news

Neuroscientists at UCL have shown how an animal's brain implements responses to unexpected events. The researchers discovered how two brain areas, the neocortex and the thalamus, work together to detect discrepancies between what animals expect from their environment and actual events. The brain areas selectively boost, or prioritise, any unexpected sensory information.

More people in the UK are at risk of a hereditary form of cardiac amyloidosis, a potentially fatal heart condition, than previously thought, according to a new study led by researchers at UCL and Queen Mary University of London. The study, published in JAMA Cardiology , used data from the UK Biobank to analyse the genes of 469,789 people in the UK and found that one in 1,000 possessed genetic variants with a likely link to cardiac transthyretin (ATTR) amyloidosis.

Proteins are among the most important molecular building blocks of life. They themselves are built from amino acids linked together based on the information in our genetic material. In this process, the genetic code is translated into a sequence of amino acids. However, this translation is only the first step.

A Yale-led study reveals a mechanism that triggers loss of immune regulation associated with multiple sclerosis and other diseases - and a target for treatment. More than two decades ago, a research team in the lab of David Hafler , a Yale researcher who at the time was at Harvard, discovered a type of T cell in humans that suppresses the immune system; they later found that these so-called regulatory T cells, when defective, are an underlying cause of autoimmune disease, specifically multiple sclerosis (MS).

Nearly one in three cancers develops following chronic inflammation, whose origin remains unclear. In a new study, researchers from Inserm, CNRS, Université Claude-Bernard Lyon 1 and the Léon Bérard Centre at the Cancer Research Center of Lyon identified lymphocytes involved in the inflammatory processes and that are thought to be implicated in the generation of these cancers.

A finding by a McGill-led team of neuroscientists could open doors to new treatments for a range of psychiatric and neurological disorders attributed to dysfunctions in specific dopamine pathways. For those struggling with a psychiatric disorder such as schizophrenia, addiction or ADHD, or with neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease or Alzheimer's, there might be good news ahead.

Scientists have deciphered the activation pathway of bemnifosbuvir 1 , a drug candidate initially in development to treat hepatitis C virus (HCV). The findings of the research team, led by CNRS scientists 2 , unlock new opportunities to boost the efficacy of this type of drug against other RNA viruses, such as the ones that cause Covid-19 and dengue fever.

Key takeaways Lyme disease, spread to humans through tick bites, is a hard-to-diagnose condition with symptoms that start as headaches, pain and fatigue but can turn into long-term inflammatory illness affecting the joints, nerves, brain and heart. The current gold standard for confirming Lyme disease is a two-part lab test that takes up to two weeks for results and often misses early-stage cases.

In language-processing areas of the brain, some cell populations respond to one word, while others respond to strings of words. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), neuroscientists have identified several regions of the brain that are responsible for processing language. However, discovering the specific functions of neurons in those regions has proven difficult because fMRI, which measures changes in blood flow, doesn't have high enough resolution to reveal what small populations of neurons are doing.

Chlamydiae are sexually transmitted pathogens that can apparently survive in the human gut for a long time. Researchers from Würzburg and Berlin report this in the journal PLOS Pathogens. People who are infected with chlamydia can transmit these bacteria to other people during unprotected sex. The pathogens usually cause no or only mild symptoms at first, such as itching in the vagina, penis or anus.

An international research group led by MedUni Vienna and IMBA - Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Vienna, has made significant progress in understanding the mechanisms that influence the sensation of pain after surgery. Currently available treatment methods for post-operative pain can cause considerable side effects and are often only partially effective.

Large-scale genomic analysis of darkling beetles, a hyper-diverse insect group of more than 30,000 species worldwide, rolls back the curtain on a 150-million-year evolutionary tale of one of Earth's most ecologically important yet inconspicuous creatures, according to new research from The Australian National University (ANU) and CSIRO.

Primate ornamentation plays a crucial role in communication not only within social groups but also between them, according to a new study. The research reveals that the males of species with overlapping home ranges often display vibrant colors or elaborate features, traits that may help reduce intergroup aggression by enabling quick assessments of potential rivals.

Caltech researchers have developed a new method to create three-dimensional images of complex communities of bacteria and plant roots. The technology synthesizes two traditional methods of imaging: visualizing microbes with fluorescence and a noninvasive technique called quantitative phase imaging. This technology is a step toward understanding the complicated environment of the rhizosphere, the region of soil where a plant's roots interact with microorganisms.

Study: Soil respiration response to decade-long warming modulated by soil moisture in a boreal forest The soils of northern forests are key reservoirs that help keep the carbon dioxide that trees inhale and use for photosynthesis from making it back into the atmosphere. But a unique experiment led by Peter Reich of the University of Michigan is showing that, on a warming planet, more carbon is escaping the soil than is being added by plants.

Bonn researchers clarify self-regulation of the immune response in the CRISPR bacterial defense system CRISPR gene scissors, as new tools of molecular biology, have their origin in an ancient bacterial immune system. But once a virus attack has been successfully overcome, the cell has to recover. Researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn, in cooperation with researchers from the Institut Pasteur in France, have discovered a timer integrated into the gene scissors that enables the gene scissors to switch themselves off.

University of Queensland researchers have discovered a mechanism in DNA that regulates how disease-causing mutations are inherited. Dr Anne Hahn Associate Professor Steven Zuryn from UQ's Queensland Brain Institute said the findings could provide a promising therapeutic avenue to stop the onset of heritable and age-related diseases.

Microorganisms in biofilms in rivers can break down harmful substances. Some are also able to degrade biocides, including the insect repellent diethyltoluamide (DEET) - or so it is thought. Researchers at the aquatic research institute Eawag have now discovered that DEET is degraded better when the proportion of treated wastewater in the water is high.

Studying how single DNA molecules behave helps us to better understand genetic disorders and design better drugs. Until now however, examining DNA molecules one-by-one was a slow process. Biophysicists from Delft University of Technology and Leiden University developed a technique that speeds up screening of individual DNA molecules at least a thousand times.

A new study analyzing over 230 fisheries has found that their sustainability is likely overstated world-wide. Previous estimates of the number of fish in the ocean globally may have been too optimistic; two-thirds of fisheries in the study had over-estimated the number of fish available when making earlier management decisions.