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A genetic switch in brain cells can toggle between sex-specific states when necessary

Biological sex is typically understood in binary terms: male and female. However, there are many examples of animals that are able to modify sex-typical biological and behavioral features and even change sex.

11 Aug 2020

Adapting the equipment and expertise of agtech labs could help combat pandemics

Just as redeploying a fleet of small British fishing boats helped during the Battle of Dunkirk, marshalling the research equipment and expertise of the many agtech labs around the world could help combat pandemics, say the authors of a just-published article in Nature Biotechnology.

11 Aug 2020

Study finds increase in SARS-CoV-2 transmission risk along wildlife supply chains

Coronaviruses were detected in a high proportion of bats and rodents in Viet Nam from 2013 to 2014, with an increasing proportion of positive samples found along the wildlife supply chain from traders to large markets to restaurants, according to a study published August 10 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Amanda Fine of the Wildlife Conservation Society and colleagues.

11 Aug 2020

Light impulses can be used to trigger electrical excitation in plants

Optogenetics denotes the manipulation of cellular processes by light-based biological techniques. An international research team led by the Würzburg plant scientists Rainer Hedrich, Georg Nagel and Dirk Becker has succeeded in applying this method to higher plants: Light impulses can now be used to trigger electrical excitation in plants.

11 Aug 2020

Scientists resolve photosynthetic bottlenecks to increase crop productivity

Plants are factories that manufacture yield from light and carbon dioxide--but parts of this complex process, called photosynthesis, are hindered by a lack of raw materials and machinery.

11 Aug 2020

Researchers show how boundaries of adaptations become bridges in evolution

There's a paradox within the theory of evolution: The life forms that exist today are here because they were able to change when past environments disappeared.

11 Aug 2020

Using genetic engineering to study evolutionary assimilation of foreign DNA in a new host

All life is subject to evolution in the form of mutations that change the DNA sequence of an organism's offspring, after which natural selection allows the 'fittest' mutants to survive and pass on their genes to future generations.

11 Aug 2020

Researchers use genome editing to facilitate drug discovery based on natural fungus

Rice University scientists have won federal support for their pursuit of novel drugs to treat human disease.

11 Aug 2020

Researchers describe a previously unknown phylum of aquatic Archaea

In a publication in Nature Communications last Friday, NIOZ scientists Nina Dombrowski and Anja Spang and their collaboration partners describe a previously unknown phylum of aquatic Archaea that are likely dependent on partner organisms for growth while potentially being able to conserve some energy by fermentation.

11 Aug 2020

Study suggests that coronavirus does not directly damage taste bud cells

A new study from the Regenerative Bioscience Center at the University of Georgia is the first to suggest that COVID-19 does not directly damage taste bud cells.

From University of Georgia 11 Aug 2020

Intensive land use may reduce pollination and reproductive success of wild plants

Leipzig/Halle. Human changes to the environment have been linked to widespread pollinator declines. New research published in Nature Communications shows that intensive land use will further decrease pollination and reproductive success of wild plants, especially of those plants that are highly specialized in their pollination.

11 Aug 2020

Modeling predicted movements of aphids could help fight against banana bunchy top virus

Modelling the predicted movements of pervasive sap-sucking tiny insects before they infest banana crops has the potential to become a key tactic in the fight against a devastating virus, according to QUT research.

11 Aug 2020

Mathematical model shows how stability inherently arises in the brain

Whether you are playing Go in a park amid chirping birds, a gentle breeze and kids playing catch nearby or you are playing in a den with a ticking clock on a bookcase and a purring cat on the sofa, if the game situation is identical and clear, your next move likely would be, too, regardless of those different conditions.

11 Aug 2020

A magnetic-sensitive artificial catalyst can remotely control bioreactions in living cells

The enzymes responsible for catalytic reactions in our body's biological reactions are difficult to use for diagnosis or treatment as they react only to certain molecules or have low stability.

11 Aug 2020

$1.2 million NIH grant awarded to create humanized mice susceptible to COVID-19

The National Institutes of Health has awarded a grant of $1.2 million to the Mouse Biology Program at the University of California, Davis, to create mice that are susceptible to the COVID-19 virus, and to distribute them to researchers.

11 Aug 2020

Gene therapy to the inner retina prevents blindness in Cln3-deficient mice

Gene therapy to the inner retina prevented blindness in a mouse model of the neuro-degenerative disorder CLN3 Batten disease.

11 Aug 2020

UC Riverside physicist receives NIH grant to study how pathogens evolve

For several years, physicist John Barton at the University of California, Riverside, has been working on developing models to understand and predict how pathogens, such as HIV, evolve. This research pursuit has just received support from the National Institutes of Health.

11 Aug 2020

Finned nanoporous materials can speed up molecular transport

Thousands of chemical processes used by the energy industry and for other applications rely on the high speed of catalytic reactions, but molecules frequently are hindered by molecular traffic jams that slow them down.

11 Aug 2020

Oxytocin can help control and prevent osteoporosis

Oxytocin, produced by the hypothalamus and sometimes known as the "love hormone" for its involvement in pair bonding and orgasm, can be a strong ally in the control and prevention of osteoporosis, according to a study by scientists at São Paulo State University in Brazil.

11 Aug 2020

Study may reduce transmissible cancer in Tasmanian devils, offers hope for treating human cancers

A rare, transmissible tumor has brought the iconic Tasmanian devil to the brink of extinction, but new research by scientists at Washington State University and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle indicates hope for the animals' survival and possibly new treatment for human cancers.

10 Aug 2020

Life Science News

A genetic switch in brain cells can toggle between sex-specific states when necessary

Adapting the equipment and expertise of agtech labs could help combat pandemics

Study finds increase in SARS-CoV-2 transmission risk along wildlife supply chains

Light impulses can be used to trigger electrical excitation in plants

Scientists resolve photosynthetic bottlenecks to increase crop productivity

Researchers show how boundaries of adaptations become bridges in evolution

Using genetic engineering to study evolutionary assimilation of foreign DNA in a new host

Researchers use genome editing to facilitate drug discovery based on natural fungus

Researchers describe a previously unknown phylum of aquatic Archaea

Study suggests that coronavirus does not directly damage taste bud cells

Intensive land use may reduce pollination and reproductive success of wild plants

Modeling predicted movements of aphids could help fight against banana bunchy top virus

Mathematical model shows how stability inherently arises in the brain

A magnetic-sensitive artificial catalyst can remotely control bioreactions in living cells

$1.2 million NIH grant awarded to create humanized mice susceptible to COVID-19

Gene therapy to the inner retina prevents blindness in Cln3-deficient mice

UC Riverside physicist receives NIH grant to study how pathogens evolve

Finned nanoporous materials can speed up molecular transport

Oxytocin can help control and prevent osteoporosis

Study may reduce transmissible cancer in Tasmanian devils, offers hope for treating human cancers

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