365 articles from WEDNESDAY 18.11.2020

Research on environmental history: 330-year-old poplar tree tells of its life

Similar to genetic mutations, epigenetic changes, i.e. gene modifications that do not occur on the primary DNA sequence, sometimes arise accidentally in plants and can be transmitted across generations. Using trees as a model, researchers have now shown for the first time that these so-called epimutations accumulate continuously throughout plant development, and that they can be employed as a...

Researchers recognize a viral protein's M.O. by just 3% of its size

Skoltech researchers and their colleagues from Russia, the US, and Sweden have described an unusual RNA polymerase that helps a poorly studied crAss-like bacteriophage transcribe its genes. They "caught" this enzyme by a tiny -- less than 3% of its size -- portion of the amino acid sequence that was similar to other RNA polymerases.

Review examines sexual aggression in mammals

A recent review of published studies in non-human mammals examines 'sexual disturbance,' or male behavior towards a female around mating that can be costly for the female -- for example, that might inflict physical harm or cause mother-offspring separation. The findings are published in Mammal Review.

Revolutionary CRISPR-based genome editing system treatment destroys cancer cells

Researchers at Tel Aviv University (TAU) have demonstrated that the CRISPR/Cas9 system is very effective in treating metastatic cancers, a significant step on the way to finding a cure for cancer. The researchers developed a novel lipid nanoparticle-based delivery system that specifically targets cancer cells and destroys them by genetic manipulation. The system, called CRISPR-LNPs, carries a...

Saving your data together helps birds and bird research

It hasn't been more than a year and a half since the international researchers' network SPI-Birds started officially. Together they collect, secure and use long-term breeding population data of 1.5 million individually recognisable birds... and counting. Big questions in ecology and evolution can be answered using this data. Today, the publication of SPI-Birds' first scientific paper in the...

Scientists develop a magnetic switch with lower energy consumption

Joint research conducted by the UAB has shown the ability to switch magnetizacion « on » and « off » using voltage in a new class of easy-to-fabricate materials containing nitrogen. These results, published in Nature Communications, may be used to reduce energy consumption in electronic technologies.

Single-cell technique could provide 'egg health' indicators

Using the power of single-cell analysis, researchers at the Babraham Institute have assessed the effects of age on egg cells (oocytes) in mice, particularly looking to identify genomic and epigenetic factors that relate to reduced developmental competence. The knowledge uncovered by this research provides new insights into the mechanisms underlying egg quality and is relevant to the development of...

Study finds sexual lineage plays key role in transgenerational plasticity

A new pair of papers published in the Journal of Animal Ecology has shown that sexual lineage matters for how offspring receive adaptations from parents in stickleback fish. Researchers in the Bell lab studied how parents who were exposed to predators passed the behavioral information to their offspring in different ways based on sex.

Surprises in 'active' aging

Aging is a process that affects not only living beings. Many materials, like plastics and glasses, also age -- ie they change slowly as their particles try to pack better. Biological materials, such as living tissue, show similar behaviour to glasses except that the particles are actual cells with their own propulsion. Researchers at Göttingen University used computer simulations to explore the...

System can sterilize medical tools using solar heat

Autoclaves, which are used to sterilize medical tools, require a steady supply of hot, pressurized steam. Researchers at MIT and the Indian Institute of Technology have come up with a way to generate that steam passively, using just the power of sunlight, to help maintain safe, sterile equipment at low cost in remote locations.

Tackling food allergies at the source

Food allergies cost billions of dollars and cause enormous suffering for people. Researchers are trying to remove the source of food allergies altogether -- troublesome proteins made by our favorite crops.

Tau protein changes in Alzheimer's disease correlate with dementia stage

In new research, Judith Steen, Ph.D. and colleagues at Boston Children's Hospital show for the first time that a pathological form of the tau protein involved in the progression of Alzheimer's disease changes over time due to chemical modifications. Observed in brain tissue from Alzheimer's patients, the modified tau forms correlated with stages of dementia. These discoveries likely mean it will...

The bull Y chromosome has evolved to bully its way into gametes

In a new study, published Nov. 18 in the journal Genome Research, scientists in the lab of Whitehead Institute Member David Page present the first ever full, high-resolution sequence of the Y chromosome of a Hereford bull. The research, more than a decade in the making, suggests that bulls' Y chromosomes have evolved dozens of copies of the same genes in a selfish attempt to make more males -- a...

The role of drones in 5G network security

A study by Giovanni Geraci, a researcher at the Department of Information and Communication Technologies, and researchers at Mississippi State University (USA), which aims to improve the security of advanced wireless networks against a series of eavesdropping, interference and identity theft.