233 Articles with the topic: Plant Biology
Ginkgo Biloba Does Not Reduce Dementia Risk, Study Shows
piggy submitted, created time 2 days 14 minutes (www.sciencedaily.com)
The medicinal herb Ginkgo biloba does not reduce the risk of dementia or Alzheimer's disease development in either the healthy elderly or those with mild cognitive impairment, according to a large multicenter trial led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Findings from the Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory (GEM) Study, which is the first to have the necessary participant numbers and monitoring years to enable measurement of G. biloba's effectiveness and safety profile in dementia prevention, were just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association 
Chemical from Medicinal Plants May Be Used to Fight HIV
piggy submitted, created time 3 days 21 hours (www.sciencedaily.com)
Like other kinds of cells, immune cells lose the ability to divide as they age because a part of their chromosomes known as a telomere becomes progressively shorter with cell division. As a result, the cell changes in many ways, and its disease fighting ability is compromised.
But a new UCLA AIDS Institute study has found that a chemical from the Astragalus root, frequently used in Chinese herbal therapy, can prevent or slow this progressive telomere shortening, which could make it a key weapon in the fight against HIV
piggy submitted, created time 6 days 21 hours (sciencenow.sciencemag.org)
A common European weed has turned its compact flower into an expansive, yellow-petalled blossom by borrowing a couple of genes from a close Italian relative. Researchers say the exchange is a rare documented example of beneficial genetic flow between species. It also challenges the notion that higher organisms must rely on their own genes to evolve.
The story starts three hundred years ago, when botanists introduced a yellow Sicilian flower called Senecio squalidus to Oxford, U.K. At the time, there was only one variety of a British weed known as the common groundsel (S
Colony collapse harms bees but not agriculture ...at least not yet.
Darkfrog submitted, created time 1 month 3 days (www.nature.com)
Colony collapse disorder might be messing with bees and other insects like there's no tomorrow, but nevertheless, a new day dawns for human agriculture. It seems that we don't need them quite as much as we thought.
A study out of UC Berkeley mines data from the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization from 1961 to 2006 and compared the yields of both pollinator-dependant and non-pollinator-dependant crops. They found that in developing countries and developed, crop yields were still going up. In the tropics, there was no difference between seed- and wind-pollinated crops
Are vertical farms the next necessary step in agriculture?
Darkfrog submitted, created time 1 month 2 weeks (www.sciam.com)
Scientific American here highlights urban farming. The idea is that we spend all this time, water and energy not only growing and fertilizing plants the old-fashioned way but then transporting the food products all the way from the farms to the cities, where most of the people live and where--by 2050, a whole lot more people are going to live.
The article describes growing fruits and vegetables inside tall glass buildings like some kind of modern-day hanging gardens (I wonder if they give +2 happy faces like in Civilization). We've got construction and glassmaking technology
Walnut trees emit aspirin-like chemical to deal with stress
sea-maid submitted, created time 2 months 21 hours (esciencenews.com)
Scientists have known for some time that plants can produce their own stress-killers--aspirin is famously produced in willow and walnut trees--but now they've been able to confirm that these compounds are released into the surrounding atmosphere in significant quantities.
Plants' daily alarm clock discovered
sea-maid submitted, created time 2 months 4 days (www.newscientist.com)
A newly discovered family of genes acts as a plant's daily alarm, triggering a growth spurt just before dawn. By tweaking these genes, scientists may one day be able to engineer crops that grow for longer every day to produce bigger yields.
The timing of the growth spurt is known to be choreographed by the plant's circadian clock, which is reset by changes in light at dawn and dusk. The clock dictates when most physiological processes, such as the uptake of water and the breakdown of starch, happen throughout the day
Biotechnology: Can hydrogels solve our water problem?
Darkfrog submitted, created time 2 months 1 week (www.nature.com)
I remember reading BIll Bryson's description of a pre-blight American chestnut tree. When he came to the transpiration of water, he said, "imagine how much metal and noise humans would have to use to move that many gallons water."
Well artificial water transport just got a bit quieter, even if it can't match the chestnut just yet. A tiny microtree made from the same type of gel used to make contact lenses has mimicked water transport in plants. Scientists say that it could be used to extract water in dry places or make more efficient cooling systems
Hot peppers really do bring the heat
sea-maid submitted, created time 3 months 2 weeks (www.eurekalert.org)
Researchers have found that capsaicin, the active chemical in chili peppers, can induce thermogenesis, the process by which cells convert energy into heat.
Is Smokey the Bear Worsening Global Warming?
sea-maid submitted, created time 3 months 3 weeks (sciencenow.sciencemag.org)
Scientists have long believed that preventing or dousing forest fires helps combat global warming by saving trees and thus allowing forests to take up more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But surprising new data on hundreds of California forest sites suggest the opposite. The work could help quantify the role of forests in the global carbon cycle and shape U.S. federal fire policy.
Small, natural fires thin out shrubs and small trees without killing larger trees. This allows the larger trees, which absorb the most carbon, to flourish without interference
Genetically engineered tobacco plants used to grow anti-lymphoma vaccine
Darkfrog submitted, created time 3 months 3 weeks (www.sciam.com)
Reports in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences report that an experimental vaccines has triggered the immune systems of eleven (out of sixteen) patients to attack their tumors. The patients are afflicted with what is called follicular B-cell lymphoma. Dangerous side effects? None.
The interesting part? The vaccine was grown courtesy of some genetically engineered tobacco plants.
Of course, all of the patients were also receiving chemotherapy at the time, so it may be difficult to tell which results may be attributed to the vaccine itself
The bright side of biofuels isn't so bright
Darkfrog submitted, created time 4 months 1 week (sciencenow.sciencemag.org)
The argument in favor of biofuels--petroleum-replacement fuels made from plants like corn, soybeans and switchgrass--is that while burning oil releases new carbon into the air, burning biofuels would release only the carbon that the plants had absorbed from the air during their growth cycle. The net effect would be zero.
However, if one looks at the big picture, biofuels lose their luster. Not only has the conversion of food farms to fuel farms driven up food prices worldwide, but in the tropics, farmers are cutting down carbon-absorbing forests for corn plantations
Mars soil capable of sustaining plant life
sea-maid submitted, created time 4 months 3 weeks (www.latimes.com)
Surprisingly alkaline, the soil on Mars it could support green beans and asparagus, say Phoenix mission scientists, who are "flabbergasted" by the findings.
Dual Functions of the KNOTTED1 Homeodomain
jerry submitted, created time 5 months 3 days (stke.sciencemag.org)
This research found KNOTTED1 Homeodomain's dual functions. They are sequence-specific DNA binding and regulation of cell-to-cell transport
Ancient Palm Resurrected from 2000-Year-Old Seed
jerry submitted, created time 5 months 1 week (sciencenow.sciencemag.org)
Scientists have successfully grown a date palm from a 2000-year-old seed dug up from the Judean desert. That makes the seed, whose age has just been verified by radiocarbon dating, the oldest ever to germinate.
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