For female mosquitoes, finding their next meal is all about smelling and seeing. Through behavioral experiments and real-time recording of the female mosquito brain, a team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of Washington, has discovered how the mosquito brain integrates signals from two of its sensory systems — visual and olfactory […]
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Imagine a world in which mosquitoes choose blossoms over blood. Nice, right? There already exists a mosquito species called Wyeomyia smithii in which most of the bugs refuse blood meals in favor of sweet floral nectar. And new research is helping to explain the evolutionary genetics of the switch from blood sucker to flower […]
Porphyrias, a group of eight known blood disorders, affect the body’s molecular machinery for making heme, which is a component of the oxygen-transporting protein, hemoglobin. When heme binds with iron, it gives blood its hallmark red color. The different genetic variations that affect heme production give rise to different clinical presentations of porphyria — including […]
WASHINGTON, DC—It can be a matter of life or death — waiting for test results from a laboratory about a serious health problem. But two small medical devices now in development can quickly diagnose some conditions, including the potential for a heart attack. The first, a “tricorder,” was given the same name as the […]