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Largest Plant DNA Study Ever Unveils Flowering Plant Tree of Life

The most up-to-date understanding of the flowering plant tree of life is presented in a new study published today in the journal Nature by an international team of 279 scientists, including three University of Michigan biologists.

25 Apr 2024

Ancient Gene Holds Key to Mammalian Gliding

People say "When pigs fly" to describe the impossible. But even if most mammals are landlubbers, the ability to glide or fly has evolved again and again during mammalian evolution, in species ranging from bats to flying squirrels.

25 Apr 2024

Revealing the Genetic Mechanisms Driving SARS-CoV-2 Variants

The SARS-CoV-2 virus, responsible for COVID-19, exhibits a troubling tendency to produce variants frequently.

23 Apr 2024

Study Uncovers Rare Fosa Predation Events on Critically Endangered Lemurs

What can be done when one threatened animal kills another? Scientists studying critically endangered lemurs in Madagascar confronted this difficult reality when they witnessed attacks on lemurs by another vulnerable species, a carnivore called a fosa.

22 Apr 2024

The Genetic Secret Behind Human Skull Morphology

Researchers at the Universities of Helsinki, Barcelona, and Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) have discovered a single nucleotide alteration that is crucial to the evolution of human skull morphology and influences the expression of the TBX1 gene and the formation of the skull base.

18 Apr 2024

Review Explores Genetic Basis of Flower Color Diversity in Rhododendron

A research team has made strides in uncovering the genetic foundations of flower color variation within the Rhododendron genus.

17 Apr 2024

What Makes Certain Mushrooms 'Magic'?

In a recent study published in the journal Nature Communications, an international research team from various Universities including Hans Knöll Institute investigated the biosynthesis of psilocybin, the primary component of hallucinogenic mushrooms.

17 Apr 2024

Mysterious Plasmid in Human Gut Holds Potential for Health Hazard Detection

A component of the human intestinal flora that has been little studied to date is the focus of a new study.

17 Apr 2024

Unveiling the Evolutionary Origins of Bilaterian Species

700 million years ago, a remarkable creature emerged for the first time. Though it may not have been much to look at by today's standards, the animal had a front and a back, a top and a bottom.

16 Apr 2024

Research Uncovers Genetic Basis of Macroalgae Multicellularity

A deep dive into macroalgae genetics has uncovered the genetic underpinnings that enabled macroalgae, or "seaweed," to evolve multicellularity.

15 Apr 2024

Study Offers Valuable Insights Into Mutagenesis Mechanisms and Cancer Evolution

Mutations are the changes in the DNA that gradually occur in human cells as they replicate, and the organism grows and ages.

13 Apr 2024

Nature's 'Molecular Kitchen': Heat Flows and the Origin of Life's Ingredients

Life is complicated. What is true for our everyday existence also holds for the many complex processes that take place inside cells

5 Apr 2024

Unveiling the Diversity and Evolutionary Dynamics of Centromeres Across Primates

A genomic study of human and selected nonhuman primate centromeres has revealed their unimaginable diversity and speed of evolutionary change.

4 Apr 2024

Researchers Advocate for “Pathogen Prospecting” to Fight Malaria

A team of scientists is urging colleagues worldwide to participate in what they refer to as “pathogen prospecting,” which involves locating archival mosquito specimens in collections and museums and examining them for pathogens that could have transmitted malaria to humans while feeding on their blood.

2 Apr 2024

New Research Rewrites Bird Family History

An immense meteor spelled doom for most dinosaurs 65 million years ago. However, not all perished. In the aftermath of the extinction event, birds—technically dinosaurs themselves—prospered.

2 Apr 2024

Microsatellites' Stability Through Deep Time: Insights from Adélie Penguin Genomes

Microsatellites are valuable tools for studying inheritance, genetic diversity, and population dynamics across a wide range of organisms including bacteria, plants, animals, and fungi. These

2 Apr 2024

Study Investigates Links Between Gene Expression and Primate Brain Evolution

An interdisciplinary team of researchers led by biologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently published the results of a first-of-its-kind study investigating the links between gene expression and brain evolution across 18 primate species.

1 Apr 2024

Study Reveals Insights into Evolution of Regulatory Proteins

New research from the University of Wisconsin–Madison decodes the evolutionary pathway of regulatory proteins, the molecules that help control gene expression.

1 Apr 2024

UC San Diego Scientists Uncover Mechanism Behind Mitosis Timing

Each day, hundreds of billions of cells in our body cycle through a period of growth and division. Yet in that time, only about 30 minutes is spent on the critical orchestration of mitosis, when chromosomes are carefully segregated from one parent cell to the next generation of two daughter cells.

30 Mar 2024

Viruses Pose Unforeseen Threat to Native Desert Ecosystems

Just as many people battle seasonal colds and flu, native plants face their own viral threats. People have long known that plants can succumb to viruses just like humans.

29 Mar 2024