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A gene’s function in embryonic development

An international study led by the medical school at the University of Bonn has discovered a gene that is crucial to the growth of the human embryo. Abnormalities of different organ systems may occur if it is changed.

16 Nov 2022

First-ever pedigree provides insights for maximizing genetic diversity in aquarium-bred corals

Corals bred in public aquaria provide novel research opportunities and a healthy stock for outplanting into the wild, essential components of a thriving future for coral reef ecosystems, which support around 25% of all life in Earth's oceans.

15 Nov 2022

Evolution of tree roots may have triggered ancient, global-scale extinction events

The evolution of tree roots may have triggered a series of mass extinctions that rocked the Earth's oceans during the Devonian Period over 300 million years ago, according to a study led by scientists at IUPUI, along with colleagues in the United Kingdom.

10 Nov 2022

Researchers discover murderous survival strategy of yeast

Yeast is not the simple single-celled microorganism we once thought, but a competitive killer. When starved of glucose, yeast releases a toxin that will poison other microorganisms that have entered its surrounding habitat, even its own clones.

8 Nov 2022

Artificial intelligence facilitates optimal engineering of enzyme in laboratories

You can't expect a pharmaceutical scientist to switch labs to the facilities available in a television studio and expect the same research output.

From Osaka University 4 Nov 2022

Gene editing technique makes new kinds of research possible in animal models

Working in teeny tiny worms, scientists can now test the effects of thousands of genetic mutations in one fell swoop.

3 Nov 2022

Ancient genomes reveal remarkable information about human evolution

Ancient DNA, including samples from human remains that are about 45,000 years old, has helped researchers understand a previously unrecognized facet of human evolution.

1 Nov 2022

Structure of phycobilisomes of cyanobacterium revealed

Researchers of RIKEN identified the structure of the “antenna” that a blue-green alga employs to yield light and compared it with those of four other species.

1 Nov 2022

Many proteins share important roles in the formation and function of synapses, study finds

Not just three, but even five proteins share important roles in the formation and function of synapses and can substitute for each other. This discovery was made by a team of the research focus "Mental Health & Neuroscience" of the Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences Krems (KL Krems) and the CavX PhD program of the Medical University of Innsbruck.

26 Oct 2022

Black death and the development of immune genes

The Black Death, which wiped off up to 50% of the European population in less than five years, was the single-worst mortality catastrophe in recorded history.

21 Oct 2022

Meiotic drive systems can be maintained for long evolutionary timespans

Meiotic drivers, which are a sort of selfish gene, are, in fact, selfish. They are found in nearly all species’ genomes, including humans, and unfairly convey their genetic information to more than half of their offspring, resulting in infertility and impaired organism health.

21 Oct 2022

Saving ocean habitats with newer genomic technologies

In an essay published on October 17th, 2022 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology, Madeleine van Oppen of the Australian Institute of Marine Science and the University of Melbourne and Melinda Coleman of the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries argue that genetic and genomic technologies have tremendous potential for protecting marine life but are currently underutilized.

20 Oct 2022

Large 'omics' dataset reveals a year in the biological life of Arctic Ocean

A major new project will help benchmark biodiversity change in the Arctic Ocean and guide conservation efforts by identifying unique species and assessing their extinction risk.

18 Oct 2022

Dynamic oxygen levels could have accelerated the development of early animal life

Oxygen levels in the Earth's atmosphere are likely to have "fluctuated wildly" one billion years ago, creating conditions that could have accelerated the development of early animal life, according to new research.

17 Oct 2022

Two endemic Ochrosia species turn out to be kindred strangers

When classifying two species of the same flowering plant, the similarities and differences between them are considered.

13 Oct 2022

Genetic speciation method to make new hybrid species

The evolution of a new species by hybridization from two already described species without a change in chromosome number is very rare in the animal kingdom.

12 Oct 2022

Distinct roles of aging and genetics on expression phenotypes

Research conducted by the University of California, Berkeley, found that individual distinctions in human DNA matter less as people age and become more susceptible to aging disorders like diabetes and cancer.

10 Oct 2022

Insights into the evolution of banana domestication

People on the island of New Guinea are said to have domesticated bananas 7,000 years ago. However, the history of banana domestication is convoluted, and their categorization is widely discussed, as the boundaries between species and subspecies are frequently ambiguous.

10 Oct 2022

New insight into human genome evolution

Researchers discovered that in one out of every 4,000 births, some of the genetic code from the mitochondria—the “batteries” that power human cells—inserts itself into the DNA, giving a startling new insight into how humans evolve.

6 Oct 2022

Machine learning can predict the biological properties of Earth's most abundant enzyme

A Newcastle University study has for the first time shown that machine learning can predict the biological properties of the most abundant enzyme on Earth - Rubisco.

From Newcastle University 3 Oct 2022