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Uncovering the Ancient Genetic Secrets of Hornworts

Over 450 million years ago, plants began the epic transition from water to dry land. Among the first pioneers were the ancestors of humble hornworts, a group of small, unassuming plants that have persisted to this day.

7 Jan 2025

Unique CO₂-Concentrating Mechanism Drives the Future of Sustainable Agriculture

Researchers have been exploring methods to enhance the ability of plants to convert carbon dioxide (CO₂) into biomass, a process that could increase crop yields and contribute to climate change mitigation.

7 Jan 2025

Unexpected Role for CDKN2A Gene in Esophageal Cancer Progression

Scientists from the Barts Cancer Institute and the Francis Crick Institute have demonstrated that a genetic flaw that has long been thought to cause esophageal cancer may actually protect against the disease in its early stages.

6 Jan 2025

Genetic Discovery Offers Potential for Higher Crop Yields and Biofuel Production

A team of scientists with two Department of Energy Bioenergy Research Centers -; the Center for Bioenergy Innovation, or CBI, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation, or CABBI, at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign -; identified a gene in a poplar tree that enhances photosynthesis and can boost tree height by about 30% in the field and by as much as 200% in the greenhouse.

6 Jan 2025

Bacteria in Lake Mendota Evolve with Changing Seasons

Like Bill Murray in the movie "Groundhog Day," bacteria species in a Wisconsin lake are in a kind of endless loop that they can't seem to shake. Except in this case, it's more like Groundhog Year.

6 Jan 2025

Genomic Study Reveals Key Insights into Modern Maize Inbred Lines

Maize is a globally cultivated staple crop and one of the most successful examples of heterosis utilization in food production.

3 Jan 2025

Researchers Discover Key Factor Behind Disease Resistance in Gene Carriers

New work by Columbia researchers has turned a textbook principle of genetics on its head and revealed why some people who carry disease-causing genes experience no symptoms.

3 Jan 2025

Biologists Reveal Genetics Behind Walnut Trees' Alternating Sexes

The genetics behind the alternating sexes of walnut trees has been revealed by biologists at the University of California, Davis.

3 Jan 2025

Princeton Engineers Discover How Soil Bacteria Balance Plant Growth and Immunity

To stay healthy, plants balance the energy they put into growing with the amount they use to defend against harmful bacteria.

3 Jan 2025

Breakthrough in Nanopore Technology Could Transform Disease Detection

UC Riverside scientists have developed a nanopore-based tool that could help diagnose illnesses much faster and with greater precision than current tests allow, by capturing signals from individual molecules.

3 Jan 2025

New Insights into How Early Life Experiences Influence Genetic Expression and Brain Health

In a comprehensive Genomic Press Interview, renowned neuroscientist Dr. Michael Meaney reveals pivotal discoveries about the intricate relationship between genes and environment in shaping brain health.

2 Jan 2025

New Sequencing Method Unveils Adaptive States and Host-Phage Interactions in the Gut

The human gut microbiome is complex and diverse, with significant implications for health and disease. The study develops smRandom-seq2, a droplet-based method that overcomes the limitations of existing techniques by capturing RNA from a wide variety of species.

2 Jan 2025

Ancient DNA Analysis Unveils Migration Patterns in Early Europe

Waves of human migration across Europe during the first millennium AD have been revealed using a more precise method of analyzing ancestry with ancient DNA, in research led by the Francis Crick Institute.

2 Jan 2025

Genetic Sequencing Breakthrough Reveals Rapid Spread of New Pathogens

Researchers have come up with a new way to identify more infectious variants of viruses or bacteria that start spreading in humans - including those causing flu, COVID, whooping cough and tuberculosis.

2 Jan 2025

Study Reveals Mechanism Behind Retrotransposon Insertion in Centromeres

A joint research group team led by Sayuri Tsukahara and Tetsuji Kakutani of the University of Tokyo has clarified a mechanism of how retrotransposons, genetic elements that can "jump around" chromosomes and are known drivers of evolution, preferentially insert in the centromere.

2 Jan 2025

Uncovering the Cellular Mechanisms of Brain Aging

Not all brain cell types age in the same way, according to new brain mapping research supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

2 Jan 2025

Bumetanide Treatment Alters Early and Late Social Behaviors in Fragile X Mice

In a comprehensive Genomic Press Interview, researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and Hirosaki University have uncovered critical new insights into the developmental trajectory of social behaviors in fragile X syndrome, the leading genetic cause of autism spectrum disorder.

30 Dec 2024

AI-Designed Nanocages Mimic Intricate Structures of Viruses

Professor Sangmin Lee from POSTECH's Department of Chemical Engineering, in collaboration with 2024 Nobel Chemistry Laureate Professor David Baker from the University of Washington, has developed an innovative therapeutic platform by mimicking the intricate structures of viruses using artificial intelligence (AI).

26 Dec 2024

New Study Reveals DNA’s Role in Stabilizing Cellular Structures

In a discovery that could redefine how we understand cellular resilience and adaptability, scientists at Scripps Research have unlocked the secret interactions between a primordial inorganic polymer of phosphate known as polyphosphate (polyP), and two basic building blocks of life: DNA and the element magnesium.

26 Dec 2024

Fruit Flies Evolve New Defense Through Gene Transfer

In the continual arms race between parasites and their hosts, innovation was thought to be the key to a successful attack or defense that one-ups the competition.

26 Dec 2024