Wasps as Fly-Killers

Dendritic Cells as Killers: Mechanistic Aspects

Baby Killers: Documentation and Evolution of Scuttle Fly (Diptera: Phoridae) Parasitism of Ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Brood

BACKGROUND Numerous well-documented associations occur among species of scuttle flies (Diptera: Phoridae) and ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), but examples of brood parasitism are rare and the mechanisms of parasitism often remain unsubstantiated. NEW INFORMATION We present two video-documented examples of ant brood (larvae and pupae) parasitism by scuttle flies. In footage from Estação Biológ...

Natural born killers.

This year, 30 million acres of the corn, cotton, and potatoes planted in the United States will have been genetically engineered to produce an endotoxin normally found in the microbe Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), a self-contained pesticide that will be toxic only to target insects. Transgenic pest-resistant crops are a cost-effective alternative to chemical pesticides, and may offer a way to hel...

Zinc oxide nanoparticles as selective killers of proliferating cells

BACKGROUND It has recently been demonstrated that zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) induce death of cancerous cells whilst having no cytotoxic effect on normal cells. However, there are several issues which need to be resolved before translation of zinc oxide nanoparticles into medical use, including lack of suitable biocompatible dispersion protocols and a better understanding being needed of...

Reinforcing natural killers.

weight to a finding published a decade ago by the group at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital. That finding stated that patients with low TPMT activity receiving 6-MP in combination with radiotherapy have increased risk of SMNs.6 The paper leaves many questions unanswered. Whether this association is caused by 6-MP therapy alone or whether high-dose MTX given along with 6-MP in maintenance co...