The medicinal secrets of the Chilean soapbark tree have been laid bare, unlocking a future of more potent, affordable, and sustainably sought vaccines. The evergreen species, Quillaja saponaria has, for decades, been highly prized for producing molecules called QS saponins, which are used in the food and drinks industry as foaming agents. More recently an important new function has emerged with saponins obtained from the tree’s bark used as potent adjuvants in the production of vaccines. Adjuvants play a critical role in some vaccines, working to boost the potency of a vaccine by enhancing the host immune response. Molecules extracted from soapbark tree are ...

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows the rates and demographics of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are changing in the United States.  In the latest analysis, 1 in 36 8-year-old children (2.8%) have been identified as having ASD. This figure is higher than the previous estimate published in December 2021, which found a prevalence of 1 in 44 (2.3%) children, and considerably higher than the CDC’s first autism prevalence report published in 2007 noting a prevalence of 1 in 150 (0.7%).  Prevalence estimates also differed across the 11 data collection sites, ranging from 1 in 43 children (2.3%) in Maryland, to 1 in 22 (4.5%) ...

Using artificial intelligence, researchers have discovered how to screen for genetic mutations in cancerous brain tumors in under 90 seconds — and possibly streamline the diagnosis and treatment of gliomas, a study suggests. A team of neurosurgeons and engineers at Michigan Medicine, in collaboration with investigators from New York University, University of California, San Francisco and others, developed an AI-based diagnostic screening system called DeepGlioma that uses rapid imaging to analyze tumor specimens taken during an operation and detect genetic mutations more rapidly. In a study of more than 150 patients ...

ST. LOUIS – Research published in Environmental Research Letters has shown that methane emissions from urban areas are underestimated by a factor of three to four and that untreated wastewater may be a contributing factor. The study, “Investigating high methane emissions from urban areas detected by TROPOMI and their association with untreated wastewater,” was led by Benjamin de Foy, Ph.D., professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Saint Louis University, and published online on ...

The impact of multi-storey building design considerations on embodied carbon emissions, cost, and operational energy has been revealed for the first time. Using a computer model, researchers estimate that up to six gigatonnes of carbon could be saved by 2050 if new multi-storey buildings follow certain recommendations during the design process. All these recommendations, which could also save between 28 and 44% of annual heating and cooling costs, use technology that is currently available. Construction and operation of buildings account for more than one-third ...

EL PASO, Texas (March 23, 2023) – The University of Texas at El Paso has joined a project led by NASA to leverage 3D-printing processes with the aim of manufacturing rechargeable batteries using lunar and Martian regolith, which is the top layer of materials that covers the surface of the moon and Mars. “UTEP is a national leader in additive manufacturing for space applications,” said Kenith Meissner, Ph.D., dean of the UTEP College of Engineering. “I congratulate the team of UTEP researchers involved in this important work. I am confident their work will add significant value ...

MADISON – While recent studies and polls indicate the nation is in the midst of a mental health crisis, the situation in academia is even more grim: Within the high-stress, high-pressure, often socially isolated world of advanced education, graduate students experience depression and anxiety at six times the rate of the general population.   Normalizing mindfulness practices within the graduate student experience may be an answer, according to a three-year study conducted by University of Wisconsin–Madison ...

Scientists from Swansea University ‘s Institute for Innovative Materials, Processing and Numerical Technologies (IMPACT) and Japan have been awarded £1.3 million to develop a new “point of care testing” kit that can detect biomarkers for Alzheimer's Disease. The project follows Dr Sanjiv Sharma’s ground-breaking work in this area and the development of the world’s first COVID-19 ‘smart patch’. Compared to hypodermic single needles, a ‘smart patch’ consists of a collection of tiny needles - microneedles - created to break the skin barrier in a minimally invasive ...

New federal studies coauthored by autism experts at Rutgers found that more children have been diagnosed with autism than at any time since monitoring began more than two decades ago.   According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 4 percent of 8-year-old boys and 1 percent of 8-year-old girls, have autism in the U.S. These estimates are the highest since the CDC’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network was created in 2000.   Biennial studies from the ADDM Network, which analyzed ...

A research study has shed new light on how congenital muscular dystrophies such as Walker-Warburg syndrome progress, bringing hope for better understanding, early diagnosis and treatments of these fatal disorders. Published in March in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the research was led by scientists in the lab of Vlad Panin, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The study is titled “Protein tyrosine phosphatase 69D is a substrate of protein O-mannosyltransferases 1-2 that is required for the wiring of sensory axons in Drosophila.” ...

According to a study published in Nature Materials, a collaborative research team from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the University of Science and Technology of China has developed a research platform to study superconducting magnetic detection and magnetic phase transitions of hydrides under high pressure. High-resolution in-situ magnetic measurement under high pressure has been a challenge. It has limited the progress of research on the Meissner effect of superconductivity and on magnetic phase transition behavior under high pressure. Using the optically detected ...

Genes and the regulation relationships among them create complex networks that determine cell differentiation trajectories. However, we still cannot understand and predict the cell-fate-decision process using network topology in a bottom-up manner. Recently, a research group led by Prof. FU Xiongfei from the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has revealed how the global regulation factor, cellular growth rate, reshapes the cell-fate-decision landscape. The ...

New research published by investigators at Cedars-Sinai advances scientific understanding of how the brain weighs decisions involving what people like or value, such as choosing which book to read, which restaurant to pick for lunch—or even, which slot machine to play in a casino. Published today in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Human Behaviour, this study involved recording the activity of individual human neurons.  The study examined decisions called value-based choices, where there is ...

Microplastic pollution reduces energy production in a microscopic creature found in freshwater worldwide, new research shows. Paramecium bursaria contain algae that live inside their cells and provide energy by photosynthesis. The new study, by the University of Exeter, tested whether severe microplastic contamination in the water affected this symbiotic relationship.   The results showed a 50% decline in net photosynthesis – a major impact on the algae’s ability to produce energy and release ...

SAN ANTONIO — March 23, 2023 —A study co-authored by Southwest Research Institute Senior Research Scientist Dr. Jason Hofgartner explains the unusual radar signatures of icy satellites orbiting Jupiter and Saturn. Their radar signatures, which differ significantly from those of rocky worlds and most ice on Earth, have long been a vexing question for the scientific community. “Six different models have been published in an attempt to explain the radar signatures of the icy moons that orbit Jupiter and Saturn,” said Hofgartner, first author of the study, ...

Francis Crick Institute press release Under strict embargo: 16:00 GMT 23 March 2023 Peer reviewed Experimental study Human stem cells Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have found that the body’s process of removing old and damaged cell parts, is also an essential part of tackling infections that take hold within our cells, like TB. If this natural process can be harnessed with new treatments, it could present an alternative to, or improve use of antibiotics, especially where bacteria have become ...

The Francis Crick Institute press release Under strict embargo: 16:00 GMT Thursday 23rd March Peer reviewed Experimental Cells Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have uncovered a key role for a new type of cell in touch detection in the skin of the fruit fly. Touch allows animals to navigate their environment by gathering information from the outside world. In their study published today in Nature Cell Biology, Dr Federica Mangione and Dr Nicolas Tapon shed light on how touch-sensitive organs assemble during development. In particular the team studied the development ...

A protein complex prevents the repair of genome damage in human cells, in mice and in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, a team of researchers at the University of Cologne has discovered. They also successfully inhibited this complex for the first time using a pharmaceutical agent. “When we suppress the so-called DREAM complex in body cells, various repair mechanisms kick in, making these cells extremely resilient towards all kinds of DNA damage,” said Professor Dr Björn Schumacher, Director of the Institute for Genome Stability in Aging ...

Plants produce all types of curious chemicals. Some deter predators. Some smell wonderful. Some even have medicinal value. One of these hidden gems is (–)-jerantinine A (JA), a molecule with remarkable anticancer properties, produced by a plant called Tabernaemontana corymbosa. Unfortunately, access to this Malaysian jungle plant and its promising chemical compound has been limited. Until now. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) chemists, led by Professor John E. Moses, have created a way to safely, quickly, and sustainably synthesize JA in the lab. To cancer biologists at CSHL, this breakthrough could mean future ...

Whether it’s diseases from bats, birds, pigs, or mosquitoes, climate change brings with it an increased risk of animal-borne (or “zoonotic”) diseases that can transmit to humans. Digital Science, a technology company serving stakeholders across the research ecosystem, has today released its analysis of the global research response to climate change and zoonotic diseases, in the context of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on climate and health. Using data from Dimensions, Dr Briony Fane, Ann Campbell and Dr Juergen Wastl from Digital Science have explored published research, ...

Researchers have used pluripotent stem cells to make thymus organoids that support the development of patient-specific T-cells, researchers report March 23rd in the journal Stem Cell Reports. The proof-of-concept work provides the basis for studying human thymus function, T-cell development, and transplant immunity. “We have established the framework for further basic science and translational research interrogating human thymus development and function in vitro, and in a patient-specific manner,” says senior author Holger Russ, of the University ...

When early Stone Age farmers first moved into Europe from the Near East about 8,000 years ago, they met and began mixing with the existing hunter-gatherer populations. Now genome-wide studies of hundreds of ancient genomes from this period show more hunter-gatherer ancestry in adaptive-immunity genes in the mixed population than would be expected by chance.  The findings, reported in Current Biology on March 23, suggest that mixing between the two groups resulted in mosaics of genetic variation that were acted upon by natural selection, a process through which all organisms, including humans, adapt and change ...

A male fly approaches a flower, lands on top of what he thinks is a female fly, and jiggles around. He’s trying to mate, but it isn’t quite working. He has another go. Eventually he gives up and buzzes off, unsuccessful. The plant, meanwhile, has got what it wanted: pollen. A South African daisy, Gorteria diffusa, is the only daisy known to make such a complicated structure resembling a female fly on its petals. The mechanism behind this convincing three-dimensional deception, complete ...

Francis Crick Institute press release Under strict embargo: 15:00hrs GMT 23 March 2023 Peer reviewed Observational study People Research from the Francis Crick Institute published today in Current Biology has revealed that diversity in genes coding for immunity may have facilitated adaptation to farming lifestyles in prehistoric periods.  Researchers at the Ancient Genomics Laboratory at the Crick studied available genome-wide DNA from 677 individuals dating to Stone Age Europe, spanning the movement of Neolithic farmers from the Near East into Europe about 8000 years ago, where they mixed with Mesolithic hunter-gatherers already in Europe. They were interested in whether ...

Being vaccinated against Covid halves people’s risk of developing long Covid, according to new research from the University of East Anglia. Long Covid still affects some two million people in the UK, and new research published today reveals the risk factors associated with developing the condition.   Overweight people, women, smokers and those over the age of 40 are also more likely to suffer from long Covid according to the study - which includes more than 860,000 patients and is thought to be the largest of its kind. The study also finds that co-morbidities such as asthma, COPD, Type 2 Diabetes, coronary heart disease, immunosuppression, anxiety ...