A team of researchers has observed more rapid evolutionary responses recorded in wild populations. In just three years and three generations, a population of sticklebacks evolved tolerance to water temperature 2.5 degrees Celsius lower than that endured by their predecessors in their usual environment.

The study provides experimental evidence that evolution can help some people to survive to the effects of sudden climate change.

With a length of between 3 and 10 centimeters, stickleback fish originated in the ocean but began populating the lakes and streams of fresh water after the last ice age. In the last 10,000 years, marine sticklebacks and freshwater have developed different physical and behavioral traits, which makes them the ideal model for the natural selection theory of Darwin. (more…)

The recent publication of the complete genome sequence of an actual sea sponge, reveals genes that date back hundreds of millions of years ago. The genome sequence shows the high genetic complexity that existed at the time and reveals that the genetic roots of cancer evolutionary sink in these animals.

A team of scientists, including four from the University of California at Santa Barbara, carried out the sequencing of the current genome of a marine sponge from Great Barrier Reef of Australia. The sponge belongs to a group of organisms of 650 million years old. (more…)

CUn international team of scientists identified a gene variant that may explain the cause of several common types of migraine. The study, which analyzed genetic data from more than 50,000 people, provides the first information about what might cause some people more susceptible to migraine. The researchers, who published details of the study in the journal Nature Genetics, hope the study will lead to the development of new therapies against the disorder that affects one in six women and one in 12 men.

Migraine is a disorder that causes the release of the nerves and blood vessels in the head of inflammatory chemicals that cause pain. Usually migraine attacks occur once a month, but the frequency can vary from once a year to once a week. (more…)

Internal movements of the guts of caterpillars when they are moved to help move. So reveals a study, to be useful for biology but also for engineering, because the finding may inspire designs of robots made from soft and flexible, able to crawl around corners with the same ease that characterizes the caterpillars.

The work has been conducted by a team of biologists and engineers, including Jake Socha, Virginia Institute of Technology (Virginia Tech), Michael Simon and Barry Trimmer, both from the Department of Biology, Tufts University. (more…)

The origin of the ability of animals (including humans) and plants to reproduce sexually recombine genetically to repair DNA, and then produce eggs, sperm or pollen, is a biological enigma unsolved. It has now proposed a new theory on the mysterious evolution of this type of reproduction.

Harris Bernstein and Carol Bernstein, researchers from University of Arizona think they have found key clues about the early evolution of gendered bodies and the role that environmental constraints were taken into sexual reproduction as crucial survival strategy of species. (more…)

Peter Hirst, professor of horticulture at Purdue University has found that an anomaly in certain causes some apples grow to a size well above the rest, because their cells do not divide the blocks as normal.

The finding shows that the new variety is approximately 38 per cent heavier and has a diameter 15 percent larger than normal.

The phenomenon has never before been seen in apples. It is a rarity for this fruit. (more…)

Cleaning products used in homes and in commercial or agricultural facilities, could be contributing to increased bacterial resistance in food-borne pathogens such as Salmonella. This is the disturbing discovery made by a team of scientists from the University of Birmingham.

The authors of the study recommend a drastic reduction in the use “frivolous” of biocides, especially in household products, to ensure that the number of resistant bacterial strains does not increase. (more…)

An investigation has revealed that plants, like animals, they also have a war between the sexes when it comes to creating new offspring.

The discovery could open new avenues of research that would lead to increased yields and improved food security for a global human population constantly growing.

In the animal kingdom, mothers tend to spend more resources than parents to create new offspring. (more…)

The University of Bristol has been involved in the proposed revision of a murder case in the context of a scientific program to apply modern techniques of DNA identification by reviewing old crimes in which such techniques were not used and on which there is reasonable doubt that the convicted person might actually be innocent.

The case in question is that of Neil Hurley, who is serving a life sentence for the murder of Sharon Pritchard. (more…)

The type of delivery with a baby comes into the world has great impact on microbial communities has at birth, as is clear from the results of a reinvestigation. These effects on the types of initial microbial communities may have important implications for the health of young as they grow and develop.

The study, led from the University of Puerto Rico, shows that babies born vaginally examined bacterial communities were similar to those of its mother’s vaginal bacteria, while infants whose birth had been by caesarean section were similar to bacterial communities of the common skin. The researchers believe that many different microbial communities that reside in human beings, each unique to one person, can help protect the individual against various diseases. (more…)