news 2021

Researchers at Yale and the Weizmann Institute of Science have found the first evidence that the human fetus can spontaneously produce insulin outside the pancreas - in the small intestine, specifically - a startling discovery that stands in contrast to the longheld belief that insulin production is unique to the pancreas.

Mutations of a gene that regulates formation of blood vessels in the brain of vertebrates can lead to potentially deadly aneurysms in adults, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in the December. Saccular brain aneurysms affect nearly 3% of the human population. If they rupture, it can cause subarachnoid hemorrhage, the deadliest type of intracranial hemorrhage.

An international team led by researchers from The University of Manchester today published in Scientific Reports a groundbreaking study that sheds new light on the timing associated with the dinosaur-killing asteroid impact that occurred 66 million years ago. The study, " Seasonal calibration of the end-Cretaceous Chicxulub Impact Event ", provides new evidence that helps us to understand the significance of the timing for the events that brought an end to the dinosaurs—and 75% of life on Earth.

A Cologne-based research team has discovered that the metabolism of mitochondria, the energy suppliers of cells, in macrophages coordinate wound healing to a significant degree. Macrophages belong to the white blood cells and are also known as scavenger cells.Sabine Eming and her collaborators and colleagues at the CECAD Cluster of Excellence for Aging Research at the University of Cologne showed that wound macrophages undergo different metabolic programs during tissue repair, which are required to support the successive phases for skin reconstruction after injury.

A research team led by scientists from Cardiff University has provided the first ever 3D visualisation of an ammonite - a marine mollusc group that became extinct with the dinosaurs around 66 million years ago. The new images have allowed the team to analyse the muscles and organs of an ammonite for the very first time, throwing new light on how the cephalopod mollusc was able to swim through the oceans and defend itself from predators.

Cells in the developing embryo can sense the stiffness of other cells around them, which is key to them moving together to form the face and skull, finds a new study by UCL researchers. In the study of frog embryos researchers found that embryonic cells can navigate away from soft regions of the embryo and toward harder regions.

A population of Seychelles frog have adapted to a warmer climate over time, but as these adaptations have evolved gradually, the rapidly warming climate still poses a threat to species' survival, according to a new study led by a UCL researcher. In the study published in Global Change Biology , the researchers report that a subgroup of the Seychelles frog ( Sooglossus sechellensis) adapted to historic sea level rise after finding themselves on an island with a different climate.

Researchers at the University of Göttingen examine the effect of providing information Despite shifts towards vegan and vegetarian diets in Western cultures, demand for animal protein persists. Alternative protein sources are required to nourish the growing world population without compromising on sustainability.

When we learn to associate an auditory stimulus with a visual stimulus, the perception of that visual stimulus changes, but this phenomenon is not well understood. For the first time, the Keller group has now identified a mechanism in the brain that enables auditory information to influence visual representations.

Caltech researchers have discovered certain conditions that enable different laboratory animals to regenerate amputated appendages. Upon consuming a diet high in sugar and an essential amino acid, three different species-the moon jellyfish Aurelia coerulea , the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster , and common laboratory mice-all demonstrated some ability to regenerate appendages after amputation.

Chemists at the University of Geneva have developed a new technique for selecting assemblies of molecules, making it possible to find the best combinations for each protein to be combated quickly and cheaply. Our body must constantly defend itself against bacteria and viruses. It generates millions of different antibodies, which are selected to recognise the enemy and trigger the best possible immune response.

Phobias are often irrational by nature - especially in the case of spiders, as these creatures are usually more afraid of humans than vice-versa. But: some species are a force to be reckoned with - for example, the Latrodectus spider, more commonly known as the Black Widow. It catches its prey by using venom - to be precise, latrotoxins (LaTXs), a subclass of neurotoxins, or nerve poisons.

The -5-SENSE- score can predict who will not benefit from stereo-electroencephalography A new study from The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital) and eight collaborating international epilepsy centers has developed a simple web-based application clinicians can use to predict which patients will not benefit from an invasive diagnostic work-up, preventing unnecessary, invasive procedures, saving time for patients and the clinical team, and freeing up overburdened health resources.

Benjamin Rubin, Brady Cress and Spencer Diamond, core members of the Innovative Genomics Institute team at UC Berkeley that developed community CRISPR editing. (UC Berkeley photo by Benton Cheung) To date, CRISPR enzymes have been used to edit the genomes of one type of cell at a time: They cut, delete or add genes to a specific kind of cell within a tissue or organ, for example, or to one kind of microbe growing in a test tube.

The technology has been developed by researchers from the Translational Synthetic Biology Laboratory at UPF led by Dr. Marc Güell. Find Cut-and-Transfer (FiCAT) is a tool capable of accurately writing small and large genes.

Alfonso Martínez Arias, head of the Stembryo Engineering Lab at UPF, participates in a review published in Science in which the authors offer offer a new perspective of the role of a structure in embryonic development known as the primitive streak. In a review published in the journal Science , the researchers Guojun Sheng (Kumamoto University, Japan), Alfonso Martínez Arias (UPF) and Ann Sutherland (University of Virginia Health System, USA) offer a new perspective of the role of a structure in embryonic development known as the primitive streak.

Researchers from the University of Geneva identified that the amount of food regulate the gut size and its capacity to absorb calories, thus shedding light on a fundamental mechanism at the very origin of obesity. With more than 10% of the world's population obese and 40% overweight, obesity constitutes one of the most crucial health challenges.

A team from the UNIGE has discovered that neurons linked to the reward system are responsible for motivating us to interact with our fellow human beings. Human beings, like most mammals, need social interactions to live and develop. The processes that drive them towards each other require decision making whose brain machinery is largely misunderstood.

GlaxoSmithKline plc and the University of Oxford today announced a major five-year collaboration to establish the Oxford-GSK Institute of Molecular and Computational Medicine. The new Institute, which will be based at the University of Oxford, aims to improve the success and speed of research and development of new medicines, building on insights from human genetics and using advanced technologies such as functional genomics and machine learning.

A new study led by VUB biologist Thomas Merckx shows that because of the warmer urban environment in which they live, butterflies and moths display a longer flight season than those in the surrounding countryside. The experiments he and colleagues conducted demonstrate for the first time that urban populations are evolutionarily adapted to start their overwintering state later in the year.