It's been a year since the official launch of Biology News Net! We improved a lot since then... if you want to see the website in its first incarnation, visit the defunct The Scientist Blog! That's right... for those who didn't knew, this website was started as a blog as I was writing my Masters thesis. There's still room for improvement I'm sure; if you have ideas / suggestions / comments, use the comment form, the forum or the contact form!

Only one thing bothers me: 276 registered users and almost no comments! I just revamped the comments section at the bottom of each article; hope it will help!

So happy 1st year to Biology News Net!

Scientists have completed the first human clinical trial of a recombinant vaccine for the deadly toxin ricin – a potential bioterror threat – and the results indicate the vaccine is safe and effective in eliciting ricin-neutralizing antibodies, the UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report.

Sylvia grooms Sierra (deceased). (Photo: Anne Engh) When Sylvia the baboon lost Sierra, her closest grooming partner and daughter, to a lion, she responded in a way that would be considered very human-like: she looked to friends for support. According to researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, baboons physiologically respond to bereavement in ways similar to humans, with an increase in stress hormones called glucocorticoids. Baboons can lower their glucocorticoid levels through friendly social contact, expanding their social network after the loss of specific close companions.

The genetic code of marsupials has now been documented for the first time. An international team led by Kathy Belov from the University of Sydney's Faculty of Veterinary Science published an analysis of the marsupial genome in the open access journal PLoS Biology. The paper details the evolution of an important cluster of immune genes known as the MHC using available genome sequences of the gray, short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica), a marsupial found in South America.

Tens of millions of Asian vultures-including the oriental white-backed vulture (Gyps bengalensis), above-have vanished from the Indian subcontinent since the early 1990s (Image: Goran Ekstrom)Today saw a glimmer of hope for the three species of Asian vulture threatened with extinction.

Deadly and damaging toxins that allow anthrax to cause disease and death in mammals have similar toxic effects in fruit flies, according to a study conducted by biologists at the University of California, San Diego.

Investigators have discovered that some type of protective system goes into action in some cases when a baby's immune system is deficient. This discovery indicates a hidden safety net that might have far-reaching consequences for treating diseases of the immune system such as AIDS. The Mayo Clinic-led study was conducted with colleagues in Toronto and Baltimore, and is reported in the early online edition of the Feb. 1 Journal of Immunology (http://www.jimmunol.org/future/176.3.shtml).

A "starry sky" map linking the myriad interactions between the influenza virus and its human host will help guide researchers in creating new anti-viral drugs, say researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Scientists have discovered that a wide variety of different cancers actually share something in common – a molecular "signature" made up of tiny bits of genetic material called microRNA (miRNA) that target key cancer genes and promote malignant growth.

Every year an estimated 8 million children -- about 6 percent of total births worldwide -- are born with a serious birth defect of genetic or partially genetic origin, according to a new report from the March of Dimes.

Scientists at the Carnegie Institution's Department of Plant Biology have found that photosynthetic bacteria living in scalding Yellowstone hot springs have two radically different metabolic identities. As the sun goes down, these cells quit their day job of photosynthesis and unexpectedly begin to fix nitrogen, converting nitrogen gas (N2) into compounds that are useful for cell growth.