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Life Sciences - 28.08.2023

Curious and cryptic: new leaf insects discovered
Research team including Göttingen University describes seven new species of walking leaves An international research team including the University of Göttingen has described seven previously unknown species of leaf insects, also known as walking leaves. The insects belong to the stick and leaf insect order, which are known for their unusual appearance: they look confusingly similar to parts of plants such as twigs, bark or - in the case of leaf insects - leaves.

Life Sciences - 28.08.2023

A unique lipid signature guides cytokinesis in plant cells
Publication of the RDP in the journal Science Advances, on July 19, 2023. Communication of CNRS-INSB on August 28, 2023. Cytokinesis in multicellular organisms dictates how cells are organized in a tissue, their identities and functions. A study conducted by the Plant Reproduction and Development Laboratory (RDP - CNRS/ENS de Lyon/Inrae) and published in Science Advances , presents a quantitative analysis of cytokinesis steps in the model plant Arabidopsis using high-resolution microscopy approaches.

Health - Life Sciences - 28.08.2023

Rare disease shares mechanism with cystic fibrosis
University of Michigan researchers have discovered that the same cellular mechanism involved in a form of cystic fibrosis is also implicated in a form of a rare disease called cystinosis. The mechanism cleans up mutated proteins. In cystinosis, a genetic disease, this allows cystine crystals to build up in the cell.

Life Sciences - Health - 27.08.2023

How we see the world
A team of Montreal scientists identifies an important new mechanism that's key to helping humans see in 3D. Scentists in Montreal have identified a key mechanism involved in the growth of nerve cells that are critical to mediate binocular vision, which allows people to see the world in three dimensions.

History / Archeology - Life Sciences - 25.08.2023

Hallstatt: 3,000-year-old intestinal parasites of miners analysed
Researchers in Vienna have obtained the world's first gene sequences of the human roundworm from the Bronze Age, as well as the first gene sequences from prehistoric parasites in Austria. The analysis was conducted on human faeces from prehistoric miners in Hallstatt. The findings were published by a team from the Medical University Vienna, the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW) and the Natural History Museum Vienna in the journal Nature Scientific Reports.

Life Sciences - 25.08.2023

Study connects neural gene expression differences to functional distinctions
Researchers compared a pair of superficially similar motor neurons in fruit flies to examine how their differing use of the same genome produced distinctions in form and function. Figuring out how hundreds of different kinds of brain cells develop from their unique expression of thousands of genes promises to not only advance understanding of how the brain works in health, but also what goes wrong in disease.

Health - Life Sciences - 24.08.2023

Test to identify people at risk of developing acute myeloid leukaemia and related cancers
The new platform, called -MN-predict-, will allow doctors and scientists to identify those at risk and to design new treatments to prevent them from developing these potentially lethal cancers. MN-predict makes it possible to identify at-risk individuals, and we hope it can become an essential part of future leukaemia prevention programmes.

Life Sciences - Computer Science - 24.08.2023

DNA Chips as Storage Media of the Future
In the form of DNA, nature shows how data can be stored in a space-saving and long-term manner. Würzburg's chair of bioinformatics is developing DNA chips for computer technology. The hereditary molecule DNA can store a great deal of information over long periods of time in a very small space. For a good ten years, scientists have therefore been pursuing the goal of developing DNA chips for computer technology, for example for the long-term archiving of data.

Health - Life Sciences - 24.08.2023

Training immune cells to remove ’trash’ helps resolve lung inflammation
Inflammation is a standard part of our bodies- immune system response. But sometimes this response becomes hyperactivated in our lungs, causing inflammation to continue unchecked, which can be fatal. Many deaths from COVID-19 have been due to excessive inflammation, which results in acute lung injury.

Life Sciences - Health - 24.08.2023

When proteins get stuck: unlocking the secrets to brain diseases
Biomedical engineers at the University of Sydney, in collaboration with scientists at Cambridge and Harvard, have developed sophisticated optical techniques to monitor how protein aggregates form at the nanoscale. Many diseases affecting the brain and nervous system are linked to the formation of protein aggregates, or solid condensates, in cells from their liquid form condensate, but little is known about this process.

Health - Life Sciences - 23.08.2023

Cells with an ear for music release insulin
"We will rock you": researchers are developing a gene switch that triggers insulin release in designer cells by playing certain rock and pop songs. Diabetes is a condition in which the body produces too little or no insulin. Diabetics thus depend on an external supply of this hormone via injection or pump.

Life Sciences - Environment - 23.08.2023

The search for the super potato 
Scientists have assembled the genome sequences of nearly 300 varieties of potatoes and its wild relatives to develop more nutritious, disease-free, and weather-proof crop As climate change continues to pose severe challenges to ensuring sustainable food supplies around the world, scientists from McGill University are looking for ways to improve the resilience and nutritional quality of potatoes.

Environment - Life Sciences - 23.08.2023

Vegetarian diet of corals explains age-old mystery dating back to Darwin
A new study led by the University of Southampton has revealed why coral reefs can thrive in seemingly nutrient poor water, a phenomenon that has fascinated scientists since Charles Darwin. The research shows that corals farm and feed on their photosynthetic symbionts - microscopic algae that live inside their cells.

Life Sciences - Health - 23.08.2023

Missing piece in human genome decoded
Male sex chromosome, missing piece in human genome, finally decoded Achievement could provide a clearer picture of the role the chromosome plays in male-specific development, fertility, and genetically triggered diseases like cancer The chromosome associated with male development, which is the last mysterious piece of the human genome, has been fully sequenced by a team of more than 100 researchers around the world, including Johns Hopkins scientists.

Life Sciences - 23.08.2023

Cracking the code that relates brain and behavior in a simple animal
MIT researchers model and create an atlas for how neurons of the worm C. elegans encode its behaviors, make findings available on their "WormWideWeb." To understand the full relationship between brain activity and behavior, scientists have needed a way to map this relationship for all of the neurons across a whole brain - a so far insurmountable challenge.

Life Sciences - 22.08.2023

Heat Sensor Protects the Venus Flytrap From Fire
The sensory hairs of the Venus flytrap contain a heat sensor that warns the plant of bush fires. It reacts to rapid temperature jumps, as Würzburg researchers have discovered. The Venus flytrap can survive in the nutrient-poor swamps of North and South Carolina because it compensates for the lack of nitrogen, phosphate and minerals by catching and eating small animals.

Health - Life Sciences - 22.08.2023

New antibiotic from microbial ’dark matter’ could be powerful weapon against superbugs
A new powerful antibiotic, isolated from bacteria that could not be studied before, seems capable of combating harmful bacteria and even multi-resistant 'superbugs'. Named Clovibactin, the antibiotic appears to kill bacteria in an unusual manner, making it more difficult for bacteria to develop any resistance against it.

Health - Life Sciences - 22.08.2023

Eye scans detect signs of Parkinson’s disease up to seven years before diagnosis
Markers that indicate the presence of Parkinson's disease in patients on average seven years before clinical presentation have been identified by a UCL and Moorfields Eye Hospital research team. This is the first time anyone has shown these findings several years before diagnosis, and these results were made possible by the largest study to date on retinal imaging in Parkinson's disease.

Life Sciences - 22.08.2023

Could flies show how to personalise diet?
Fruit flies and humans don't just share a love of fruit in the warm summer months. We also share key genetic features, which scientists have been able to take advantage of in new research to better understand how diet affects health Fruit flies and humans don't just share a love of fruit in the warm summer months.

Life Sciences - History / Archeology - 21.08.2023

Researchers extract ancient DNA from a 2,900-year-old clay brick, revealing a time capsule of plant life
University of Oxford researchers have contributed to the first successful extraction of ancient DNA from a 2,900 year-old clay brick. The analysis, published today in Nature Scientific Reports , provides a fascinating insight into the diversity of plant species cultivated at that time and place, and could open the way to similar studies on clay material from different sites and time periods.