ScienceDaily: Biotechnology News

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• First kangaroo genome sequence reveals possible gene responsible for characteristic hop
• Molecular scientists develop color-changing stress sensor
• Biologists' discovery may force revision of biology textbooks: Novel chromatin particle halfway between DNA and a nucleosome
• Three waves of evolutionary innovation shaped diversity of vertebrates, genome analysis reveals
• New mechanism of genomic instability revealed
• Regenerative powers in the animal kingdom explored
• New component of a plant steroid-activated pathway discovered
• Physicists uncover new data on adenine, a crucial building block of life

First kangaroo genome sequence reveals possible gene responsible for characteristic hop Posted: 18 Aug 2011 06:15 PM PDT Kangaroos form an important niche in the tree of life, but until now their DNA had never been sequenced. In a new article, an international consortium of researchers present the first kangaroo genome sequence -- that of the tammar wallaby species -- and find hidden in their data the gene that may well be responsible for the kangaroo's characteristic hop.

Molecular scientists develop color-changing stress sensor Posted: 18 Aug 2011 04:06 PM PDT It is helpful -- even life-saving -- to have a warning sign before a structural system fails, but, when the system is only a few nanometers in size, having a sign that's easy to read is a challenge. Now, thanks to a clever bit of molecular design by bioengineers and chemists, such warning can come in the form of a simple color change.

Biologists' discovery may force revision of biology textbooks: Novel chromatin particle halfway between DNA and a nucleosome Posted: 18 Aug 2011 11:28 AM PDT Basic biology textbooks may need a bit of revising now that biologists have discovered a never-before-noticed component of our basic genetic material.

Three waves of evolutionary innovation shaped diversity of vertebrates, genome analysis reveals Posted: 18 Aug 2011 11:27 AM PDT Over the past 530 million years, the vertebrate lineage branched out from a primitive jawless fish wriggling through Cambrian seas to encompass all the diverse forms of fish, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals. Now researchers combing through the DNA sequences of vertebrate genomes have identified three distinct periods of evolutionary innovation that accompanied this remarkable diversification.

New mechanism of genomic instability revealed Posted: 18 Aug 2011 10:22 AM PDT Researchers have discovered the cellular mechanisms that normally generate chromosomal breaks in bacteria such as E. coli.

Regenerative powers in the animal kingdom explored Posted: 18 Aug 2011 10:21 AM PDT Why can one animal re-grow tissues and recover function after injury, while another animal (such as a human being) cannot? This is a central question of regenerative biology, a field that has captured the imagination of scientists and the public since the 18th century, and one that is finally gaining traction and momentum through modern methods of analysis.

New component of a plant steroid-activated pathway discovered Posted: 18 Aug 2011 10:21 AM PDT Plant biologists have been working for years to nail down the series of chemical signals that one class of plant hormones, brassinosteroids, send from a protein on the surface of a cell to the nucleus. New research has isolated another link in this chain. Fully understanding the brassinosteroid pathway could help scientists better understand plant growth and help improve food and energy crop production.

Physicists uncover new data on adenine, a crucial building block of life Posted: 18 Aug 2011 07:17 AM PDT Physicists have shown that one of the building blocks of DNA and RNA, adenine, has an unexpectedly variable range of ionization energies along its reaction pathways.

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