– By Will Ferguson For the first time, researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a genome-scale way to map the regulatory role of transcription factors, proteins that play a key role in gene expression and determining a plant’s physiological traits. Their work reveals unprecedented insights into gene regulatory networks and identifies a new library of DNA parts that can be used to optimize genetic engineering efforts in plants. “Transcription factors regulate things like how plants grow, how much fruit they produce, ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Fifteen years of archaeological work in the Tam Pa Ling cave in northeastern Laos has yielded a reliable chronology of early human occupation of the site, scientists report in the journal Nature Communications. The team’s excavations through the layers of sediments and bones that gradually washed into the cave and were left untouched for tens of thousands of years reveals that humans lived in the area for at least 70,000 years – and likely even longer. “When we first started excavating the cave, we never expected to find humans in that region,” said University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign anthropology professor Laura Shackelford, who led ...

A new tool for generating microwave signals could help propel advances in wireless communication, imaging, atomic clocks, and more. Frequency combs are photonic devices that produce many equally spaced laser lines, each locked to a specific frequency to produce a comb-like structure. They can be used to generate high-frequency, stable microwave signals and scientists have been attempting to miniaturize the approach so they can be used on microchips. Scientists have been limited in their abilities to tune these microcombs at a rate to make them effective. But a team of researchers ...

By Lindsay Brownell (BOSTON) — The amount of data generated by scientists today is massive, thanks to the falling costs of sequencing technology and the increasing amount of available computing power. But parsing through all that data to uncover useful information is like searching for a molecular needle in a haystack. Machine learning (ML) and other artificial intelligence (AI) tools can dramatically speed up the process of data analysis, but most ML tools are difficult for non-ML experts to access and use. Recently, automated machine learning (AutoML) methods have been developed that can automate the design and deployment ...

An international team of researchers, led by University of Toronto Engineering Professor Yu Zou, is using electric fields to control the motion of material defects. This work has important implications for improving the properties and manufacturing processes of typically brittle ionic and covalent crystals, including semiconductors — a crystalline material that is a central component of electronic chips used for computers and other modern devices.  In a new study published in Nature Materials, researchers from ...

About The Study: This study of 23 undocumented immigrants with kidney failure receiving emergency dialysis found that a peer support group intervention achieved feasibility and acceptability. The findings suggest that a peer support group may be a patient-centered strategy to build camaraderie and provide emotional support in kidney failure, especially for socially marginalized uninsured populations who report limited English proficiency.  Authors: Lilia Cervantes, M.D., of the University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, in Aurora, is the corresponding author.  To ...

A gel that combines both stiffness and toughness is a step forward in the bid to create biodegradable implants for joint injuries, according to new UBC research. Mimicking articular cartilage, found in our knee and hip joints, is challenging. This cartilage is key to smooth joint movement, and damage to it can cause pain, reduce function, and lead to arthritis. One potential solution is to implant artificial scaffolds made of proteins that help the cartilage regenerate itself as the scaffold biodegrades. How well the cartilage regenerates is linked to how well a scaffold can mimic the biological properties of cartilage, and to date, researchers have struggled ...

Vanderbilt researchers are part of a team that has developed a cutting-edge method that seeks to make the removal of salt from hypersaline industrial wastewater far more energy-efficient and cost-effective. While desalination through reverse osmosis has made tremendous strides—allowing for salt removal from seawater for less than a penny per gallon—it still falls short in eliminating saline in wastewater from industries like mining, oil and gas and power generation and in inland brackish water. The industrial brines are currently injected into deep geological formations or transferred to a evaporation ponds, and both disposal methods are facing more regulatory and ...

In a new paper published today in Nature, researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have outlined the structure and function of a protein complex which is required to repair damaged DNA and protect against cancer. Every time a cell replicates, mistakes can happen in the form of mutations, but specialised proteins exist to repair the damaged DNA. People with mutations in a DNA repair protein called BRCA2 are predisposed to breast, ovarian and prostate cancers, which often develop at a young age. In the clinic, these cancers are treated with a drug that inhibits PARP, ...

The discovery of the quantum Hall effects in the 1980's revealed the existence of novel states of matter called "Laughlin states", in honor of the American Nobel prize winner who successfully characterized them theoretically. These exotic states specifically emerge in 2D materials, at very low temperature and in the presence of an extremely strong magnetic field. In a Laughlin state, electrons form a peculiar liquid, where each electron dances around its congeners while avoiding them as much as possible. Exciting such a quantum liquid generates collective states that physicists associate to fictitious particles, whose ...

New research is increasing our understanding about why some women with the most lethal form of ovarian cancer respond much better to treatment than others.  Researchers at Imperial College London have confirmed that the tumours of some women with high-grade serious ovarian cancer (HGSOC) contain a type of lymphoid tissue – known as tertiary lymphoid structures, or TLS – and that the presence of this tissue gives women a significantly better prognosis. They have also identified genes in HGSOC ...

An international team of scientists has discovered that Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*)1, the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way, emerged from a long period of dormancy some 200 years ago. The team, led by Frédéric Marin2, a CNRS researcher at the Astronomical Strasbourg Observatory (CNRS/University of Strasbourg), has revealed the past awakening of this gigantic object, which is four million times more massive than the Sun. Their work is published in Nature on 21 June. Over a period of one year at the beginning of the 19th century, the black ...

New Haven, Conn. — Cancer immunotherapy has revolutionized treatment of many forms of cancer by unleashing the immune system response against tumors. Immunotherapies that block checkpoint receptors like PD-1, proteins that limit the capacity of T cells to attack tumors, have become the choice for the treatment of numerous types of solid cancer. However, the introduction of PD-1-blocking agents can often result in T cells attacking healthy tissues in addition to cancer cells, causing severe, sometimes life-threatening, side effects that can blunt the benefits of immunotherapy. A new study published by researchers ...

New McMaster research has found that a disease-causing fungus — collected from one of the most remote regions in the world — is resistant to a common antifungal medicine used to treat infections. The study, published today in mSphere, showed that seven per cent of Aspergillus fumigatus samples collected from the Three Parallel Rivers region in Yunnan, China were drug resistant. Perched 6,000 metres above sea level and guarded by the staggering glaciated peaks of the Eastern Himalayas, the region is sparsely populated and undeveloped, which makes the presence of antimicrobial-resistant strains of A. fumigatus all the more striking for Jianping Xu, ...

UPTON, NY— A new publication by the PHENIX Collaboration at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) provides definitive evidence that gluon “spins” are aligned in the same direction as the spin of the proton they’re in. The result, just published in Physical Review Letters, provides theorists with new input for calculating how much gluons—the gluelike particles that hold quarks together within protons and neutrons—contribute to a proton’s ...

HOUSTON ― Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have uncovered a gene on the Y chromosome that is upregulated in KRAS-mutated colorectal cancer (CRC), increasing tumor cell invasiveness and reducing anti-tumor immunity in male patients. The preclinical study, published today in Nature, provides novel insights into the longstanding mystery of molecular and cellular mechanisms that drive increased metastasis and poor prognosis in men with CRC. The results highlight the Y chromosome gene KDM5D, which codes for an epigenetic enzyme, as a potential therapeutic target and uncover ...

‘Green’ farming policies may accelerate global biodiversity loss, two leading academics have warned.    Rewilding, organic farming and the ‘nature friendly farming’ measures included in some government conservation policies risk worsening the global biodiversity crisis by reducing how much food is produced in a region, driving up food imports and increasing environmental damage overseas. In an article published today in the journal Nature, Professor Ian Bateman of the University of Exeter and Professor Andrew Balmford of the University of Cambridge urge policy-makers to consider a bolder approach known as ...

Digital Science, a technology company serving stakeholders across the research ecosystem, is pleased to announce that Stellenbosch University (SU) has selected Symplectic Elements from Digital Science’s flagship products to support its goal of advancing knowledge in service of society.  Symplectic Elements will provide SU with a Researcher Profiles and Research Outputs Management Solution, supporting and streamlining DHET (Department of Higher Education and Training) submissions and providing a public profiling system for its researchers.  SU is one of South Africa’s leading tertiary institutions, and is recognised internationally ...

Brazil has a housing deficit of 5.876 million units (5.044 million in urban areas and 832,000 in rural areas), according to the latest government survey. The number corresponds to 8.1% of the nation’s total stock of private dwellings, permanent and improvised. To make good at least part of this huge social debt, the federal government launched a low-income housing program called Minha Casa Minha Vida (“My Home My Life”) in 2009. However, funding was insufficient to meet demand of this size, and low investment allocated to construction of each unit resulted in problems such as lack of thermal comfort, a constant ...

You may not think about the registration, distribution, sale and use of pesticide products that help control insects, weeds and diseases, but a lot of people in state and federal government do. They meet annually to discuss developments that can affect your health daily. From June 5-7, the State Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Issues Research and Evaluation Group (SFIREG) hosted their national annual in-person meeting at the University of Tennessee’s West Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center in Jackson. ...

England’s girls and other underrepresented groups are at risk of being failed by the current computing curriculum, which excludes their interests, according to new research published recently. A study by University of Reading, in partnership with Kings College London, published in the International Journal of Science Education, found the current school system creates a gender imbalance in computer science that is reflected in the workplace. The solution, they say, could ...

A study led by VA Puget Sound Health Care System researchers has shown that prazosin, a drug used to treat high blood pressure, can prevent posttraumatic headaches. Senior study author Dr. Murray Raskind, director of the VA Northwest Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center in Seattle, Washington, explained that few treatment options exist for this type of headache. “Persistent posttraumatic headaches are the most common long-term consequence of mild traumatic brain injuries (concussions) in Veterans and active-duty service members, causing substantial distress ...

Hamilton, ON, June 21, 2023 – Kinesiologists at McMaster University have found ketone supplements, used by some athletes hoping to cross the finish line faster, may in fact worsen performance. The new study, published in the latest print edition of the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, tackles contradictory research findings related to the effectiveness of ketone supplements, which have gained popularity among athletes seeking a competitive advantage.  Some previously published studies had shown the supplements improve performance, while others have reported they had no effect or even worsened performance. Natural ketones can ...

ITHACA, N.Y. – How close can a rocky planet be to a star, and still sustain water and life? A recently discovered exoplanet may be key to solving that mystery. “Super-Earth” LP 890-9c (also named SPECULOOS-2c) is providing important insights about conditions at the inner edge of a star’s habitable zone and why Earth and Venus developed so differently, according to new research led by Lisa Kaltenegger, associate professor of astronomy at Cornell University. Her team found LP 890-9c, which orbits close to the inner ...

“This technology is not alive,” says Laia Mogas-Soldevila. “It is living-like.” The distinction is an important one for the assistant professor at the Stuart Weitzman School of Design, for reasons both scientific and artistic. With a doctorate in biomedical engineering, several degrees in architecture, and a devotion to sustainable design, Mogas-Soldevila brings biology to everyday life, creating materials for a future built halfway between nature and artifice. The architectural technology she describes is unassuming ...