Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Safer CRISPR gene editing with fewer off-target hits
The CRISPR system is a powerful tool for the targeted editing of genomes, with significant therapeutic potential, but runs the risk of inappropriately editing ''off-target'' sites. However, a new study...
Discovery reveals how plants make cellulose for strength and growth
The discovery unveils the molecular machinery that plants use to weave cellulose chains into cable-like structures called 'microfibrils.'
Contact area-dependent cell communication and the morphological invariance of ascidian embryogenesis
Marine invertebrate ascidians display embryonic reproducibility: Their early embryonic cell lineages are considered invariant and are conserved between distantly related species, despite rapid genomic divergence. Here, we address the drivers...
Human CNS barrier-forming organoids with cerebrospinal fluid production
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a vital liquid, providing nutrients and signaling molecules and clearing out toxic by-products from the brain. The CSF is produced by the choroid plexus (ChP), a...
HEM1 deficiency disrupts mTORC2 and F-actin control in inherited immunodysregulatory disease
Immunodeficiency often coincides with hyperactive immune disorders such as autoimmunity, lymphoproliferation, or atopy, but this coincidence is rarely understood on a molecular level. We describe five patients from four families...
The ontogeny of a mammalian cognitive map in the real world
How animals navigate over large-scale environments remains a riddle. Specifically, it is debated whether animals have cognitive maps. The hallmark of map-based navigation is the ability to perform shortcuts, i.e.,...
Cognitive map-based navigation in wild bats revealed by a new high-throughput tracking system
Seven decades of research on the "cognitive map," the allocentric representation of space, have yielded key neurobiological insights, yet field evidence from free-ranging wild animals is still lacking. Using a...
Structure and selectivity engineering of the M1 muscarinic receptor toxin complex
Muscarinic toxins (MTs) are natural toxins produced by mamba snakes that primarily bind to muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (MAChRs) and modulate their function. Despite their similar primary and tertiary structures, MTs...
Safer CRISPR gene editing with fewer off-target hits
The CRISPR system is a powerful tool for the targeted editing of genomes, with significant therapeutic potential, but runs the risk of inappropriately editing "off-target" sites. However, a new study...
Dissecting fruit flies' varying responses to life-extension diet
Changes in a few small molecules involved in a cell's metabolism seem to indicate whether a restricted "life extension" diet will actually extend, shorten, or have no effect on lifespan,...
Movement ecology bears fruits: ATLAS supports map-based navigation of wild bats
When wild Egyptian fruit bats set out at night to forage in Israel's Hula Valley, they do so using advanced spatial memory and a flexible cognitive mapping of the fruit...
Report: More migrants detained at U.S-Mexico border in June, but down form 2019
About 40 percent more migrants were detained at the Mexico-U.S. border in June than the month before, but that number is down significantly from the same time in 2019, a...
HBO Max renews 'Legendary' for a second season
Ballroom competition series "Legendary" has been renewed for a second season by HBO Max.
The restoration of forests with active rapid 'Ohi'a death infections may be possible
For the first time, researchers have shown that native 'ohi'a seedlings can survive for at least a year in areas that have active mortality from Rapid 'ohi'a Death, or ROD,...
Born to be a cannibal: Genes for feeding behaviour in mandarin fish identified
Some mandarin fish species (Sinipercidae) are pure fish-eaters, which feed exclusively on living juvenile fish—also of their own species. A research team led by the Chinese Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU)...
Chinook salmon declines related to changes in freshwater conditions
A new University of Alaska-led study provides the first evidence that declines in many of Alaska's chinook salmon populations can be attributed in part to climate-driven changes in their freshwater...
Overharvesting threatens 'Himalayan Viagra' fungus: IUCN
A parasitic fungus that grows inside the ghost moth caterpillar and then kills its host by bursting through its head is itself threatened with extinction, the IUCN said Thursday, as...
Cycad stem cuttings need wound sealants for successful propagation
The need to cover an open wound on cycad stem cuttings has been confirmed by the Western Pacific Tropical Research Center at the University of Guam in a study published...
Daytime aardvark sightings are a sign of troubled times
Aardvarks occur across most of sub-Saharan Africa, but very few people have seen one, because they are solitary, mostly active at night, and live in burrows. They use their spade-like...
Unraveling the mystery of wheat herbicide tolerance
Genetically speaking, the loaf of bread you stress-baked during the COVID-19 shutdown is more complex than you think. Wheat's 16 billion genes, organized in not one but three semi-independent genomes,...
X-ray scattering shines light on protein folding
KAIST researchers have used an X-ray method to track how proteins fold, which could improve computer simulations of this process, with implications for understanding diseases and improving drug discovery. Their...
Overzealous cell membrane guardians could increase the risk of cancer
Researchers at the UiO and OUS have discovered how destructive changes occur in our genome. This could lead to cancer. Their results have been published in the journal Nature Cell...
Nearly all Madagascar's lemur species 'face extinction'
Almost all species of lemur, the small saucer-eyed primates native to Madagascar, face extinction, an international conservation body warned on Thursday, adding to its growing list of animals and plants...
Company offers $1,000 to play 50 hours of 'Animal Crossing'
An online company is offering Nintendo fans the chance to make $1,000 with an unusual dream job: playing "Animal Crossing: New Horizons" for 50 hours.
Discovery makes microscopic imaging possible in dark conditions
Researchers have discovered a new way to more accurately analyze microscopic samples by essentially making them 'glow in the dark', through the use of chemically luminescent molecules. Current methods of...
Sodium found to regulate the biological clock of mice
A new study shows that increases in the concentrations of blood sodium can have an influence on the biological clock of mice, opening new research avenues for potentially treating the...
New form of melanin has ability to protect human tissue from X-rays
Packing for outer space? Here’s one thing you won’t want to forget. Northwestern University researchers have synthesized a new form of melanin enriched with selenium. Called selenomelanin, this new biomaterial...
OPTN-ATG9 interaction accelerates autophagic degradation of ubiquitin-labeled mitochondria
Researchers at TMIMS have revealed that PINK1 (a serine/threonine kinase) and Parkin (a ubiquitin ligating enzyme: E3) work together to ubiquitylate the outer membrane proteins of damaged mitochondria to induce...