Culture
Sequencing a genome is getting cheaper, but making sense of the resulting data remains hard. Researchers have now found a new way to extract useful information out of sequenced DNA.
By cataloging subtle evolutionary signatures shared between pairs of genes in bacteria, the team was able to discover hundreds of previously unknown protein interactions. This method is now being applied to the human genome, and could produce new insights into how human proteins interact.
The relapse of brain tumors after therapy is driven by cancer stem cells that were not affected by the treatment. In mouse models of glioblastoma, scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) were now looking for molecular markers that specifically characterize brain tumor stem cells. They identified an enzyme that is responsible for the threatening stem cell properties of glioblastoma and at the same time represents a possible "Achilles heel" where cancer stem cells could be vulnerable.
CRISPR-based tools have revolutionized our ability to target disease-linked genetic mutations. CRISPR technology comprises a growing family of tools that can manipulate genes and their expression, including by targeting DNA with the enzymes Cas9 and Cas12 and targeting RNA with the enzyme Cas13. This collection offers different strategies for tackling mutations. Targeting disease-linked mutations in RNA, which is relatively short-lived, would avoid making permanent changes to the genome.
A new type of therapeutic food, specifically designed to repair the gut microbiomes of malnourished children, is superior to standard therapy in an initial clinical trial conducted in Bangladesh.
A team of paleontologists led by Prof. Jingmai O'Connor from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with researchers from the Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature, have discovered a new specimen of the volant dromaeosaurid Microraptor zhaoianus with the remains of a nearly complete lizard preserved in its stomach. Their findings were published in Current Biology.
Three papers in this issue demonstrate new fiber-based designs within the world of artificial muscles, showing how these twisted and coiled designs can be controlled via heat, electricity and chemistry. The resulting artificial muscle material could find uses in miniaturized medical devices, microrobots, and "smart" textiles that respond to environmental changes, among other applications.
A new genome-wide analysis by Marta Pereira Verdugo and colleagues uncovers the complex origins of domestic cattle (Bos taurus), demonstrating why it has been difficult to untangle these origins from studies of modern breeds. Cattle were first domesticated around 10,500 years ago from the extinct Eurasian auroch, Bos primigenius, in northern Mesopotamia. By comparing the auroch genome to the genomes of 67 ancient Bos taurus specimens from archaeological sites in the Near East, Verdugo et al.
Scientists at the University of Cambridge have uncovered striking similarities in how two distantly related plants defend themselves against pathogens despite splitting from their common ancestor more than 400 million years ago.
What The Study Did: Photographs of 24 men before and after facial cosmetic surgery were part of this survey study to examine whether surgery was associated with perceived changes in attractiveness, masculinity and a variety of personality traits.
The study was carried out in the Dulbecco Telethon Laboratory of Prions & Amyloids at CIBIO, lead by Emiliano Biasini, University of Trento and involved the team led by Prof. Pietro Faccioli, a physicist from the same university and affiliated to the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics.
Stem cells self-renew and give rise to cells that are differentiated during development. These differentiated cells can change into stem cells under appropriate conditions in most plants, in which this process is more readily apparent, and some animals. Researchers have previously succeeded in forming new shoots from intact leaves by inducing single transcription factors in Arabidopsis. However, it has not been clear whether these transcription factors induce meristematic tissue that subsequently induces stem cells or directly induces them.
A QUT observational study of electric scooter riding in central Brisbane has found nearly half of shared e-scooters were being ridden illegally.
The research has identified the need to ensure that helmets were available for shared e-scooter riders, and called for further research into whether bicycle helmet standards are adequate for e-scooters.
When multidisciplinary health care teams were engaged in caring for patients suffering from refractory cardiogenic shock, a severe condition that can occur after a heart attack, the likelihood of survival increased significantly, by approximately 50 percent. The proof of concept study by investigators at University of Utah Health was published online in the July issue of Circulation.
The Digital Revolution, a term often used to describe broad technological change, has entered the public discourse globally and it is becoming increasingly clear that digital changes are a driving force of societal transformation. However, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which were adopted by the UN in 2015 and provide an aspirational narrative and an actionable agenda to be achieved by 2030, barely mention digitalization. The same applies for the Paris Climate Agreement, in which digitalization is only marginally included.
Agriculture contributes to 70% of total emissions by humans of nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent polluting gas and the one to blame for the hole in the ozone layer. The root of this issue is in the widespread use of chemical fertilizers, such as urea and ammonium nitrate. Once these products have been used in soil for crops, a portion of them are lost in the form of N2O, which goes directly into the atmosphere. The pollution problem of fertilizers is heightened with the growing rise in the demand for foods that require these fertilizers in order to attain profitable agricultural production.