science wire

A bacterial enzyme could pave the way for the sustainable production of ethylene Conventional ethylene production releases large amounts of greenhouse gases.

Avalanche bulletin and snow situation Insect-driven tree mortality is rising across Europe, finds an international study led by the Czech University of Life Sciences with participation of WSL.

Bread has been a staple food for thousands of years, and in recent times sourdough bread has been making a comeback.

Caltech researchers have reintroduced a classic technique to image the formation and growth of individual cells that make up biofilms, sticky masses of millions of cells that are often responsible for antibiotic-tolerant infections. The method will help answer longstanding questions about how biofilms behave, offering insights that have the potential to help combat them in the context of chronic infections.

Scientists have found that changing the "packaging" of DNA in neurons can turn memories on or off in mice. Our experiences leave traces in the brain, stored in small groups of cells called "engrams". Engrams are thought to hold the information of a memory and are reactivated when we remember, which makes them very interesting to research on memory and ageor trauma-related memory loss.

Writing for The Conversation, Professor Max Telford (UCL Biosciences) explores a new link that may explain how animals evolved from single-celled organisms and how this fits into existing theories on evolution.

By analyzing brain waves, researchers at Radboud University - including neuroscientist Thirza Dado - have managed to reconstruct, with surprising accuracy, images that test subjects were viewing.

Mithilfe der Crispr/Cas-Technologie können Forschende das Erbgut präzise editieren, um Erbkrankheiten zu therapieren.

Without the evolutionary development of a complex digestive system, there would be no large mammals, including humans.

CIRCADIAN RHYTHM Food - in addition to sunlight - regulates our internal biological clock and its ability to adapt to the seasons, according to new research in mice. According to researchers, it could have health benefits to eat more seasonal and locally produced food. Our blood pressure rises in the morning, our brain releases sleep hormones before bedtime, and our body temperature drops during sleep.

Neuroscientists at Freie Universität Berlin show that spoken words can sharpen the sense of touch in ways music cannot Language allows humans to convey thoughts and ideas - it is a central means of communication. However, language also influences how we perceive the world through our senses, as demonstrated by a new study from the Brain Language Laboratory at Freie Universität Berlin.

Understanding Animal Research (UAR) has published a list of the ten organisations that carried out the highest number of animal procedures - those used in medical, veterinary, and scientific research - in Great Britain in 2024. These statistics are freely available on the organisations' websites as part of their ongoing commitment to transparency and openness around the use of animals in research.

Problems with the brain's waste clearance system could underlie many cases of dementia and help explain why poor sleep patterns and cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure increase the risk of dementia.

The 10 organisations in Great Britain that carry out the highest number of animal procedures - those used in medical, veterinary and scientific research - have released their annual statistics today.

The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded 149 experienced researchers, eight of whom are from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Amsterdam UMC, affiliation VU, with a Vidi grant.

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded thirteen Nijmegen researchers Vidi funding of up to 850,000 euros.

UCL is releasing its animal research statistics today in collaboration with Understanding Animal Research - a not-for-profit organisation that promotes open communications about animal research. UCL and nine other institutions together conducted more than half of all'animal procedures - those used in medical, veterinary, and scientific research - in the UK in 2024.

The discovery of a human facial fragment aged over one million years represents the oldest known face in western Europe and confirms the region was inhabited by two species of human during the early Pleistocene, finds a new study involving a UCL researcher. Humans evolved large brains and flat faces at a surprisingly rapid pace compared to other apes, likely reflecting the evolutionary advantages of these traits, finds a new analysis of ape skulls by UCL researchers.

FMI group leader Prof. Georg Keller and Prof. Philip Sterzer from Universitären Psychiatrischen Kliniken (UPK) Basel have jointly been awarded a Schweizerischer Nationalfonds (SNF) grant over 1.5 million CHF to investigate the brain circuit changes that underlie schizophrenia.

Researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology see living fashion as the future of the fashion industry: "By considering clothing as living organisms, we will hopefully take much better care of it.

The plumage colour of birds can change due to genetic mutations. However, the occurrence of such mutations depends on chance and is difficult to predict in terms of time. An international research team has now reported on a faster way of gene transfer in the journal »Science«. The group describes gene transfer across species boundaries, in which one species of wheatear passed on the predominant colouring of its plumage to another species of wheatear.

The University of Oxford is to lead a new six-year, £11 million project backed by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) which aims develop a new generation of personalised treatments capable of reducing or abolishing chronic pain.

Worldwide, there are more than 5,000 fermented foods and drinks. Yet, we know surprisingly little about the hidden world of the microorganisms within those fermented products.

Posted on: 15 October 2025 The news that our native bees are cut from a different cloth has important implications for conservation practices and may also inform the way imported commercial populations are managed. The new research took a deep dive into the population genomics of Irish and British Bombus terrestris audax , colloquially known as the buff-tailed bumblebee.

Scientists from Friedrich Miescher Institute discovered that thousands of genes in the worm C. elegans switch on and off in precise, rhythmic patterns during development, coordinated across tissues by chromatin - the DNA-protein complex in the nucleus.

A powerful 3D microscope, capable of achieving new and more detailed insights into cancer cells, is being installed at the University of Glasgow.

The synthetic PIC gel discovered at Radboud University in 2013 has proven surprisingly effective for growing mini-organs.

CRISPRi-seq technology, the result of fundamental research by Prof. Jan-Willem Veening's team at the University of Lausanne, has reached a decisive milestone: it has been licensed to the start-up i-Seq Biotechnology. The innovation paves the way for new vaccines against diseases for which there is as yet no protection.

The time to carry out diagnostic MRI scans for dementia can be cut to one third of their standard length, according to a new study led by UCL researchers.

Errors in a gene known to cause a serious neurodevelopmental condition in infants are also linked to the development of Parkinson's disease in adolescence and adulthood, according to new research co-led by a UCL researcher. The study, published in the Annals of Neurology , looked at a gene called EPG5.

Scientists have identified an unusual type of brain cell that may play a vital role in progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), likely contributing to the persistent inflammation characteristic of the disease.

A near-complete skeleton found on UK's Jurassic Coast has been identified as a new and rare species of ichthyosaur - a type of prehistoric marine reptile that once ruled the ancient oceans. The dolphin-sized ichthyosaur called Xiphodracon goldencapensis , or the "Sword Dragon of Dorset" is the only known example of its kind in existence and helps to fill an important gap in the evolutionary fossil record of ichthyosaurs.

Birds are a critical part of the global ecosystem; they enable our food production through consumption of agricultural pests like aphids and rodents, and control the spread of diseases by eating insects like mosquitos and ticks.