archaic humans, using all the available genomes of Neanderthals and Denisovans.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have explored the importance of sea travel in prehistory by examining the genomes of ancient Maltese humans and comparing these with the genomes of this period from across Europe. Previous findings from the archaeological team had suggested that towards the end of the third millennium BC the use of the Maltese temples declined. Now, using genetic data from ancient Maltese individuals the current interdisciplinary research team has suggested a potential contributing cause. Researchers found that these ancient humans lacked some of the signatures of genetic changes that swept across Europe in this period, because of their island separation. Scientists concluded that physical topography, in particular seascapes played a central role as barriers to genetic exchange.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

What links a finger bone and some fossil teeth found in a cave in the remote Altai Mountains of Siberia to a single tooth found in a cave in the limestone landscapes of tropical Laos? The answer to this question has been established by an international team of researchers from Laos, Europe, the US and Australia. The human tooth was chanced upon during an archaeological survey in a remote area of Laos. The scientists have shown it originated from the same ancient human population first recognised in Denisova Cave (dubbed the Denisovans), in the Altai Mountains of Siberia (Russia).

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A promising new treatment for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) has shown 'very encouraging' early results following its use in six patients.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

China's Père David's deer was nearly gone in the late 1800s. Just 18 deer -- the very last of their kind -- were brought into captivity after the rest had been hunted to extinction. When 11 of the deer reproduced, the species had a chance. Today, after centuries of reintroductions and breeding under human care, the population sits at around 3,000. It's a success story. But that success could come crashing down if chronic wasting disease (CWD) were to infect the population.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Proteins in the brain called prions are well known for their involvement in causing disease, but a new study suggests they may help yeast cope with rapidly changing environmental conditions.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

The highest-ever resolution imaging of an infectious prion provides the first atomic-level data of how these abnormal proteins are assembled to cause fatal neurodegenerative diseases in people and animals -- and how they can be potentially targeted by new therapies.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Human prion diseases include Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease (GSS). A new study reports a significant advance in the development of mouse models of human prion diseases. The study demonstrates spontaneous formation of disease-relevant, transmissible prion protein assemblies in mice bearing only human forms of the prion protein.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A professor of biochemistry and molecular biology report an unanticipated role for prion nucleation seeds that enhances their ability to appear and resist curing.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A 5-minute soak in a 40% solution of household bleach decontaminated stainless steel wires coated with chronic wasting disease (CWD) prions, according to a new study. The scientists used the wires to model knives and saws that hunters and meat processors use when handling deer, elk and moose - all of which are susceptible to CWD.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have developed a new gene-targeted approach to study chronic wasting disease in mice, allowing opportunities for research that has not previously existed.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Some deer are more susceptible to chronic wasting disease that is spreading through herds of white-tailed deer across much of the United States, according to researchers, who have identified a panel of genetic markers that reliably predict which animals are most vulnerable to the contagious neurological disorder.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists studying the progression of inherited and infectious eye diseases that can cause blindness have found that microglia, a type of nervous system cell suspected to cause retinal damage, surprisingly had no damaging role during prion disease in mice. In contrast, the study findings indicated that microglia might delay disease progression.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Prions can infect both humans and animals, causing Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans, mad cow disease in cattle, and chronic wasting disease in elk and deer. The infectious, misfolded protein particles often go undetected as they destroy brain tissue, causing memory loss, mobility issues, and ultimately death. Preclinical detection of prions has proven difficult, but new research suggests skin samples hold early signs of prion disease that precede neurologic symptoms.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A study has confirmed that some vials of a hormone used in discontinued medical treatments contained seeds of a protein implicated in Alzheimer's disease, and are able to seed amyloid pathology in mice.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A major compound in soil organic matter degrades chronic wasting disease prions and decreases infectivity in mice, according to a new study.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

By the time symptoms of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) are typically discovered, death is looming and inevitable. In a new study, researchers report finding tell-tale evidence of the condition's infectious agent in the eyes of deceased sCJD patients, making the eye a potential source for both early CJD detection and prevention of disease transmission.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

The first example of prion strains that replicate independently in vitro and in vivo suggests that strain diversity may be greater than previously thought, according to a new study.