Worms

Using microRNAs to track evolutionary history

harminka — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:21:13 -0500

The large group of segmented worms known as annelids, which includes earthworms, leeches and bristle worms, evolved millions of years ago and can be found in every corner of the world.

Worms may serve as new source for antibiotics

harminka — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 12:30:17 -0500

In an advance that could help ease the antibiotic drought, scientists in Massachusetts are describing successful use of a test that enlists pinhead-sized worms in efforts to discover badly needed new antibiotics. Their study appeared in ACS Chemical Biology, a monthly journal.

Synthetic sea worm glue may mend shattered knee

harminka — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:23:36 -0600

Sandcastle worms live in intertidal surf, building sturdy tube-shaped homes from bitsworms of sand and shell and their own natural glue. University of Utah bioengineers have made a synthetic version of this seaworthy superglue, and hope it will be used within several years to repair shattered bones in knees, other joints and the face.

Earthworms more diverse than first thought

harminka — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:26:11 -0500

Scientists have found that the UK's common or garden earthworms are far more diverse than previously thought, a discovery with important consequences for agriculture.

Eliminating intestinal worms in Ethiopia

harminka — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 07:31:17 -0500

A professor at The Faculty of Health Sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) is beginning an intensive program in Ethiopia this August to eradicate intestinal worms which affect as much as 50 percent of the population in Africa.

Mate or hibernate?

harminka — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:39:40 -0500

If worms could talk, they might tell potential suitors, "I like the way you wriggle," complete with that telltale come slither look. But worms send their valentines via signals known as pheromones, a complex chemical code researchers are now cracking, according to a study published Wednesday (July 23) in the journal Nature.

Sex and lifespan linked in worms

harminka — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 09:12:27 -0500

A group of scientists who set out to study sex pheromones in a tiny worm found that the same family of pheromones also controls a stage in the worms' life cycle, the long-lived dauer larva.

Parasitic worm infections increase susceptibility to AIDS viruses

harminka — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:07:20 -0500

Persons infected with schistosomes, and possibly other parasitic worm infections, may be more likely to become infected with HIV than persons without worm infections, according to a study published July 23rd in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. Researchers at the U.S.

Iceberg scour affects biodiversity

harminka — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:18:52 -0500

Antarctic worms, sea spiders, urchins and other marine creatures living in near-shore shallow habitats are regularly pounded by icebergs. New data suggests this environment along the Antarctic Peninsula is going to get hit more frequently.

Early bird project really gets worm

harminka — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:33:42 -0500

Scientists from the LSU Museum of Natural Science, or MNS, recently participated in a project joining together the most prominent ornithological research programs in the world.

Worm-like marine animal providing

harminka — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:25:26 -0500

Research on the genome of a marine creature led by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego is shedding new light on a key area of the tree of life.

The secret behind silkworm's hardy stomachs

harminka — Wed, 28 May 2008 02:22:36 -0500

Silkworms have a unique ability to eat toxic mulberry leaves without feeling ill, and researchers have come one step closer to understanding why: silkworms contain a special digestive enzyme that is not affected by mulberry’s toxic chemicals.