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Biology
Six new groups of molecules could be key to delayed aging
September 8, 2016 by Lab Product News Montreal, QC – Hearing loss, brittle bones, sagging skin, a deteriorating mind: these are just some of the issues associated with growing old. For millennia, humans have fought the process of aging using everything from fountains of youth to pricey…
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BiologyResearch Results
Study charts metabolic changes in fruit flies as temperature drops
July 8, 2016 by Lab Product News Toronto, ON – A newly published study by an international team of researchers analyses how fruit flies drastically alter their gene expression and metabolism to respond to temperature changes in their environment. The finding is important because understanding how insects…
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BiologyCollaborations
Monarch butterfly study issues call for help from citizens
June 21, 2016 by Lab Product News Montréal, QC – A national-scale study of monarch butterfly breeding habitats is being conducted by the Insectarium, the Institut de recherche en biologie végétale (IRBV), the Université du Québec à Rimouski, the University of Ottawa and the University of Calgary.…
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BiologyLife Sciences
$10M gift supports study of brain disorders
June 20, 2016 by Lab Product News Toronto, ON – CIFAR, the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, has received a $10 million gift for the study of brain disorders from the Azrieli Foundation. The organization says it is the largest it has ever received from a philanthropic…
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BiologyLaboratoryResearch Results
Lakes warming at alarming rates
December 21, 2015 by Lab Canada Toronto, ON – Climate change has led to warming of lakes at a rapid rate, even faster than the air or the oceans, according to York University biologist Sapna Sharma, a lead author of a new global study. “We…
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BiologyLaboratory
Researchers turning toxic ponds into healthy wetlands
December 9, 2015 by Lab Canada Windsor, ON – A method developed by researchers at the University of Windsor promises to hasten the turning of toxic tailings ponds left by petroleum mining into sustainable wetlands. A team led by biology professors Chris Weisener and Jan…
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BiologyLaboratoryResearch Results
Pesticide exposure impairs bumblebee crop pollination
November 23, 2015 by Lab Canada Guelph, ON – A University of Guelph professor has found the first evidence that low-level neonicotinoid pesticide exposure affects the pollination services provided by bumblebees to an economically important crop. The study by environmental sciences professor Nigel Raine was published…
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BiologyLaboratoryResearch Results
Metaorganism study determines if soil pollution benefits trees
October 20, 2015 by Lab Canada Montreal, QC – The very act of tolerating some forms of soil pollution may give trees an advantage in the natural world, say plant biologists at the Université de Montréal. Their findings were published this week in BMC Plant Biology.…
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BiologyLaboratoryResearch Results
Rapid decline in bumblebee species caused by climate change, study finds
July 10, 2015 by Lab Canada Ottawa, ON – In the most comprehensive analysis of the impact of climate change on critical pollinators, researchers have found that rapid declines in bumblebee species across North America and Europe are strongly linked to climate change. The study was…
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BiologyLaboratoryResearch Results
Global trends show seabird populations dropped 70% since 1950s
July 9, 2015 by Lab Canada Vancouver, BC – University of British Columbia (UBC) research shows world’s monitored seabird populations have dropped 70 per cent since the 1950s, a stark indication that marine ecosystems are not doing well. Michelle Paleczny, a UBC master’s student and researcher…
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BiologyLaboratoryResearch Results
Mercury buildup in birds sounds warning for all
May 15, 2015 by Lab Canada London, ON – Higher-than-normal mercury levels may be wiping out the endangered arctic ivory gull, but now Western researchers are warning other species – including humans – are at risk from this deadly neurotoxin. Mercury levels in arctic ivory gulls…
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BiologyCollaborationsLaboratory
What’s killing the world’s scallops and oysters?
January 13, 2015 by Lab Canada Vancouver, BC – Many scallops are not even growing to be fully-sized, as higher ocean acidity and other potential problems kill them when they are only seedlings. Farmed scallops and oysters are dying at devastating rates worldwide and an interdisciplinary…
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BiologyGeneral Science & ResearchLaboratory
Eminent biologist wins Northern Research award
October 30, 2014 by Lab Canada Toronto, ON – Award-winning researcher and lifelong teacher, Dr. Charles Krebs, has won the Weston Family Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Northern Research by The W. Garfield Weston Foundation. For over 55 years, Dr. Krebs has studied diverse mammal populations…
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BiologyLaboratoryLife SciencesResearch Results
Estrogen has surprising effects on freshwater wildlife
October 15, 2014 by Lab Canada Saint John, NB – The International Institute for Sustainable Development-Experimental Lakes Area (IISD-ELA) and the University of New Brunswick have released the findings of a study that show that the birth control pill has unexpected effects on aquatic ecosystems. The…
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BiologyLaboratoryResearch Results
Monarch butterfly’s genetic analysis surprises researchers
October 1, 2014 by Lab Canada Athens, GA – With their distinctive orange wings, remarkable long-distance migration and widespread presence, monarch butterflies are some of the most recognizable butterflies in the world. A team of researchers, led by scientists at the University of Chicago and including…
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BiologyLaboratoryResearch Results
Mixed genes mix up the migrations of hybrid birds
August 12, 2014 by Lab Canada Vancouver, BC – Mixed genes appear to drive hybrid birds to select more difficult routes than their parent species, according to new research from University of British Columbia zoologists. The study was recently published online in Ecology Letters. Researcher Kira…
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BiologyLaboratory
$1M funding supports honeybee health surveillance study
July 21, 2014 by Lab Canada McLennan, AB – A four-year-nationwide surveillance project to document the health profile of honey bee colonies in Canada is being supported with funding of $1 million from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The funding is being provided to the Beekeepers Commission…
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BiologyLaboratoryResearch Results
Habitat loss on breeding grounds cause of monarch decline
June 11, 2014 by Lab Canada Guelph, ON – Habitat loss on breeding grounds in the United States – not on wintering grounds in Mexico – is the main cause of recent and projected population declines of migratory monarch butterflies in eastern North America, according to…
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BiologyLaboratoryResearch Results
Rare form of fat fuels flies while frozen
May 6, 2014 by Lab Canada Despite being the size of a fingernail and sharing the physical traits of a water balloon, the goldenrod gall fly is one of nature’s toughest creatures. It can live six months without eating or drinking and can survive freezing temperatures…
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BiologyLaboratory
Studies show bees’ remarkable learning feats
March 18, 2014 by Lab Canada Guelph, ON – They may have tiny brains, but bumblebees are capable of some remarkable learning feats, especially when they might get a tasty reward, according to two studies by University of Guelph researchers. PhD student Hamida Mirwan and Prof.…
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BiologyLaboratoryResearch Results
$3M supports mountain pine beetle research collaboration
January 22, 2014 by Lab Canada Edmonton, AB – Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) has given a University of Alberta-led research network of forest scientists and stakeholders a $3-million funding boost. Janice Cooke, a researcher in the university’s Department of Biological Sciences,…
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BiologyChemistryLaboratory
Photosynthesis may aid in improving solar cells
November 22, 2013 by Lab Canada Toronto, ON – Solar cells optimized to suit local light conditions, or made more efficient by using a broader part of the solar spectrum, are among the imaginative applications foreseen from ground-breaking new insights into plant photosynthesis pioneered in Canada.…
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BiologyLaboratoryResearch Results
Synchrotron light monitors arsenic in mine-tailings site
October 29, 2013 by Lab Canada Saskatoon, SK – Amphibians living in an old mine tailings site near Upper Seal Harbour, Nova Scotia, show high levels of arsenic after being tested using synchrotron light, leading scientists to believe these animals could be the canary in the…
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BiologyGeneral Science & ResearchLaboratory
$2M a year for ELA from Ontario
September 3, 2013 by Lab Canada Toronto, ON – The Ontario government says it will commit up to $2 million a year to keep the famed Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) open. The ELA is the only fresh water research facility of its kind in the world.…
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BiologyLaboratoryResearch Results
Monarch butterfly generations tracked through migration
August 11, 2013 by Lab Canada Guelph, ON – Biologists at the University of Guelph have for the first time mapped the migration pattern across the continent over an entire breeding season. That information might help conserve a creature increasingly threatened by loss of habitat and…
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BiologyLaboratoryResearch Results
Bird vaccine may halt West Nile Virus
August 1, 2013 by Lab Canada Vancouver, BC – University of British Columbia researchers have developed a vaccine that may halt the spread of West Nile Virus (WNV) among common and endangered bird species. WNV, a mosquito borne pathogen, arrived in North America in 1999 and…
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BiologyLaboratory
New plant cryopreservation facility gets $2M funding
August 1, 2013 by Lab Canada Guelph, ON – Deep-freezing living tissue from the world’s endangered trees and banking the material for future use are among the scientific possibilities at an expanding University of Guelph (U of G) research institute. A cryopreservation facility will be created…
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BiologyLaboratory
Canadian plant names and distribution simplified in new database
July 30, 2013 by Lab Canada Montreal, QC – A comprehensive and curated checklist of all vascular plants reported in Canada, Greenland (Denmark), and Saint Pierre and Miquelon (France), has been published by a group of botanists led by Dr. Luc Brouillet, a specialist of Canadian…
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BiologyGeneral Science & ResearchLaboratoryResearch Labs
Lifeline to ELA from Ontario government
April 24, 2013 by Lab Canada Toronto, ON – Ontario’s premier Kathleen Wynne has announced that her government is working collaboratively with the federal government, Manitoba’s provincial government and other partners to keep the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) operational in 2013 and ensure sustained longer-term operations.…
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BiologyLaboratory
Research challenges assumptions about global warming effect
April 15, 2013 by Lab Canada Calgary, AB – For years, many scientists believed that forest tree lines on mountains everywhere would shift to higher elevations as the planet’s temperature increased due to global warming. It’s not that simple, new University of Calgary research has shown.…
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BiologyLaboratory
White-nose syndrome in bats research gets extra funding
April 8, 2013 by Lab Canada Ottawa, ON- Canada’s Ministry of the Environment has announced extra funding to respond to White-nose Syndrome, a fungal disease that is threatening bat species in North America. An additional $330,000 in funding over the next four years is being provided…
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BiologyLaboratoryResearch Results