Blame Your Taste Buds for Liking Fat: Receptor for Tasting Fat Identified in Humans

Why do we like fatty foods so much? We can blame our taste buds. Our tongues apparently recognize and have an affinity for fat, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. They have found that variations in a gene can make people more or less sensitive to the taste of fat. The study is the first to identify a human receptor that can taste fat and suggests tha

Read Full Article

Introduction of Asian Ladybugs Into Europe Serious Mistake, Experts Say

In retrospect, introducing the Asian ladybird into Europe was a serious mistake. The insect was introduced some twenty years ago in a conscious attempt to combat aphids. But research carried out at Wageningen UR (University & Research centre) into the invasion of this foreign insect has shown that the disadvantages far outweigh this single advantage. The Asian species is displacing the native Euro

Read Full Article

How Plants Make Cocaine

Cocaine is one of the most commonly used (and abused) plant-derived drugs in the world, but we have almost no modern information on how plants produce this complex alkaloid. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, have just discovered a key reaction in cocaine formation in the coca plant from South America, and identified the responsible enzyme. This enzyme

Read Full Article

Magnetic Bacteria Could Build 'Bio-Computers’

A species of bacteria that eats iron and turns it into magnetic particles could one day build your computer’s memory.Researchers at the University of Leeds have capitalized on the natural ability of the bacterium,Magnetospirillum magneticum, to eat atom-sized bits of iron and turn those bits into tiny magnets that it then stores inside itself. The nanometer-sized magnetic parts are similar to thos

Read Full Article

Mechanism That Gives Plants 'Balance' Discovered

When a plant goes into defense mode in order to protect itself against harsh weather or disease, that's good for the plant, but bad for the farmer growing the plant. Bad because when a plant acts to defend itself, it turns off its growth mechanism. But now researchers at Michigan State University, as part of an international collaboration, have figured out how plants can make the "decision" betwe

Read Full Article

Source Of Major Health Benefits In Olive Oil Revealed

Scientists have pinned down the constituent of olive oil that gives greatest protection from heart attack and stroke. In a study of the major antioxidants in olive oil, Portuguese researchers showed that one, DHPEA-EDA, protects red blood cells from damage more than any other part of olive oil. "These findings provide the scientific basis for the clear health benefits that have been seen in people

Read Full Article

Distribution of parthenium weed, an alien invasive weed threatening the biodiversity of Islamabad

Biological invasion by alien invasive species is now recognized as one of the major threats to native species and ecosystems. Parthenium weed (Parthenium hysterophorus L.), an alien invasive weed species, is spreading throughout Pakistan. Worldwide, it has been designated as one of the most troublesome weed species. The adverse effects of this weed on human beings, livestock, crop production, and b

Read Full Article

Can Behavior Be Controlled by Genes? The Case of Honeybee Work Assignments

What worker bees do depends on how old they are. A worker a few days old will become a nurse bee that devotes herself to feeding larvae (brood), secreting beeswax to seal the cells that contain brood and attending to the queen. After about a week, she will progress to other tasks, such as grooming nest mates, ventilating the nest and packing pollen. Only at the end of her life will she become a fo

Read Full Article

Historical prospective in the Development of Quality Concepts

I believe that quality starts from selection. It is a human nature that we select the best available, so if we have only one available then we are force to chose that, otherwise we select the best available one. Selection is actually action or facts for carefully choosing something best in an informal way, but when something is being chosen out in a formal way (means in an organized way) it beco

Read Full Article

Scientists prove the healing effects of wheat grass juice and wheat grass extract

(NaturalNews) Wheat grass is composed of the young shoots of wheat before stalks form a head with grain. It contains no wheat gluten, and is considered by many natural health professionals to possess healing properties. Wheat grass is, by composition, a superfood. This is due to wheat grass's heavy concentration of chlorophyll, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes. Wheat grass is usually consumed eithe

Read Full Article