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Phages Form Unique 3D Shapes, Boosting Disease Detection

While preparing slides to be examined under a powerful microscope, a team of McMaster researchers who frequently work with bacteriophage viruses that consume bacteria had a pleasant and potentially very significant surprise.

22 Oct 2024

Advancements in Understanding Intestinal Hormone Secretion

A multi-institutional group of researchers led by the Hubrecht Institute and Roche's Institute of Human Biology has developed strategies to identify regulators of intestinal hormone secretion.

21 Oct 2024

Filamentous Bacteria Use Grappling Hooks and Cannons to Hunt

Countless bacteria call the vastness of the oceans home, and they all face the same problem: the nutrients they need to grow and multiply are scarce and unevenly distributed in the waters around them.

18 Oct 2024

Yeast's Survival Strategy Provides Clues for Targeting Cancer Cells

The discovery of a surprising way yeast used to brew beer can survive starvation could open the door to new treatments for cancer.

17 Oct 2024

High Potency Cannabis Leaves Unique DNA Signature, Study Shows

Published in Molecular Psychiatry, this is the first study to suggest that the use of high potency cannabis leaves a distinct mark on DNA, providing valuable insights into the biological impact of cannabis use.

16 Oct 2024

Researchers Develop Innovative Human Macrophage Model for Disease Study

A human cell culture model of the lung's most important immune cells, alveolar macrophages, helped make a key finding that is prompting researchers to rethink the role of another immune protein in infectious disease.

15 Oct 2024

Melanin May Act as a "Drug Sponge," Influencing Medication Effectiveness

Skin pigmentation may act as a "sponge" for some medications, potentially influencing the speed with which active drugs reach their intended targets, a pair of scientists report in a perspective article published in the journal Human Genomics.

15 Oct 2024

A New Technique Reveals the Behavior of OPCs in the Brain

Imagine yourself sometime in the far future aboard a routine rocket to Mars. Someone just spilled their drink. Without gravity, it collects in floating blobs that ripple right before your eyes. Now freeze.

14 Oct 2024

Bacterial Gene Expression Drives the Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance

As strains of pathogens resistant to frontline antibiotics become more common worldwide, clinicians are more often turning to combination treatments that degrade this resistance as a first treatment option.

14 Oct 2024

Cell Division Variability Promotes Healthy Embryo Development

There is variability in when and how cells divide during the development of embryos. While researchers traditionally believed this variability was an obstacle that needed to be regulated, the Hiiragi group now found that it actually promotes healthy development.

14 Oct 2024

The Role of Yeast Ribosomes in Cellular Survival During Starvation

Researchers from EMBL Heidelberg and the University of Virginia School of Medicine have uncovered a fascinating mechanism by which cells respond to nutrient deprivation. This discovery holds intriguing implications for understanding cancer development.

10 Oct 2024

Unveiling the Link Between Genetics, Stress, and Type 2 Diabetes

The cells in the human pancreas have a limit to how much stress they can withstand before degenerating.

10 Oct 2024

New Method for Identifying Kinase Inhibitors for Cancer Therapy

The most difficult subtype of breast cancer to treat is triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Over 20,000 cases of TNBC are reported each year in the United States alone.

10 Oct 2024

Transforming Microbiome Research with Single-Cell Genome Analysis

The human microbiome plays a critical role in our health, influencing everything from disease development to treatment responses.

8 Oct 2024

How Comamonas Bacteria Transform Plastic Waste into Food

Researchers have long observed that a common family of environmental bacteria, Comamonadacae, grow on plastics littered throughout urban rivers and wastewater systems.

7 Oct 2024

New Quantum Algorithm Could Drastically Speed Up Drug Discovery

University of Copenhagen mathematicians have developed a recipe for upgrading quantum computers to simulate complex quantum systems, such as molecules. Their discovery brings us closer to being able to predict how new drugs will behave within our bodies and has the potential to revolutionize pharmaceutical development.

4 Oct 2024

Zinc Inhibits Plasmid Transfer in Gut Microbes

Genes responsible for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) can spread from microbe to microbe through circular genetic material called plasmids, and this lateral transfer occurs in the gut. This week in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, researchers in Iowa report that the transmission of some AMR plasmids may be inhibited by a readily available source-;dietary zinc supplements.

4 Oct 2024

EPA-Funds Study on Antimicrobial Resistance in Wastewater and Agricultural Runoff

Aided by a $2.4 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, a team of University of Nebraska–Lincoln engineers and scientists is leading a multi-state effort to assess the potential threat to human health from antimicrobial-resistant pathogens spread via wastewater and agricultural runoff.

4 Oct 2024

Scientists Successfully Map the Entire Fruit Fly Brain

A team of scientists supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)'s The BRAIN Initiative, including Davi Bock, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Neurological Sciences at UVM's Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine, recently made a substantial advancement in neurobiological research by successfully mapping the entire brain of Drosophila melanogaster, more commonly known as the fruit fly.

3 Oct 2024

Unraveling the Mysteries of Endosymbiotic Relationships

Endosymbiosis refers to a remarkable biological process where one organism resides within another. This unique arrangement is frequently advantageous for both organisms involved.

3 Oct 2024