Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

ScienceDaily: Plants & Animals News

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• Chemists develop reversible method of tagging proteins
• Most coral reefs are at risk unless climate change is drastically limited, study shows
• Flu antibody’s 'one-handed grab' may boost effort toward universal vaccine, new therapies
• How bees decide what to be: Reversible 'epigenetic' marks linked to behavior patterns

Chemists develop reversible method of tagging proteins Posted: 16 Sep 2012 01:09 PM PDT Chemists have developed a method that for the first time provides scientists the ability to attach chemical probes onto proteins and subsequently remove them in a repeatable cycle.

Most coral reefs are at risk unless climate change is drastically limited, study shows Posted: 16 Sep 2012 01:09 PM PDT Coral reefs face severe challenges even if global warming is restricted to the two degrees Celsius commonly perceived as safe for many natural and human-made systems. Warmer sea surface temperatures are likely to trigger more frequent and more intense mass coral bleaching events.

Flu antibody’s 'one-handed grab' may boost effort toward universal vaccine, new therapies Posted: 16 Sep 2012 01:08 PM PDT Scientists have solved the co-crystal structure of a human antibody that can neutralize influenza viruses in a unique way. The antibody recognizes the crucial structure that flu viruses use to attach to host cells, even though previously this structure had been thought too small for an antibody to grab effectively. The immune protein manages to hit this precise spot by using just a small part of its target-grabbing apparatus. In so doing, it can neutralize a broad range of dangerous flu viruses.

How bees decide what to be: Reversible 'epigenetic' marks linked to behavior patterns Posted: 16 Sep 2012 01:08 PM PDT Scientists report what is believed to be the first evidence that complex, reversible behavioral patterns in bees -- and presumably other animals -- are linked to reversible chemical tags on genes.