news 2020

Rice lab discovers light-driven catalyst forms olefins for drug, agrochemical manufacturing Inspired by light-sensing bacteria that thrive near hot oceanic vents , synthetic chemists at Rice University have found a mild method to make valuable hydrocarbons known as olefins, or alkenes. Like the bacteria, the researchers use vitamin B12, eliminating harsh chemicals typically needed to make precursor molecules essential to the manufacture of drugs and agrochemicals.

Researchers have developed a free, open-source toolkit that allows laboratories in developing countries to produce their own tools for COVID-19 research and diagnosis, without relying on an increasingly fractured global supply chain. A resilient local supply chain for diagnostics is vital to future health security and pandemic preparedness Jenny Molloy High demand for millions of COVID-19 tests per day combined with a disrupted global supply chain has left many countries facing diagnostic shortages.

Scientists have tracked the very early stages of human foetal gut development in incredible detail, and found specific cell functions that appear to be reactivated in the gut of children with Crohn's Disease. Our results indicate there might be a reprogramming of specific gut cell functions in Crohn's Disease Matthias Zilbauer The results are an important step towards better management and treatment of this devastating condition.

Researchers are the first to create a version of COVID-19 in mice that shows how the disease damages organs other than the lungs. Using their model, the scientists discovered that the SARS-CoV-2 virus can shut down energy production in cells of the heart, kidneys, spleen and other organs. "This mouse model is a really powerful tool for studying SARS-CoV-2 in a living system,' said Dr. Arjun Deb, a co-senior author of a paper about the study and a member of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA.

A new wastewater testing approach developed by researchers at the University of Michigan and Stanford University is capable of better detecting viral infection patterns in communities, and could prove a crucial step forward in an informed public health response as the pandemic continues. Their new study published in Environmental Science & Technology identifies a method that not only detects the virus in wastewater samples but also tracks whether the infection rates are trending up or down.

By inhibiting a particular family of enzymes, it may be possible to develop new therapies for treating neurodegenerative diseases from glaucoma to Alzheimer's Many neurodegenerative conditions, from glaucoma to Alzheimer's disease, are characterized by injury to axons — the long, slender projections that conduct electrical impulses from one nerve cell to another, facilitating cellular communications.

By studying the genomes of hundreds of thousands of people, scientists from UNIGE, HUG and the University of Utrecht discovered the genetic basis of intracranial aneurysms. Nearly three percent of the world's population is at risk of developing an intracranial aneurysm, a localized dilation of a blood vessel forming a fragile pocket.

Researchers from the University of Basel have developed a sensitive testing system that allows the rapid and reliable detection of resistance in bacteria. The system is based on tiny, functionalized cantilevers that bend due to binding of sample material. In the analyses, the system was able to detect resistance in a sample quantity equivalent to 1-10 bacteria.

An international team of researchers has connected specific genetic regions which influence facial features. This means they can see the signals of normal facial features in the genome - but it is also hoped their work can shed light on craniofacial malformations such as cleft lip and palate. The findings are published today in an article .

News Release - New research from Queen's University reveals alarming trends of a globally significant seabird population Queen's researchers John Smol , Matt hew Duda and collaborators have uncovered new information that shows that a globally important seabird colony is now only 16 per cent of its potential size, and the likely culprit of the decline is nearby European settlement from over 200 years ago.

Thanks to the pandemic, we know just how quickly food can disappear from supermarket shelves. But it is hard to gauge the vulnerability of our food production system as a whole to abrupt changes, such as those that could be caused by extreme events such as a nuclear war or massive volcanic eruptions.

Characterising our emotions is the subject of much debate, as is the identification of their neural substrates. A team from the University of Geneva has been examining the brain components of emotions, confirming that they are the brain's synchronised response to events. Emotions are complex phenomena that influence our minds, bodies and behaviour.

The world's smallest primate reveals the incredible preservation of our visual system through millions of years of evolution. Primates process visual information in front of their eyes, similar to pixels in a digital camera, using small computing units located in the visual cortex of their brains.

For a caterpillar, a green leaf can make a nice meal. But to the plant itself, it's an attack. And very hungry caterpillars can do a lot of damage as they eat their way through life. Plants can fight back, unleashing an array of chemical defenses to discourage wayward foragers - from releasing chemicals that attract caterpillar predators to secreting compounds that make the plant taste so foul that desperate caterpillars resort to cannibalism.

Dr Ferran Sayol and Professor Tim Blackburn (both UCL Biosciences) discuss their new study, which found there would be at least four times as many flightless bird species on Earth today if it were not for human influences. When the first humans started to colonise all the regions of the world, many species went extinct.

Scientists have created an evolutionary model to predict how animals should react in stressful situations. Almost all organisms have fast-acting stress responses, which help them respond to threats - but being stressed uses energy, and chronic stress can be damaging. The new study by an international team, including researchers from the Universities of Bristol and Exeter, suggests most animals remain stressed for longer than is optimal after a stress-inducing incident.

Heidelberg Researchers determine the three-dimensional architecture of a molecular machine that inserts essential proteins into biomembranes Over a quarter of all proteins in a cell are found in the membrane, where they perform vital functions. To fulfil these roles, membrane proteins must be reliably transported from their site of production in the cell to their destination and correctly inserted into the target membrane.

There would be at least four times as many flightless bird species on Earth today if it were not for human influences, finds a study led by UCL researchers. The study, published in Science Advances , finds that flightlessness evolved much more frequently among birds than would be expected if you only looked at current species.

Publication in Science by biochemists from Freie Universität Berlin and international colleagues No 235/2020 from Dec 03, 2020 An important gene expression process in bacteria seems to proceed differently than described in textbooks. This is the result of an international team of scientists headed by the Structural Biochemistry group at Freie Universität Berlin.

More frequently sheared pregnant sheep are more active, have lower stress levels and produce lambs with finer wool, according to University of Queensland research. Dr Edward Narayan from UQ's School of Agriculture and Food Science and the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) , said research found merino ewes sheared twice during pregnancy, rather than the industry standard of once, fared significantly better.