Biological Sciences
Economical options for RNA Synthesis - Price for RNA molecules spiral downward as demand goes up.
| 4 min read
Getting to the $1,000 Genome - DNA sequencing technologies strive for higher throughputs and lower costs.
| 5 min read
NASA is preparing to fly a small satellite about the size of a loaf of bread that could help scientists better understand how effectively drugs work in space.
| 2 min read
Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a membrane-penetrating nanoneedle for the targeted delivery of one or more molecules into the cytoplasm or the nucleus of living cells.
| 2 min read
By sampling clouds -- and making their own -- researchers have shown for the first time a direct relation between lead in the sky and the formation of ice crystals that foster clouds. The results suggest that lead generated by human activities causes clouds to form at warmer temperatures and with less water. This could alter the pattern of both rain and snow in a warmer world.
| 3 min read
Astronauts recently had their gloves swabbed in an early effort to develop planetary protection measures that prevent humans from accidentally contaminating the moon or Mars on future missions.
| 2 min read
Air quality models have achieved a great degree of sophistication over the last few years thanks mainly to scientific and computational advances.
| 2 min read
The National Research Council and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) surveyed a sample of AAAS members in the life sciences to assess their awareness of and attitudes toward "dual-use" research studies undertaken for beneficial purposes that could also have harmful applications such as bioterrorism.
| 3 min read
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed a new certified reference material that can be an important quality assurance tool for measuring the amounts of vitamins, carotenoids, and trace elements in dietary supplements.
| 2 min read
University of Utah physicists and chemists developed a new method that uses a mirror of tiny silver nanoparticles so microscopes can reveal the internal structure of nearly opaque biological materials like bone, tumor cells and the iridescent green scales of the so-called photonic beetle.
| 4 min read
Iowa State University researchers have developed a technique for testing for the presence of salmonella that may give investigators better, faster answers.
| 3 min read
With the help of a squid that uses a luminescent bacterium to create a predator-fooling light organ and a fish that uses a different strain of the same species of bacteria like a flashlight to illuminate the dark nooks of the reefs where it lives, scientists have found that gaining a single gene is enough for the microbe to switch host animals.
| 3 min read
