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Scientists have investigated how genes are accessed if so tightly packed away? How can these molecules be broken apart to promote gene expression?

The word 'honeydew' sounds benign, but the sugary waste product of aphids can promote growth of bacteria that are highly virulent to the pests, according to a new study.

Rivers need water -- a fact that may seem ridiculously obvious, but in times of increasing water development, drought, and climate change, the quantity of natural streamflow that remains in river channels is coming into question, especially in the Colorado River basin. Newly published research poses a tough question in these days of falling reservoir levels and high-stakes urban development: whether the continued development of rivers for water supply can be balanced with fish conservation.

A new study finds that while young and healthy mice show clear differences between daytime and nighttime body temperature rhythms, in older and diseased animals the difference essentially disappeared.

Evolutionary biologists describe a new gene in the Central American Midas cichlid fish and identify a variant caused by a 'jumping gene' (transposon). This variant of the 'goldentouch gene' is most likely the reason for the golden coloration that can be found in a small percentage of animals of this species complex.

A newly characterized fat protein could provide the missing link to explain a rare metabolic disease while offering fresh insight into common disorders such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Scientists have developed ways to decipher effects of the CO2 rise during the past 100 years on metabolic fluxes of the key plant species in peatlands, mosses. Analyses of cellulose in peat cores collected by collaborating scientists working in five continents indicate that a CO2-driven increase in photosynthesis of mosses is strongly dependent on the water table, which may change the species composition of peat moss communities.

Researchers identified a protein called VE-cadherin as a key factor in the maintenance of lymphatic vessels serving the heart. Deleting VE-cadherin from the lymphatic vessels in newborn and adult lab mice caused the lymphatic vessels in the heart to regress and eventually disappear.