EMBO awards the EMBO Gold Medal 2024 to Elvan Böke, group leader at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona, Spain. The award recognizes researchers under the age of 40 for outstanding contributions to the life sciences in Europe. The awardee receives a gold medal and a bursary of 10,000 euros.  Early-stage oocytes are exposed to biological and environmental factors for decades, which can make them susceptible to cumulative damage. At the same time, the growth phases associated with oocyte maturation ...

A pivotal study has shed light on the intricate mechanisms of nonhost resistance (NHR) in plants, a critical defense against a broad spectrum of pathogens. By identifying and characterizing four novel core effectors from the pathogen Colletotrichum fructicola, researchers have unveiled key players in the plant Nicotiana benthamiana's immune response. This discovery is set to transform approaches to plant disease management, offering a pathway to bolster crops against devastating fungal infections. Plant diseases caused by pathogens like Colletotrichum ...

Researchers have found a way to bind engineered skin tissue to the complex forms of humanoid robots. This brings with it potential benefits to robotic platforms such as increased mobility, self-healing abilities, embedded sensing capabilities and an increasingly lifelike appearance. Taking inspiration from human skin ligaments, the team, led by Professor Shoji Takeuchi of the University of Tokyo, included special perforations in a robot face, which helped a layer of skin take hold. Their research could be useful in the cosmetics industry and to help train plastic surgeons. Takeuchi is a pioneer in the field of biohybrid ...

About The Study: In this survey study of adults in California, results showed that transgender and gender-diverse individuals, especially transgender men, are at higher risk of experiencing all forms of violence relative to cisgender women. Results highlight the need for gender-affirming violence prevention and intervention services as well as policies that protect transgender and gender-diverse individuals from discriminatory violence. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Sabrina ...

About The Study: The combination of exercise and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) (liraglutide) was the most effective weight loss strategy while preserving bone health in this randomized clinical trial. Liraglutide treatment alone reduced bone mineral density at clinically relevant sites more than exercise alone despite similar weight loss. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Signe Sorensen Torekov, Ph.D., email torekov@sund.ku.dk. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.16775) Editor’s Note: Please ...

PHILADELPHIA— A new study by Penn researchers examined, for the first time, the differences in lung transplant graft outcomes from organs recovered from the two types of deceased organ donor care facilities operating in the United States. The research, published today in JAMA Network Open, offers insights that could improve the organ donation and transplantation process for patients across the nation.  In the U.S., deceased organ donors are traditionally cared for in hospitals, which provide intensive care and testing needed to rehabilitate organs, identify transplant ...

WASHINGTON, June 25, 2024 – Every so often, a food product is recalled because of some sort of contamination. For consumers of such products, a recall can trigger doubt in the safety and reliability of what they eat and drink. In many cases, a recall will come too late to keep some people from getting ill. In spite of the food industry’s efforts to fight pathogens, products are still contaminated and people still get sick. Much of the problem stems from the tools available to screen for harmful pathogens, which are often not effective enough at protecting the public. In AIP Advances, by AIP Publishing, researchers from Guangdong University of Technology and Pudong ...

By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) — In sciences, disruptive research that is breaking new ground often raises new and not-yet-explored ethical questions. Although new scientific breakthroughs can have the power to change how we understand and live in the world, the ethical implications of technologies that will emerge based on these new insights can affect an emerging field’s public acceptance and have moral implications for society at large. They can also impact the process of translating discoveries into real-world products, sometimes requiring new regulation. Historically, ethicists – who form the branch of philosophy that is concerned with morality and studies ...

How can artificial intelligence and machine learning be used for innovative research in the field of soft matter? Frauke Gräter, the current Head of the Molecular Biomechanics group at the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS) and Professor of Molecular Biomechanics at Heidelberg University, will research these and other topics as the new Director at the MPI for Polymer Research starting July 1, 2024. Frauke Gräter has made an international name for herself through her outstanding scientific contributions, particularly in the field of molecular biomechanics. Her academic ...

An international team of researchers, led by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), has documented a transoceanic flight of more than 4200 km by painted lady butterflies (Vanessa cardui), setting a record for an insect. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, involved researchers from the Botanical Institute of Barcelona (IBB), a joint center of the CSIC and the Natural Sciences Museum of Barcelona, as well as from the W. Szafer Botanical Institute (Poland), the University of Ottawa (Canada), the Institute of Evolutionary ...

Background and Aims Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly aggressive tumor with limited treatment options and high mortality. Senecavirus A (SVA) has shown potential in selectively targeting tumors while sparing healthy tissues. This study aimed to investigate the effects of SVA on HCC cells in vitro and in vivo and to elucidate its mechanisms of action.   Methods The cell counting kit-8 assay and colony formation assay were conducted to examine cell proliferation. Flow cytometry and nuclear staining were employed to analyze cell cycle distribution and apoptosis occurrence. ...

OAK BROOK, Ill. – The structural and functional organization of the brain as shown on MRI can predict the progression of brain atrophy in patients with early-stage, mild Parkinson’s disease, according to a study published today in Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Parkinson’s disease is a progressive disorder characterized by tremors, slowness of movement or rigidity. Symptoms worsen over time and may include cognitive impairment and sleep problems. The disease affects more than 8.5 million people worldwide, and prevalence has doubled in the past 25 years, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). One of ...

The School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University has launched the CMU TechBridge Coding Bootcamp to provide access to computer science education and career opportunities for high school (or equivalent) graduates.  The bootcamp will extend the reach of CMU’s computer science education offerings beyond its traditional undergraduate and graduate programs. CMU has partnered with TalentSprint to implement the program to help aspiring professionals build the skills required for launching and ...

Weill Cornell Medicine received a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program to develop new approaches for predicting the spread of cancer cells to the bone in men with prostate cancer, using tumor samples taken at early stages of the disease. The American Cancer Society projects about 35,250 deaths from prostate cancer in the United States in 2024. “Metastases, especially to the bone, is the leading cause of death in men who have prostate cancer,” said principal investigator Dr. Mohamed Omar, assistant professor of research in pathology and laboratory medicine, division ...

“Our work shows that it is possible to re-create a fairly accurate three-dimensional (3D) model of the colon of some patients based on a single image taken by a capsule endoscopy camera - even if it's a low-quality image,” says Pål Anders Floor, a researcher at the Department of Computer Science at NTNU. Goal: better images, faster diagnoses He has been working for several years on using images from capsule endoscopy cameras to reconstruct an almost identical 3D model of the intestines. These cameras were first used more than 20 years ago, but low-quality images and image noise prevented this smart technology from ...

Falls are the most common cause of injury among adults 65 and older in the United States. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year, more than 14 million older adults (one in four) report a fall. About 90% of head injuries among older individuals is due to ground-level falls. Evaluating an older adult with a head injury in the emergency department (ED) requires careful assessment due to the increased risk of complications such as intracranial hemorrhage. There also is heightened concern for older patients taking anticoagulants or blood thinners who sustain ...

Fertilizers manufactured from the sludgy leftovers of wastewater treatment processes can contain traces of potentially hazardous organic chemicals, according to a new study by Johns Hopkins University researchers.  The research, published today in Environmental Science & Technology journal, provides one of the most comprehensive looks at the chemical composition of so-called biosolids across the country and is the first step toward identifying common chemical contaminants that may need government regulation. The findings could ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — By giving artificial intelligence simple associative learning rules based on the brain circuits that allow a sea slug to forage — and augmenting it with better episodic memory, like that of an octopus — scientists have built an AI that can navigate new environments, seek rewards, map landmarks and overcome obstacles. Reported in the journal Neurocomputing, the new approach gives AI the ability to explore and gather the information it needs to expand its spatial and temporal awareness, growing its knowledge base while learning on the job, said Ekaterina Gribkova, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who ...

The leading hypothesis for the origin of firefly lights has been overturned by a genomic analysis. It had been posited that the bright lights emitted by many species in the Lampyridae family of beetles—better known as fireflies—first evolved as a warning signal to predators, advertising the toxicity of fireflies, and were then repurposed as a mating signal. This explanation would account for why eggs, larvae, and pupae also glow. Ying Zhen and colleagues put the conventional wisdom to the test by compiling a family tree of fireflies and tracing the evolution of the chemical compounds ...

ASAP Launches Data-Sharing Tool with Unique Dataset of Human Postmortem-Derived Brain Samples Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) launched a platform to make high-value data for Parkinson’s disease broadly available to researchers all over the world The platform launches with data from a unique human postmortem-derived brain sequencing collection, including samples from four ASAP Collaborative Research Network (CRN) teams and 156 donors The database will continue to expand, with 629 donors contributing to the final harmonized dataset; there will be a consistent cadence of new ...

In 2018, Arthur Ashkin won the Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing optical tweezers: laser beams that can be used to manipulate microscopic particles. While useful for many biological applications, optical tweezers require extremely controlled, static conditions to work properly. “Optical tweezers work by creating a light ‘hotspot’ to trap particles, like a ball falling into a hole. But if there are other objects in the vicinity, this hole is difficult to create and move around,” says Romain Fleury, head of the Laboratory of Wave Engineering in EPFL’s School ...

With goals to limit CO2 emissions, many countries have set targets to phase out internal combustion vehicles in favor of electric vehicles (EVs). Japan has set a target for 20-30% of all car sales to be battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and 30-40% of car sales to be hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) by 2030. The USA plans for 50% of new vehicles to be zero-emission by 2030, while Germany wants to have 15 million EVs on the road by 2030. These goals raise concerns about the raw material demand for EVs. Batteries, which account for 50% of all resources consumed in BEV production, require ...

Trying to figure out whether someone has Alzheimer’s disease usually involves a battery of assessments—interviews, brain imaging, blood and cerebrospinal fluid tests. But, by then, it’s probably already too late: memories have started slipping away, long established personality traits have begun subtly shifting. If caught early, new pioneering treatments can slow the disease’s remorseless progression, but there’s no surefire way to predict who will develop the dementia associated with Alzheimer’s. Now, Boston University researchers say they have designed a promising new artificial ...

If aliens modified a planet in their solar system to make it warmer, we’d be able to tell. A new UC Riverside study identifies the artificial greenhouse gases that would be giveaways of a terraformed planet. A terraformed planet has been artificially made hospitable for life. The gases described in the study would be detectable even at relatively low concentrations in the atmospheres of planets outside our solar system using existing technology. This could include the James Webb Space Telescope, or a future European-led space telescope concept. And ...

Researchers from Trinity College Dublin’s School of Natural Sciences have revealed a novel route to the formation of bastnäsite, a crucial mineral for the extraction of rare earth elements (REEs). Their work offers promise in one day making the extraction of these REEs more efficient.  The study – published today in the journal Nanoscale – uncovers for first time how fluocerite, a rare mineral, quickly forms and transforms into bastnäsite. The occurrence and origin of fluocerite in natural deposits was not fully understood, ...