http://ec.europa.eu//research/index.cfm?pg=whatsnew en Wed, 22 May 2013 14:45:39 GMT http://ec.europa.eu/research/index.cfm?pg=rss For more RSS news feeds click the link above. Wed, 22 May 2013 14:45:39 GMT http://ec.europa.eu/research/index.cfm?pg=rss http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_13_03_27_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=29518 Survival of the fittest, according to Darwin's theory of evolution, is a slow biological process that takes place in a species over many generations. But Spanish researcher Marta López Darias and colleagues had a different idea. Her EU-funded research contributes to the growing body of evidence pointing to "rapid evolution in action".]]> Wed, 27 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2013-03-27:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_13_03_27_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=29518 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_13_03_21_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=29453 A century old mystery as to why, for some animals, it's the father rather than the mother that takes care of their young has been cracked by researchers at the University of Sheffield. ]]> Thu, 21 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2013-03-21:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_13_03_21_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=29453 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_13_02_22_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=29293 Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) & cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) are parasitic diseases transmitted to humans by the bite of sand flies. In VL, the parasite migrates to the internal organs such as liver, spleen and bone marrow. Signs and symptoms include fever, weight loss, mucosal ulcers, fatigue, anaemia and substantial swelling of the liver and spleen. VL if left untreated will almost always result in the death of the host. Meanwhile, CL is the most common form of leishmaniasis. It is a skin infection caused by a single-celled parasite that is also transmitted by sand fly bites and can cause facial disfigurement.]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2013-02-22:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_13_02_22_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=29293 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_13_01_23_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=29095 The bioeconomy is growing at an unprecedented rate, and the demand for new services and more efficient tools to boost business in this industry is ever increasing. Because of this growth, the need for management of biological information is proving to be vital in keeping up with demand and new concepts. This is evident with the latest figures, which reveal that the global market for bioinformatics is expected to reach more than EUR 4.5 billion next year. In order to home in on this demand, Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, has devised a concept aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Its focus is on developing new business from the management of biological information.]]> Wed, 23 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2013-01-23:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_13_01_23_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=29095 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_13_01_08_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=28914 The bioeconomy concept is rapidly growing in importance on a global scale. It embraces the sustainable use of biological resources from the land and sea, as well as waste, as inputs to food and feed, industrial and energy production, and also covers the use of bio-based processes inindustry. This is vital as we continue to consume the Earth's resources, many of which are not renewable, at an accelerating rate.. The bioeconomy is already a reality. For example, bio-fuels (ethanol and diesel), are being made directly from agricultural crops, and even bio-waste has the potential to become an alternative to chemical fertilizers or to generate bio-energy, which could meet 2 % of the EU renewable energy target. Indeed Europe is leading the way in various fields of biosciences and technologies but international competitors are catching up.]]> Tue, 08 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2013-01-08:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_13_01_08_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=28914 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-bioptrain&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=28758 Nanotechnology, the manipulation of matter on a molecular scale, brings together different sciences. It is not just about the physics of atomic arrangements, but also about the chemistry of each element involved. The mix becomes yet more complex when living organisms interact with the tiny structures. But by embracing this complexity - bringing together chemists, physicists, biologists and engineers - a research project has provided new insights into nanotechnology. ]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2012-12-18:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-bioptrain&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=28758 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_10_31_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=27833 Researchers in the United Kingdom and the United States have developed a new interactive website that allows users to explore the evolutionary tree of life. Called OneZoom™, the site went live on 16 October. This latest development is important because it gives the public a means to look at how life on Earth began, moving on to various points that unlock the mysteries of life categories by using mapping software. The work was presented in the journal PLoS Biology.]]> Wed, 31 Oct 2012 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2012-10-31:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_10_31_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=27833 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_09_03_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=26693 Fungi play an important role in the ecosystem, but scientists are still finding out just how big a role they really play in nature. Some fungi are easily recognisable, like mushrooms, most of which stick up out of the ground. Other fungi, however, exist beneath the Earth's surface where they extend, creating fungal threads through the soil. These fungal threads operate in a manner similar to road networks allowing bacteria to travel across them. Scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Germany are only now discovering another important traveller on these fungal highways: contaminants that would have otherwise remained immobile in the ground.]]> Mon, 03 Sep 2012 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2012-09-03:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_09_03_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=26693 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_08_29_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=26533 Researchers from Germany and the United States have succeeded in uncovering how myosin and actin filaments work together to regulate muscle and other movement processes. They provided an image of the proteins tropomyosin and troponin that control how myosin binds to actin. The findings of this study could help researchers establish how genetically determined modifications affect the actin-myosin-tropomyosin complex in some types of hereditary heart disease.]]> Wed, 29 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2012-08-29:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_08_29_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=26533 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_07_03_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=25674 An international team of researchers has discovered what gives ants the means to fight infestations by the zombie-ant fungus: a hyperparasitic fungus. The zombie-ant fungus attacks the ant's brain and forces it to die at a mass grave near the ant colony. There, the fungus spores erupt out of the ant's head. The study, presented in the journal PLoS ONE, was funded in part by the ANT FUNGI EP ('From ecology to mechanisms of the extended phenotype') project, which clinched a Marie Curie Action grant worth more than EUR 214 000 under the FP7.]]> Tue, 03 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2012-07-03:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_07_03_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=25674 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_06_19_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=25313 Researchers in Georgia and Russia have shed new light on the history of the domestic horse, finally piecing together a puzzle that has perplexed scientists for years. They found that domestic horses originated in the steppes of modern-day Ukraine, south-west Russia and west Kazakhstan. They also discovered that domestic horses mixed with local wild stocks as they spread throughout Europe and Asia. Their research, published in the journal PNAS, puts to rest questions about multiple domestication events across a wide expanse on Earth.]]> Tue, 19 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2012-06-19:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_06_19_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=25313 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_06_15_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=25233 Newly developed self-illuminating polymers have been intentionally designed with the ability to home in on toxic prions and render them harmless, offering the potential to cure fatal nerve-destroying illnesses. This Swedish-Swiss study was supported in part by the LUPAS ('Luminescent polymers for in vivo imaging of amyloid signatures') project, which is backed with almost EUR 5 million under the Health Theme of the FP7. The findings were presented in The Journal of Biological Chemistry.]]> Fri, 15 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2012-06-15:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_06_15_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=25233 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_06_07_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=25133 Researchers in Germany and Austria have successfully demonstrated how micro-infections promote social vaccination in ant societies. Presented in the journal PLoS Biology, the study was supported in part by two EU-funded projects: SOCIALVACCINES and LATENTCAUSES. Both SOCIALVACCINES ('Social vaccination in ant colonies: from individual mechanisms to society effects') and LATENTCAUSES ('Modelling latent causes in molecular networks') were funded under the European Research Council of the FP7 to the tune of EUR 1.3 million and EUR 1.24 million, respectively.]]> Thu, 07 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2012-06-07:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_06_07_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=25133 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_06_04_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=25033 The world is becoming increasing concerned about the threat of an upcoming water shortage, leading to its very own crisis. However, it now appears as if previous fears regarding the Himalayan glacier may have been unduly warranted, according to a new international study. The results are an outcome of the HIGHNOON ('HighNoon: adaption to changing water resources availability in northern India with Himalayan glacier retreat and changing monsoon pattern') project, which received EUR 3.3 million under the Environment Theme of the FP7.]]> Mon, 04 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2012-06-04:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_06_04_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=25033 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_05_30_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=24973 Researchers in Germany have once again made a major breakthrough in bionanotechnology, this time in the area of solid-state nanopore sensors, enhancing their capabilities by fitting them with cover plates made of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). This major advance was made in part thanks to the DNA ORIGAMI DEVICES ('Single-molecule studies of protein-protein-DNA interactions, enabled by DNA origami') project, which has clinched a European Research Council grant worth EUR 1.5 million under the FP7.]]> Wed, 30 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2012-05-30:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_05_30_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=24973 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_05_10_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=24814 Scientists have long investigated how organisms fight disease. They have also tried to mitigate the burden of disease. In a paper presented in the journal PLoS Biology, a two-man research team from the United Kingdom and the United States evaluate how Konrad et al. present an example of fungus-specific immune responses in social ants that cause the active immunisation of nest mates by infected individuals. The results provide fresh insight into our understanding of how organisms evolved diverse mechanisms that fulfil various functions, including the transfer of immunity between related individuals and the discrimination between pathogens.]]> Thu, 10 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2012-05-10:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_05_10_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=24814 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_04_26_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=24734 Scientists in Australia and the United Kingdom have discovered the sharpest teeth ever recorded in history – with tips measuring just two micrometres across – that belong to a long-extinct prehistoric fish. The study, presented in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, was funded in part by the EVOLVING TEETH ('Uncovering developmental and functional constraints on the occupation of conodont tooth morphospace') project, which is backed by a Marie Curie Action grant worth EUR 198 260 under the FP7.]]> Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2012-04-26:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_04_26_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=24734 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_04_20_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=24653 Researchers in the Czech Republic, Spain and the United Kingdom have successfully identified the cellular components and mechanisms that play a role in the proliferation of myxozoa, tiny aquatic parasites responsible for diseases in commercially valuable fish. Presented in the journal PLoS ONE, the study's findings shed light on the motility of myxozoa's proliferative states and their reproductive process.]]> Fri, 20 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2012-04-20:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_04_20_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=24653 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_03_21_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=24273 Researchers in France, the United Kingdom and the United States have shed new light on how plants swap genes from plant to plant to help stimulate their evolutionary development. The findings, presented in the journal Current Biology, highlighted that enzymes key to photosynthesis had been shared among plants with only a distant ancestral relationship, and that the metabolic cycle of the recipient plant absorbed the genes, contributing to adaptation. The study was funded in part by a Marie Curie grant under the FP7.]]> Wed, 21 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2012-03-21:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_03_21_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=24273 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_03_20_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=24253 Researchers in the United Kingdom have identified a vital process in the development of the early mammalian embryo. They have developed a tool able to mimic the soft tissue of the mammalian uterus in which the embryo implants. The results could help lead to the development of novel treatments for various diseases. Presented in the journal Nature Communications, the research was funded in part by the MASC ('Materials that impose architecture within stem cell populations') project, which has received a European Research Council grant worth almost EUR 2.3 million under the FP7.]]> Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2012-03-20:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_03_20_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=24253 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_03_07_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=24134 Researchers from the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom have designed an innovative technique to study the underground world of plants. Presented in the journal Plant Physiology, the results of this study will lead to improved breeding techniques for crop varieties, as well as better yields.]]> Wed, 07 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2012-03-07:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_03_07_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=24134 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/infrastructures/index_en.cfm?pg=success6&item=All&artid=24116&caller=SuccessStories Tue, 06 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2012-03-06:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/infrastructures/index_en.cfm?pg=success6&item=All&artid=24116&caller=SuccessStories http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_02_29_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=24073 Researchers have often reported on how spider silks are rich in strong mechanical properties, regardless of the species. However, the mechanical properties of stalks of silk taken from the egg sac of the cave spider meta menardi have never before been analysed. Enter a team of researchers from Italy and the United States that put the European Society of Arachnology's 'European spider of the year 2012' in the spotlight. The study was recently published in the journal PLoS ONE.]]> Wed, 29 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2012-02-29:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_02_29_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=24073 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_02_27_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=24053 Have you ever wondered how and why zebras got their stripes? Well, wonder no more: a team of researchers from Hungary and Sweden sheds fresh light on the stripe function and why the stripe pattern has evolved. Presented in the Journal of Experimental Biology, the study was funded in part by the TABANOID ('Trap for the novel control of horseflies on open-air fields') project, which received more than EUR 825 000 in funding under the 'Research for the benefit of SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises)' Theme of the FP7.]]> Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2012-02-27:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_02_27_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=24053 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_02_14_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=23894 Scientists in China, Sweden and the United Kingdom have discovered evidence of the single-celled ancestors of animals, dating from the interval in Earth's history just before the emergence of multicellular animals. The proof is found in rocks from south China, around 570 million years old. Presented in the journal Science, the study received partial funding under the FP7.]]> Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2012-02-14:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_02_14_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=23894