Under ultraviolet light in a Petri dish containing laundry whitener, symbiotic bacteria with a mutant bluB gene (lower right) fluoresce brightly, while the same bacteria with no mutation only glow slightly (top right), and bacteria with another mutation (in the exoY gene) are completely dark. Image: Michiko TagaFor decades, scientists have wondered how living organisms manufacture the essential vitamin B12. Now, using laundry whitener and dirt-dwelling bacteria--the everyday ingredients of an undergraduate science experiment--researchers may have found the major clue they need to solve the mystery.

Past research on aging and the life histories of diverse species has shown that sexual reproduction is biologically costly for individuals and tends to decrease lifespan rather than increase it. But a new study by Philip Dammann and Hynek Burda from the University of Duisburg-Essen shows that, in a vertebrate species, the opposite can be true as well.

Gone does not necessarily mean forgotten, especially in biology. A recent finding by researchers at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and colleagues from the University of Manchester have found new evidence that the ability to form previously lost organs--in this case, teeth--can be maintained millions of years after the last known ancestor possessed them.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who recently reported that DNA-wrapped carbon nanotubes could serve as sensors in living cells now say the tiny tubes can be used to target specific DNA sequences. Potential applications for the new sensors range from rapid detection of hazardous biological agents to simpler and more efficient forensic identification.

Vical Incorporated announced today that an Ebola vaccine candidate administered using Vical's proprietary DNA delivery technology was safe and well tolerated, and produced both antibody and T-cell Ebola-specific responses in all healthy volunteers who received the full 3 doses of vaccine.

As the prism of our senses, the human brain has ways of refracting sensory input in defiance of reality.

A team of researchers from the UAB has found experimental evidence in rats showing a link between addiction to morphine and the tendency to explore perseveringly. This is the first time a direct relationship has been found without other psychological characteristics, such as anxiousness, that might affect results. Published in Behavioural Brain Research, the results of this study are useful for planning preventative strategies in the risk population.

Each year, the red knot, a medium-sized shorebird, makes a 20,000-mile round-trip from the southern tip of Argentina to the Artic Circle – one of the longest migrations of any bird. And each year from April to June, the red knot stops over in the Delaware Bay to feed on horseshoe crab eggs resulting from the largest spawning of horseshoe crabs found on the East Coast of the United States.