Worms News (9 articles)

Scientists at University of Kiel, Germany, find traces of Osedax in fossil whale bones.An international team of scientists led by the paleontologist Steffen Kiel at the University of Kiel, Germany, found the first fossil boreholes of the worm Osedax that consumes whale bones on the deep-sea...

Published on 21 April 2010, 07:48

Categories: Bone-eating Worms Bones Boneworms Osedax Paleontology Worms

It sounds like a classic horror story—eyeless, mouthless worms lurk in the dark, settling onto dead animals and sending out green "roots" to devour their bones. In fact, such worms do exist in the deep sea. They were first discovered in 2002 by researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research...

Published on 11 November 2009, 02:50

Categories: Boneworms Evolutionary Biolog Marine Science Osedax Seafloor Worms

Researchers at Queen’s University have found a link between two genes involved in cancer formation in humans, by examining the genes in worms. The groundbreaking discovery provides a foundation for how tumor-forming genes interact, and may offer a drug target for cancer treatment.“When cancer...

Published on 9 November 2009, 15:54

Categories: Cancer Genes Worms PTEN Eph receptors

University of Oregon research shows why a mate provides an evolutionary advantage over self-fertilizationEUGENE, Ore. -- (Oct. 21, 2009) -- OK, it takes two for human reproduction, and now it seems that plants and animals that can rely on either a partner or go alone by self-fertilization give...

Published on 21 October 2009, 13:06

Categories: Caenorhabditis elegans Evolutionary Biology Self-fertilization Selfing Worms

In the most computationally intensive phylogenetic analysis to date, an international research team led by Brown University has found the first evolutionary branching for bilateral animals. The researchers determined that the flatworm group Acoelomorpha is a product of the deepest split within...

Published on 23 September 2009, 16:17

Categories: Acoelomorpha Bilateral Animals Cycliophora Deuterostomia Evolutionary Biology Worms Xenoturbella

New Haven, Conn. — The large group of segmented worms known as annelids, which includes earthworms, leeches and bristle worms, evolved millions of years ago and can be found in every corner of the world. Although annelids are one of the most abundant animal groups on the planet, scientists...

Published on 9 September 2009, 11:28

Categories: MicroRNAs Annelids Worms Evolutionary Biology

Orbs lobbed by mysterious worms burst into brilliant light, thought to be a defensive measure --Scripps Institution of Oceanography / University of California, San Diego--In the latest proof that the oceans continue to offer remarkable findings and much of their vastness remains to be explored,...

Published on 20 August 2009, 18:40

Categories: Oceanography Worms Green Bombers Bioluminescence

A study at the University of Leeds has shown, for the first time, that C. elegans worms crawl and swim using the same gait, overturning the widely accepted belief that these two behaviours are completely different.The findings have important implications for biologists and geneticists using...

Published on 31 March 2009, 05:46

Categories: Biology C. elegans Worms

Usual metabolic process goes awry in recently discovered mutation, burning lipids instead of storing themA previously unknown mutation discovered in a common roundworm holds the promise of new treatments for obesity in humans, McGill University researchers say. Their study was published...

Published on 8 December 2008, 13:19

Categories: Obesity Worms Biology