Nutrients cause increase in parasites and frog deformities
Extra and missing-legged frogs have become increasingly common in North American wetlands over the last decade. Research implicates a flatworm parasite, Ribeiroia ondatrae, as the culprit of these deformities. Reasons for the apparent increase in infection and malformations, however, have remained a mystery. In the July issue of Ecology Letters,... view more... (2004-06-10)
Do 3 meals a day keep fungi away?
The fact that they eat a lot - and often - may explain why most people and other mammals are protected from the majority of fungal pathogens, according to research from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. view more (2009-10-16)
Starting over: Wnt reactivates dormant limb regeneration program
Chop off a salamander's leg and a brand new one will sprout in no time. But most animals have lost the ability to replace missing limbs. Now, a research team at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies has been able to regenerate a wing in a chick embryo - a species not known to be able to regrow limbs-suggesting that the potential for such... view more... (2006-11-20)
Smithsonian scientists find the frog legs trade may facilitate spread of pathogens
Most countries throughout the world participate in the $40-million-per-year culinary trade of frog legs in some way, with 75 percent of frog legs consumed in France, Belgium and the United States. view more (2009-11-20)
University of Ulster spearheads giant leap forward in medicine
Researchers at the University of Ulster have uncovered a vital weapon in the fight against killer conditions like cancer and heart disease - frog venom. The team, headed by Professor Chris Shaw, has discovered that molecules called peptides, secreted by rain forest frogs to ward off predators, have the potential to: * Dramatically... view more... (2001-09-19)
Scientists document salamander decline in Central America
The decline of amphibian populations worldwide has been documented primarily in frogs, but salamander populations also appear to have plummeted, according to a new study by University of California, Berkeley, biologists. view more (2009-02-10)
The first gene-encoded amphibian toxin isolated
Researchers in China have discovered the first protein-based toxin in an amphibian -a 60 amino acid neurotoxin found in the skin of a Chinese tree frog. This finding may help shed more light into both the evolution of amphibians and the evolution of poison. view more (2009-08-18)
Researchers identify gene associated with muscular dystrophy-related vision problems
Skeletal muscle disease and vision deficits might seem unrelated, but a frog model of muscular dystrophy shows it is not such a leap. view more (2009-04-21)
The Evolution of Aversion: Why even children are fearful of snakes
Some of the oldest tales and wisest mythology allude to the snake as a mischievous seducer, dangerous foe or powerful iconoclast; however, the legend surrounding this proverbial predator may not be based solely on fantasy. As scientists from the University of Virginia recently discovered, the common fear of snakes is most likely intrinsic. view more (2008-02-28)
Amphibians may develop immunity to fatal fungus
Amphibian populations are declining worldwide, principally because of the spread of the fungal disease chytridiomycosis. Researchers know that some amphibian populations and species are innately more susceptible to the disease than others. view more (2009-04-01)
Was Frankenstein a Scotsman?
An article in the May issue of Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine suggests that much of the medical inspiration for Mary Shelley's legendary novel Frankenstein came not from central Europe, but from a retired Scots physician living in Windsor. Christopher Goulding, a postgraduate student at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, bases his... view more... (2002-04-25)
A new twist on power walking
In an unprecedented breakthrough in the development of portable and renewable human-driven energy sources, an MBL (Marine Biological Laboratory) biomechanics expert who studies how muscle moves skeletons in fish and frogs has invented a backpack that gives new meaning to the term power walking. view more (2005-09-09)
Scientists discover reason behind ear canal in Chinese frog: Ultrasonic communication
A rare frog that lives in rushing streams and waterfalls of east-central China is able to make itself heard above the roar of flowing water by communicating ultrasonically. view more (2006-03-16)
Pitt research suggests EPA pesticide exposure test too short, overlooks long term effects
The four-day testing period the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) commonly uses to determine safe levels of pesticide exposure for humans and animals could fail to account for the toxins' long-term effects, University of Pittsburgh researchers report in the September edition of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. view more (2009-08-18)
Conserved gene expression reveals our 'inner fish'
A study of gene expression in chickens, frogs, pufferfish, mice and people has revealed surprising similarities in several key tissues. view more (2009-04-16)
Earliest known fossil fish discovered in China
Professor Simon Conway Morris, of the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, and Professor Degan Shu, of Northwest University, in Xi'an, China, have been analysing the fossils, along with eight other scientists from China. view more (1999-11-02)
Clawed frog helps Fanconi anemia research make leaps
A large, clawed frog is helping Oregon Health & Science University researchers gather a princely sum of knowledge on Fanconi anemia, a rare, genetic, cancer-susceptibility syndrome. view more (2006-01-25)
A biomimetic jumping microrobot
Researchers from the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems at EPFL are unveiling a novel, grasshopper-inspired jumping robot at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation May 21 in Pasadena, California. The robot weighs a miniscule 7 grams, and can jump 1.4 meters, or more than 27 times its body size -- ten times farther for its size... view more... (2008-05-22)
BBSRC Annual Report 1998-99
21 July 1999 view more (1999-07-21)
Animal food allergens unmasked
The relatedness of an animal food protein to a human protein determines whether it can cause allergy, according to new research by scientists from the Institute of Food Research in Norwich and the Medical University of Vienna. view more (2007-10-15)
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