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Scientists Uncover Mechanism Linking OPN3 to Food Intake Regulation

Scientists discovered years ago that the hypothalamus - which helps to manage body temperature, hunger, sex drive, sleep and more - includes neurons that express the protein opsin 3 (OPN3).

17 Feb 2025

How Bacteriophages Build a Protein-Based Nucleus to Outsmart Bacteria

Jumbo phages utilize a complex protein import system, with Imp1 as a key gatekeeper, to transport proteins into their protective nucleus-like compartment.

14 Feb 2025

Symbiotic Bacteria Accompany Single-Celled Protists in the Ocean's Upper Layer

Just as the human body serves as a habitat for bacteria and other microbes, diverse, tiny organisms known as protists host their own microbiomes.

13 Feb 2025

Understanding the Complex Architecture of the Minor Spliceosome

In human cells, only a small proportion of the information written in genes is used to produce proteins. How does the cell select this information? A large molecular machine called the spliceosome continuously separates the coding and non-coding regions of our genes – and it's doing this even as you read these lines.

13 Feb 2025

DNA Methylation Governs Citric Acid Production in Lemons

Lemons owe their signature tang to citric acid, yet the molecular mechanisms governing its accumulation have long remained a mystery.

12 Feb 2025

Mismatch Repair Genes Found to be Key Drivers of Huntington's Disease

A new UCLA Health study has discovered in mouse models that genes associated with repairing mismatched DNA are critical in eliciting damages to neurons that are most vulnerable in Huntington's disease and triggering downstream pathologies and motor impairment, shedding light on disease mechanisms and potential new ways to develop therapies.

12 Feb 2025

Single-Cell Analysis Reveals Critical Kidney Cell Types Involved in Disease

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine have published a new study in the journal Science that suggests over 1,000 genes could be potential targets for kidney disease treatment.

12 Feb 2025

Understanding Plant Repair of Light-Damaged Photosystems

More than two billion years ago, cyanobacteria started to produce oxygen in the primarily toxic atmosphere of Earth.

11 Feb 2025

New Study Reveals Energy-Saving Strategies in Neuronal Protein Synthesis

Nerve cells use incredible energy-saving techniques while still carrying out their primary functions.

10 Feb 2025

Researchers Unveil Mechanisms Behind Neural Stem Cell Activation and Quiescence

A University of Ottawa neuroscientist has led a Canadian research team to reveal important new insights into the activation dynamics of neural stem cells (NSCs).

8 Feb 2025

New Brain Cells Could Hold the Key to Regulating Satiation

Columbia scientists have found specialized neurons in the brains of mice that order the animals to stop eating.

6 Feb 2025

The Cost of Being King: Alpha Baboons Trade Power for Survival

Research on male baboons reveals that alpha males face higher energetic costs and chronic stress, challenging assumptions about dominance and well-being.

3 Feb 2025

Novel Chemo-Optogenetic Systems Offer Spatiotemporal Precision

A research team at Umeå University has created advanced light-controlled tools that allow for precise regulation of proteins in real time within living cells.

31 Jan 2025

EpiBERT AI Model Reveals How Genes Are Regulated in Human Cells

A team of investigators from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Google, and Columbia University have created an artificial intelligence model that can predict which genes are expressed in any type of human cell.

30 Jan 2025

Temperature-Sensitive Protein Enables Non-Invasive Control of Cellular Behavior

Imagine being at a big marquee event at an arena, like the Super Bowl, with the roar of the crowd, the smell of hot dogs, and a sea of jerseys all merging into one chaotic blur.

30 Jan 2025

Fast and Precise Protein Labeling in Intact Tissues with MIT Technology

A new technology developed at MIT enables scientists to label proteins across millions of individual cells in fully intact 3D tissues with unprecedented speed, uniformity, and versatility.

27 Jan 2025

Mapping the Human Virome to Uncover Links Between Viruses and Health

You, my friend, are what scientists call a "holobiont"- an organism made up of human cells and the multiplicity of microscopic species living inside you and on your body.

27 Jan 2025

Genome Dynamics Reveals the Keys to Long-Term Survival in an Asexual Mite

An international group of researchers at the University of Cologne have explored the asexual reproduction of oribatid mites using genome sequencing methods.

27 Jan 2025

Study Reveals How Male Ruff Birds Use a "Super Enzyme" to Tame Excess Testosterone

We normally associate high testosterone levels with male dominance and aggression. Among ruffs – a shore bird that breeds across Europe and Asia – some males suffer from too much of it.

24 Jan 2025