Posts tagged as:

Qld

Designer roots to counter drought

12 July 2011

Genetics can be used to shape plants underground so they absorb water better Recent discoveries by a University of Queensland agricultural scientist provide the basis for custom designing plant roots. Her discovery is already being used by plant breeders to develop drought-resistant sorghum crops.

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Samurai of the sea

9 June 2011

What sawfish really do with their saw Scientists thought that sawfish used their saw to probe the sea bottom for food.  But a Cairns researcher has found that these large (5 metres or more) and endangered fish actually use the saw to locate and dismember free-swimming fish – using a sixth sense that detects electric [...]

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Add fertiliser to fight weeds

14 June 2010

Feeding weeds fertiliser sounds like exactly the wrong thing, if you want to get rid of them, but Jennifer Firn of CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems has been doing just that—to control African lovegrass, an invasive species of rangelands in every Australian state.

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Whiplash: who won’t get better. A new test reveals the problem cases.

11 August 2009

Most people recover from whiplash injuries within the first few months. However some people have long term pain – lasting months or years. Until now there has been no way of diagnosing these more severe cases. New Brisbane research suggests that fat deposits in the neck muscles are the key.

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Fool’s gold reveals the ancient evolution of life on earth

11 August 2009

‘Fool’s gold’ has tricked many amateur gold miners, but Queensland researchers have discovered it can reveal much about the early evolution of life on Earth. Three billion years ago the Earth couldn’t support life as we know it – the atmosphere was deadly to oxygen-breathing plants and animals. But two and half billion years ago [...]

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How lobsters create their colours

26 July 2009

A team of Queensland researchers have discovered that lobsters, prawns and other crustaceans have evolved a unique way of making colours: making the complex patterns appreciated by biologists and connoisseurs of seafood. Their work will help with conservation, aquaculture and may even lead to a new food colourant. And all the colours come from just [...]

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One step closer to turning off cancer genes with gene-silencing

4 June 2009

Using this technology, Sherry and her colleagues observed a 70% reduction in tumour size in a cervical cancer mouse model.

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Strangling tumours in bid to halt cancer

15 May 2009

It may be possible to halt cancer in its tracks by blocking a gene critical to building tumour supply lines, according to new research carried out at the University of Queensland. Most tumours need a blood supply to grow. Researchers at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience have found that when new blood vessels form – [...]

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Does my asinina look big in these genes?

15 July 2008

The world’s fastest growing abalone—the tropical donkey’s ear abalone, Haliotis asinina—can be bred to grow rapidly and reliably for aquaculture, Queensland biologists have found.

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Therapy stops arteries reblocking

3 September 2007

Within 6 months of heart disease surgery, up to 60% of patients suffer from their arteries reblocking. Queensland scientists have discovered a way to precisely deliver drugs to blockage sites in the arteries – preventing complications after surgery to treat heart disease according to developer Anita Thomas and her colleagues at the University of Queensland. [...]

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How sea slugs fall in love

14 August 2007

Scott Cummins and his colleagues at The University of Queensland have uncovered a potent mix of chemicals which acts like a cross between Chanel No 5 and Viagra-but only if you are a sea slug.

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Hunting mice in trees

31 August 2005

There is more than we know in the rainforest canopy A crane-driving young researcher from the Rainforest CRC at James Cook University in North Queensland is using a tower crane to reveal a whole new world of life in the canopy of the Australian rainforest. Already she has found that the native prehensile-tailed mouse, once [...]

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Sight for sore eyes: ancient fish see colour

30 August 2005

The Australian lungfish-one of the world’s oldest fishes and related to our ancient ancestors-may have been viewing rivers in technicolour long before dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Recent work by postgraduate student Helena Bailes at the University of Queensland has found these unusual fish have genes for five different forms of visual pigment in their eyes. [...]

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Study takes the sting out of tropical swimming

17 August 2005

Box jellyfish are capable of moving several kilometres a day, but seem to stay within a relatively short stretch of beachfront. Those are some to the initial findings of a young researcher in North Queensland, who is undertaking the first detailed study of the movements of the potentially lethal animals. Matt Gordon of the Tropical [...]

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Let the light shine through

31 August 2004

Fogged up glasses, windscreens and bathroom mirrors may be a thing of the past. Researchers have invented a new, permanent, multi-purpose coating technology that will prevent your spectacles, car windscreen or bathroom mirror fogging up ever again. The coating, called XeroCoat, also cuts out unwanted reflections from glass, letting more light through.  Making it ideal [...]

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GeneBalls: barcoding DNA

31 August 2004

Millions of genetic tests using just one drop of blood Queensland PhD student Angus Johnston has invented a unique technology with the potential to test for hundreds of diseases, cancers and genes in one, cheap, test. He hopes that within five years the technology will be available in a desktop unit for less than $30,000. [...]

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