Global biodiversity data used to make major policy and conservation investment decisions reflect legacies of social and political inequities. In a Policy Forum, Melissa Chapman and colleagues highlight this issue and its implications for global conservation policy and planning. The rapid rise of global biodiversity data repositories like the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) – a data repository that synthesizes billions of species observations across the globe – has led to unprecedented insight into large-scale biodiversity patterns worldwide. Not only are ...

In a pair of studies, researchers use different approaches to investigate how complex and innovative phenotypic traits evolve in plants and animals. “The amazing breadth of plant and animal diversity across the globe has evolved by circuitous paths, and resolving the complex history of genomes and traits unlocks new depths for understanding evolution,” writes Kathryn Elmer in a related Perspective. Although biological traits are constantly changing in populations, the emergence of a trait ...

Microbiota-reactive T cells trigger colitis in mice harboring the microbiota of wild-caught mice following CTLA-4 blockade, according to a new study that reveals a major mechanism by which anti-CTLA-4 antibodies induce inflammatory toxicities during antitumor immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies. The findings could advance the development of next-generation CTLA-4 inhibitors that promote antitumor immune responses without triggering intestinal disease. Cancer immunotherapies with immune checkpoint inhibitors are widely used to promote antitumor immune responses in a range of human cancers. However, they can also lead to inflammatory ...

In an Editorial, Science Journals’ Editor-in-Chief, Holden Thorp, outlines changes to the publication’s editorial policies and practices for 2024, including plans to adopt the use of Proofig – an artificial intelligence-powered image-analysis tool – to detect altered images across all six of the Science family journals. Proofig is a tool that screens images for duplication and other types of manipulations. Although Science has been conducting “human-eye” image checks on some papers, the new tool will enhance Science’s review process and reduce ...

**Strictly embargoed until 19:00 GMT on Thursday 4 January 2024** Biologists uncover the secrets of evolutionary change Images available here   Big evolutionary changes happen gradually and not in giant leaps, a team of biologists led by the University of Sheffield have discovered   Using new methodology to study an evolutionary shift in the birthing style of marine snails, experts have been able to answer the long-debated question as to how game-changing innovations like flight, vision, and the bearing of live offspring happened   Understanding the evolutionary origin of these developments is important because ...

In an effort to reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction, retailers have implemented self-checkouts in stores across the country. They have become increasingly popular, but some brands like Walmart are removing self-checkouts in some locations while adding more in others. There are many advantages and disadvantages of self-checkout for both the customer and the retailer, but little formal research has investigated the impact of self-checkout on customers’ shopping experience. This led researchers from Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business to look at how self-checkout systems in grocery stores influence customer loyalty ...

Neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease affect more than 270 million people worldwide. AD is the leading cause of dementia, resulting in memory loss due to atrophy of neurons in the hippocampus, which is the part of the brain that regulates learning and memory. Nanoparticles designed to carry drugs have emerged as a strategy for treating different diseases, but in the context of neurodegenerative disease, much of the research has focused on developing strategies for getting nanoparticles across the blood brain barrier and into targeted regions of the brain.  In a new study, an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign ...

Nanoparticles have become an essential part of medicine, from aiding in diagnostic tests to serving as immunotherapy agents and more. Thanks to their ultrasmall size — around the thickness of a strand of DNA — these particles are adept at getting inside tissues and targeting precise areas. Here are three recent papers published in ACS journals that could expand the beneficial uses for nanoparticles, based on results in rats. The technology could be used to improve contraceptive methods, burn creams and arthritis ...

Hispanic/Latina women with a history of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) – conditions marked by high blood pressure during pregnancy – are more likely to have abnormalities in their heart structure and function decades later when compared with women without a history of HDP, according to a National Institutes of Health-supported study. The findings, published in the journal Hypertension, also suggest that while having high blood pressure later in life can contribute to these abnormalities, HDP play the greater role, significantly raising a woman’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease.  “The ...

These “picosprings” have remarkably large and tuneable compliancy and can be controlled remotely through magnetic fields (even deep within the human body) allowing articulated motion in microrobots as well as micromanipulations well beyond the state of the art. Moreover, the extension of the picosprings can also be used visually to measure forces, for example propulsion or grasping forces, in interaction with other objects like cells. For example, these picosprings have been used to measure the locomotive propulsion force of sperm cells. The publication showcases these capabilities by demonstrating several ...

Folate is a B vitamin and a necessary nutrient to prevent neural tube defects, such as spina bifida. Folic acid, a synthetic form of folate, has been added to vitamins, breakfast cereals and other products in the U.S. and more than 80 other countries to ensure pregnant women get adequate amounts. However, new research suggests there may be such a thing as too much folic acid. In a study published in Communications Biology, a Nature publication, researchers from the UC Davis School of Medicine and the UC Davis MIND Institute showed that imbalances in folic acid and vitamin B12 can alter brain development in mice.  “There's no doubt the introduction ...

LA JOLLA, CA — Calibr, the drug discovery and development division of Scripps Research, today announced Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) has exercised its option to exclusively license the research institute’s investigational nucleoside reverse transcriptase translocation inhibitor (NRTTI) prodrug. The NRTTI prodrug, designated GS-1614, is a development candidate resulting from a collaboration between Scripps Research and Gilead aimed at advancing a best-in-class long-acting HIV regimen. Calibr ...

Assessing how seriously injured a person is, involves weighing up lots of different parameters fast. If healthcare professionals could get support making fast-paced, life-critical decisions from an AI tool, more lives could be saved. This is shown by research from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, along with the University of Gothenburg and the University of Borås.  "If severely injured people are transported directly to a university hospital, the chances of survival increase, as there are resources to take care of all types of injuries. Therefore, we need to be able to better say who is severely injured, and who is not, so ...

The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) is pleased to announce that Dr. Christoph Keller has been appointed as the next Director of the National Science Foundation’s National Solar Observatory (NSO) succeeding Dr. Valentin Pillet, who will be retiring as Director in 2024. Previously Dr. Keller was Director of Science at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. He will begin his five-year term on May 6, 2024. “Christoph Keller is an outstanding choice for the next NSO Director,” ...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2024 – Climate change is one of the biggest issues of the 21st century, a crisis that affects the fate of the entire world as well as our place in it. A warming Earth will destroy ecosystems, flood cities, and lead to countless suffering and death for people worldwide. Part of the challenge of dealing with climate change is helping people understand its complex impacts. In The Physics Teacher, co-published by AIP Publishing and the American Association of Physics Teachers, researchers from Fordham University partnered with middle and high schools in the Bronx and Manhattan in a citizen ...

AMHERST, Mass. – A team of computer scientists led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently announced a new method for automatically generating whole proofs that can be used to prevent software bugs and verify that the underlying code is correct. This new method, called Baldur, leverages the artificial intelligence power of Large Language Models (LLMs), and, when combined with the state-of-the-art tool Thor, yields unprecedented efficacy of nearly 66%. The team was recently awarded a coveted Distinguished Paper award at the ...

In a first for USC Stem Cell scientists, the laboratory of Giorgia Quadrato, an assistant professor of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, has pioneered a novel human brain organoid model that generates all the major cell types of the cerebellum, a hindbrain region predominantly made up of two cell types necessary for movement, cognition, and emotion: granule cells and Purkinje neurons. This marks the first time that scientists have succeeded in growing Purkinje cells that possess the molecular and electrophysiological features of functional neurons in an all-human system. These breakthroughs in organoid-directed brain modeling have been published recently ...

Researchers have uncovered evidence hinting that the most common bug spray ingredient, DEET, might cause reproductive problems by affecting the formation of egg cells during pregnancy. The findings come from a study in C. elegans — worms that don’t look like they have much in common with humans yet serve as surprisingly useful bellwethers of how toxins in the environment affect human reproduction. Get more HMS news here The research, published Jan. 4 in iScience, raises difficult questions. Chief among them is how to balance the possible reproductive harms ...

About The Study: The results of this study that included 573,000 persons suggest that hearing loss was associated with increased dementia risk, especially among people not using hearing aids, suggesting that hearing aids might prevent or delay the onset and progression of dementia. The risk estimates were lower than in previous studies, highlighting the need for more high-quality longitudinal studies.  Authors: Manuella Lech Cantuaria, Ph.D., of the University of Southern Denmark in Odense, is the corresponding author. (doi:10.1001/jamaoto.2023.3509) To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ Editor’s ...

About The Study: The findings of this study of 2,709 patients hospitalized with sepsis from 2016 to 2019 at an urban tertiary care center suggest a language-based inequity in outcomes. Further studies are needed to understand drivers of this inequity, how it may manifest in other diverse health systems, and to inform equitable care models for patients with limited English proficiency.  Authors: Neha P. Limaye, M.D., M.P.H., of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, is the corresponding author.   To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link ...

BOSTON – New research indicates that the eating disorder anorexia nervosa is associated with being an early riser, unlike many other disorders that tend to be evening-based such as depression, binge eating disorder and schizophrenia. The study, which is published in JAMA Network Open and led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), in collaboration with University College London and the University of the Republic in Uruguay, also revealed a link between anorexia nervosa and insomnia risk. Previous research has suggested a possible connection between eating disorders and the body’s internal clock, or circadian clock, which controls a wide range of biological ...

Press release: Princess Máxima Center for pediatric oncology EMBARGO: JANUARY 4, 2024 AT 11:00 AM ET (US)   A detailed 'atlas' of neuroblastoma tumors points to a new target for immunotherapy. Scientists from the Princess Máxima Center for pediatric oncology in the Netherlands mapped this childhood tumor at the level of individual cancer and immune cells. In doing so, they discovered a brake on the immune system that can be blocked with existing immunotherapy. The results in the lab are promising; preparations for a clinical study are underway. Every year, 25 children in the Netherlands ...

A new peer-reviewed study in the American Journal of Human Genetics highlights the work of the biobank at the Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine (CCPM), a world-class site for precision medicine in research and clinical care created in partnership with the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and UCHealth. The paper focuses on CCPM’s research and personalized medical care.   “We’re one of the only institutions in the world that has accomplished the dual-purpose of using genetic information to accelerate scientific discovery in research while providing actionable clinical results to patients that ...

In cooperation with research partners in Germany and France, the infectious disease specialist Dr Jan Rybniker and his team at University Hospital Cologne and the University of Cologne’s Faculty of Medicine have identified new, antibiotic molecules that target Mycobacterium tuberculosis and make it less pathogenic for humans. In addition, some of the discovered substances may allow for a renewed treatment of tuberculosis with available medications – including strains of the bacterium that have already developed drug resistance. The research has been published in the article ‘Discovery of dual-active ethionamide boosters ...

At EPFL's School of Engineering, Professor Li Tang's Laboratory of Biomaterials for Immunoengineering has made significant strides in cancer treatment research. In laboratory settings, this innovative CAR-T therapy has consistently eradicated cancerous tumors in mouse models. Separately, in on-going clinical trials, eleven patients seemed to achieve complete remission using this treatment, marking a success rate of 100% to date. Notably, evidence from the lab study, published in Nature Biotechnology, suggests the therapy's long-term effectiveness, and indicates that its fabrication may be both quicker and more cost-effective ...