North Carolina State University researchers have created specially engineered mammalian cells to provide a new "chemical handle" which will enable researchers to label proteins of interest more efficiently, without disrupting the normal function of the proteins themselves or the cells in which they are found.

Plants leaves are sealed with a gas-tight wax layer to prevent water loss. Plants breathe through microscopic pores called stomata (Greek for mouths) on the surfaces of leaves. Over 40% of the carbon dioxide, CO2, in the atmosphere passes through stomata each year, as well a water volume twice that of the whole atmosphere. As the key conduits for CO2 uptake and water evaporation, sto

A genetic variant that increases the risk of a common type of stroke has been identified by scientists in a study published online in Nature Genetics today. This is one of the few genetic variants to date to be associated with risk of stroke and the discovery opens up new possibilities for treatment.

For the first time, a group of chemists, physicists, and engineers has developed crystalline materials that allow an optical fiber to have integrated, high-speed electronic functions. The potential applications of such optical fibers include improved telecommunications and other hybrid optical and electronic technologies, improved laser technology, and more-accurate remote-sensing devices. The res

Lost in the euphoria of the 2003 announcement that the human genome had been sequenced was a fundamental question: how can we be sure that an individual's genome has been read correctly?

When a friend tells you she had a rough day, do you feel sandpaper under your fingers? The brain may be replaying sensory experiences to help understand common metaphors, new research suggests.

Sequencing a patient's entire genome to discover the source of his or her disease is not routine – yet. But geneticists are getting close.

One of the big mysteries in biology is why cells age. Now scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies report that they have discovered a weakness in a component of brain cells that may explain how the aging process occurs in the brain.

People who suffer a traumatic experience often don't talk about it, and many forget it over time. But not talking about something doesn't always mean you'll forget it; if you try to force yourself not to think about white bears, soon you'll be imagining polar bears doing the polka. A group of psychological scientists explore the relationship between silence and memories in a new paper published in

Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) are part of an international team that has pooled their radio observations into a database, producing the highest precision map to date of the magnetic field within our own Milky Way galaxy.