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Unraveling the Evolutionary Link to Eukaryotic Cells

A decade ago, the existence of Asgard archaea was unknown. However, in 2015, researchers analyzing deep-sea sediments uncovered gene fragments that suggested the presence of a new, previously unidentified group of microbes.

24 Mar 2025

Scientists Unlock the Mechanism Behind piRNA's Defense Against Jumping Genes

Adverse genetic mutations can cause harm and are due to various circumstances. "Jumping genes" are one cause of mutations, but cells try and combat them with a specialized RNA called piRNA.

22 Mar 2025

RNA-Based Active Agents Successfully Shield Plants from Cucumber Mosaic Virus

New RNA-based active agents reliably protect plants against the Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), the most common virus in agriculture and horticulture. They were developed by researchers at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU).

20 Mar 2025

Pregnancy Triggers Small Intestine Growth in Mice

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have found that the small intestine grows in response to pregnancy in mice. This partially irreversible change may help mice support a pregnancy and prepare for a second.

20 Mar 2025

New Insights into How B Cells Strategically Clone High-Affinity Antibodies

A vaccine's ability to generate long-lasting, high-affinity antibodies hinges on a delicate balance. Upon exposure to a vaccine or pathogen, B cells scramble to refine their defenses, rapidly mutating in hopes of generating the most effective antibodies.

20 Mar 2025

Advanced Imaging Deciphers B Cell Dynamics in Lymph Nodes

Germinal centers are machines of rapid evolution. Germinal centers are tiny clusters in the lymph nodes that refine antibodies through proliferation and mutation to create high-affinity B cells that are suited to control various infections.

20 Mar 2025

Phytogene Offers a Greener, Cheaper Alternative for Producing Pharmaceuticals

To tackle the inequity in medication access, a societal issue especially in developing nations, a team of undergraduate student-researchers at the University of Ottawa has developed a new biomanufacturing platform called Phytogene.

18 Mar 2025

Brain Research Offers Fresh Insights into the Nature Versus Nurture Debate

Riddle me this: how can it be that reading these words activates nearly identical word-sensitive patches of the brain's visual system in you and nearly every other reader of this story? And that a different set of face-sensitive visual regions-again in almost identical positions in each reader's brain-would activate to process the faces of the researchers, should you meet them?

18 Mar 2025

New Discovery in RNA Splicing Could Transform Treatment of Aggressive Cancers

Alternative RNA splicing is like a movie editor cutting and rearranging scenes from the same footage to create different versions of a film.

17 Mar 2025

Landscape Transcriptomics Sheds Light on Bee Stress and Decline

A new method of examining gene expression patterns called landscape transcriptomics may help pinpoint what causes bumble bees stress and could eventually give insight into why bee populations are declining overall, according to a study led by researchers at Penn State.

14 Mar 2025

Study Explores the Physiological Role of Nwd1 Gene in MASH Pathogenesis

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) is a liver disease that progresses without symptoms and is associated with significant global public health concerns.

12 Mar 2025

Can We Engineer Crops to Withstand Climate Change and Increasing Temperatures?

Investigating heat stress in crops, this review highlights genetic adaptations and CRISPR techniques to develop resilient varieties for sustainable agriculture.

12 Mar 2025

Scientists Develop Off-the-Shelf Vascular Grafts Using Stem Cells

Zhang, J., et al. (2025) Small-diameter artery grafts engineered from pluripotent stem cells maintain 100% patency in an allogeneic rhesus macaque model. Cell Reports Medicine. doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm.2025.102002.

12 Mar 2025

Study Reveals How Tuberculosis Bacteria Survive Airborne Journey

Tuberculosis bacteria rely on a family of genes that help them survive the challenging journey from one person's lungs to another person's during coughing, sneezing or talking, according to researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

12 Mar 2025

Low-Cost, Flexible Protein Detection Platform for Global Health

Chemical and biomolecular engineers at Georgia Tech have created a plug-and-play platform for the detection of disease protein biomarkers that is straightforward, adaptable, and user-friendly, eliminating the need for expensive laboratory equipment.

10 Mar 2025

Study Reveals How the Brain Reorganizes Sensory Maps After Loss of Touch

A team of researchers from the Institute for Neurosciences (IN), a joint center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Miguel Hernández University (UMH) in Elche, has discovered that the developing brain can reorganize its sensory maps when the sense of touch is affected.

8 Mar 2025

Ancient Fish Fossils Reveal Synovial Joints Evolved Millions of Years Earlier Than Thought

Recent research reveals that synovial joints originated in early jawed fish, reshaping our understanding of vertebrate skeletal evolution and movement.

7 Mar 2025

New Genetic Discovery Could Lead to Larger Tomatoes and Eggplants

Bigger, tastier tomatoes and eggplants could soon grace our dinner plates thanks to Johns Hopkins scientists who have discovered genes that control how large the fruits will grow.

6 Mar 2025

Dual Antibodies Found to Combat All SARS-CoV-2 Variants

A Stanford-led team has found two antibodies that can work together to defeat all SARS-CoV-2 variants. More research is needed, but the approach could help in the development of treatments to keep pace with evolving viruses.

6 Mar 2025

Cryo-ET Reveals Retrotransposon Replication Inside Cells

An arms race is occurring within human cells: Transposons, also known as jumping genes or mobile genetic elements, can replicate and reintegrate themselves into the genome, posing a threat to genomic integrity by inducing DNA rearrangements and mutations.

6 Mar 2025