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A New Understanding of Dragonfly Adaptation to Climate Change

Temperature determines where species can live and if they are threatened by a warming climate. So, for a long time, biologists studied how heat tolerance affects survival. Yet, less is known about how thermal traits influence reproduction, which is directly linked to extinction risk.

14 Oct 2024

The Promise of Venomous Crustaceans in Drug Development

Many animals use venoms for self-defense or hunting. The components of such venom, known as toxins, interfere with various physiological processes - which is also the reason why they are so interesting for the development of new pharmacological agents.

7 Oct 2024

A New Understanding of the Effects of Fever on Immune Cells

Fever temperatures rev up immune cell metabolism, proliferation and activity, but they also -; in a particular subset of T cells -; cause mitochondrial stress, DNA damage and cell death, Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers have discovered.

23 Sep 2024

Gene-Based Tool Predicts Cherry Blossom Blooming Times

Japan is well-known for its sakura, or cherry blossoms, which bloom in the southern Kyushu region and ascend to the far north of Hokkaido in the spring.

20 Sep 2024

Ribose-Water Interactions Stabilize RNA Structures

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a biological molecule that plays an important part in organismal genetics as well as the creation and development of life.

11 Sep 2024

Developing Techniques for Imaging Biomolecules

Scientists are working to create quicker, more quantitative, and more publicly available methods of seeing biomolecules in living cells to speed up biotechnology discoveries, such as the production of lifesaving drugs.

11 Sep 2024

Climate Change Exacerbates Valley Fever Threat

A fungal disease called valley fever is on the rise in the western United States. It typically manifests as flu-like symptoms, but it can potentially have fatal or extremely serious side effects.

4 Sep 2024

New Research Reveals Infrared Radiation as a Mosquito Host-Seeking Trigger

While a mosquito bite is often no more than a temporary bother, in many parts of the world it can be scary. One mosquito species, Aedes aegypti, spreads the viruses that cause over 100,000,000 cases of dengue, yellow fever, Zika, and other diseases every year. Another, Anopheles gambiae, spreads the parasite that causes malaria. The World Health Organization estimates that malaria alone causes more than 400,000 deaths every year. Indeed, their capacity to transmit disease has earned mosquitoes the title of deadliest animal.

23 Aug 2024

UChicago Team Secures $7.4 Million Grant to Study Cellular Adaptation

Cells use a variety of processes to adapt to changes and stressors in their environment, like increased temperature.

21 Aug 2024

New Approach for Targeted Genome Editing in Wild Populations

Researchers from Macquarie University and the California Institute of Technology have discovered a novel method that, when published in Nature Communications on August 13th, 2024, might make it easier and more controllable for scientists to modify the genetic composition of wild populations than when using gene drives.

14 Aug 2024

Mast Cells Recruit Neutrophils in Immune Response

Mast cells are well-known for their part in allergic reactions, but the immune system relies heavily on them. They release chemicals in response to allergens, which cause common allergy symptoms like tissue swelling and inflammation.

5 Aug 2024

New Study Uncovers Genetic Secrets of Cotton's Drought Resilience

Cotton is woven into the very fabric of our lives, from soft T-shirts to comfortable jeans and cozy bedsheets.

30 Jul 2024

New Approach to Finding Antibiotic Alternatives Using Bacterial Data

Researchers have devised an approach for identifying novel antimicrobial drugs with clinical potential using bacterial databases, offering insights into finding alternatives to existing antibiotics.

17 Jul 2024

Common Fat Cells Converted to Calorie-Burning Beige Fat in Mice

According to recent research from UC San Francisco, it is now possible to convert common white fat cells, which store calories, into beige fat cells, which burn calories to regulate body temperature.

2 Jul 2024

Unlocking the Secrets of Aging Brains

Researchers have determined the potential mechanisms through which some long-lived mutants of the Caenorhabditis elegans model system experience cognitive decline and others can retain learning and memory into old age.

26 Jun 2024

The Link Between Climate Change and Drug-Resistant Fungal Infections

In a recent study on fungal diseases in Chinese hospitals, researchers discovered that two individuals were infected by a previously undocumented fungus affecting human health.

20 Jun 2024

Nutrient Nanomedicine Shows Promise Against Skin Cancer

An international research team has discovered a new way to effectively treat cancer, by using nutrients to reactivate suppressed metabolic pathways in cancer cells.

18 Jun 2024

Gene Editing Yields New Insights into Tardigrade Resilience

Some species of tardigrades are highly and unusually resilient to various extreme conditions fatal to most other forms of life.

14 Jun 2024

MIT Researchers Develop Amber-Like Polymer for Room-Temperature DNA Storage

In the movie "Jurassic Park," scientists extracted DNA that had been preserved in amber for millions of years, and used it to create a population of long-extinct dinosaurs.

14 Jun 2024

Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Age-Dependent Gene Expression Patterns in Mouse Sweat Glands

A new research paper was published in Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) Volume 16, Issue 8, entitled, "Characterization of age-associated gene expression changes in mouse sweat glands."

15 May 2024