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Study Cracks Open the Enigma of Major Evolutionary Leaps

Significant evolutionary changes happen gradually as opposed to in dramatic 'monster' steps, biologists have discovered, answering the long-debated question as to how game-changing innovations like flight, vision, and the bearing of live offspring came to be.

5 Jan 2024

mEnrich-seq: A High-Specificity Bacterial Enrichment Technique for Microbiome Research

In a landmark study recently published in the journal Nature Methods, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have unveiled mEnrich-seq-;an innovative method designed to substantially enhance the specificity and efficiency of research into microbiomes, the complex communities of microorganisms that inhabit the human body.

5 Jan 2024

Studies Explore Different Strategies for Phenotypic Innovation in Pitcher Plants and Marine Snails

In a pair of studies, researchers use different approaches to investigate how complex and innovative phenotypic traits evolve in plants and animals.

5 Jan 2024

B12-Producing Gut Bacteria Modulate Neurotransmitter Levels and Reduce Seizures in C. elegans

A new study published in Nature Cell Biology by Mark Alkema, PhD, professor of neurobiology, establishes an important molecular link between specific B12-producing bacteria in the gut of the roundworm C. elegans and the production of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter important to memory and cognitive function.

5 Jan 2024

Mechanism of Pathogenic Fungus Aspergillus fumigatus Unveiled

An international team of researchers, led by Professor Gustavo Goldman of the University of São Paulo and Maynooth University's Dr Özgür Bayram, has unveiled ground-breaking findings on Aspergillus fumigatus, which can cause deadly disease in humans.

5 Jan 2024

Research Reveals Unforeseen Functions for Autophagy Genes in Neuronal Health and Aging

Autophagy, which declines with age, may hold more mysteries than researchers previously suspected. In the January 4th issue of Nature Aging, it was noted that scientists from the Buck Institute, Sanford Burnham Prebys and Rutgers University have uncovered possible novel functions

5 Jan 2024

Scientists Develop Tiny Human Cerebellums to Decipher Disease and Design Therapies

In a first for USC Stem Cell scientists, the laboratory of Giorgia Quadrato, an assistant professor of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, has pioneered a novel human brain organoid model that generates all the major cell types of the cerebellum, a hindbrain region predominantly made up of two cell types necessary for movement, cognition, and emotion: granule cells and Purkinje neurons.

5 Jan 2024

A Pair of Force-Activated Gene Regulating Proteins Guide Fetal Bone Development

A pair of proteins, YAP and TAZ, has been identified as conductors of bone development in the womb and could provide insight into genetic diseases such as osteogenesis imperfecta, known commonly as "brittle bone disease."

5 Jan 2024

New Method Designs Proteins With Complex Shapes

A team of researchers has developed an innovative method to design complicated all-α proteins, characterized by their non-uniformly arranged α-helices as seen in hemoglobin.

5 Jan 2024

Elucidating the Adaptive Genetic Mechanisms of Chiridota heheva in Hydrothermal Environments

Animals are unlikely to thrive in hydrothermal vents because of their harsh chemistry, which includes an acidic pH and a high concentration of methane and sulfur.

4 Jan 2024

Midshipman Fish Song Shows Midbrain's Role in Vocal Production

Talkative midshipman fish also referred to as “California singing fish,” rely heavily on the midbrain to initiate and organize the trains of sounds necessary for vocal communication.

4 Jan 2024

Unraveling the Mysteries of COPII-Mediated Protein Transport

Similar to postal workers who deliver packages in inclement weather, such as snow, rain, or heat waves, a vital set of proteins found in mammals enables cells to operate normally, even in less-than-ideal circumstances.

4 Jan 2024

Enhancing Photosynthesis Modulating Chlorophyll for Improved Crop Efficiency

Plants have evolved to have high chlorophyll levels in their leaves because chlorophyll is essential to photosynthesis.

4 Jan 2024

Zipping Up Chromosomes: The Synaptonemal Complex Revealed

We have two copies of each chromosome in every cell in our bodies except in our reproductive cells. Sperm and egg cells contain a single copy of each chromosome with a unique mix of genes from our parents, an evolutionary trick to give our offspring genetic variability.

4 Jan 2024