In human cells, only a small proportion of the information written in genes is used to produce proteins. How does the cell select this information? A large molecular machine called the spliceosome continuously separates the coding and non-coding regions of our genes – and it's doing this even as you read these lines.  The spliceosome is critical for the proper functioning of every cell, and numerous genetic disorders are linked to problems with spliceosome function. In most eukaryotic cells, two types of ...

Glaciers, sediments, and pollen can be used to reconstruct the climate of the past. Beyond ‘nature’s archive,’, other sources, such as diaries, travel notes, parish or monastery registers, and other written documents – known at the ‘society’s archive’ – contain reports and observations about local climates in bygone centuries. In contrast, the second half of the century was characterized by heavy rainfall and floods, particularly in the 1590s. The western parts of the European continent cooled significantly when in the 16th century a period known as the ‘Little Ice Age’ intensified. During the second ...

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 22% of the global population smokes, with more than 9 million smoking-related deaths reported annually. Effective treatments to alleviate nicotine withdrawal symptoms caused by smoking cessation are essential for successful smoking cessation. Currently, approved treatments for nicotine withdrawal include Bupropion and Varenicline, but there is a pressing need for new therapeutic options to improve smoking cessation success rates. The research team led by Dr. Heh-In Im at the Center for Brain Disorders of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) has identified a novel brain region and neural mechanism ...

EMBARGOED UNTIL WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2025 Mountain View, CA (Feb. 12, 2025) – According to the U.S. Physician Workforce Data Dashboard, only about 17% of cardiologists are women, ranking as one of the lowest specialties among female physicians, yet heart disease remains the number one killer of women, accounting for one in five female deaths. El Camino Health is innovating a solution to address the unique symptoms and risk factors of heart disease in women. A new national survey conducted by El Camino Health found women (59%) are ...

A new study has uncovered a novel P-type PPR protein, BoYgl-2, which plays a crucial role in chloroplast RNA editing and chlorophyll biosynthesis in cabbage. This discovery sheds new light on the molecular mechanisms governing leaf color formation and chloroplast development, filling a significant knowledge gap in plant physiology. By identifying a spontaneous yellow-green leaf mutant and deciphering the function of BoYgl-2, the research paves the way for innovative crop breeding strategies that could enhance plant productivity and agricultural sustainability. Leaf color is more than just an aesthetic trait—it is a vital agronomic characteristic ...

Accumulation of fat molecules is detrimental to the cell. Researchers from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine), have made a breakthrough in understanding how our cells manage to stay healthy by recycling important fat molecules. Their study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), reveals how a protein called Spinster homolog 1 (Spns1) helps transport fats out of cell compartments known as lysosomes.   Led by Associate Professor Nguyen Nam Long, from the Department of Biochemistry and Immunology Translational Research Programme (TRP) at NUS Medicine, the team found that Spns1 is like a cellular ...

Classic Graph Convolutional Networks (GCNs) often learn node representation holistically, which would ignore the distinct impacts from different neighbors when aggregating their features to update a node's representation. Disentangled GCNs have been proposed to divide each node's representation into several feature channels. However, current disentangling methods do not try to figure out how many inherent factors the model should assign to help extract the best representation of each node. To solve the problems, a research team led by Chuliang WENG published their new ...

Male hoverflies are outflown by females when it comes to long-distance migration, new research shows. Marmalade hoverflies leave northern Europe each autumn to escape the cold winter. The study – by the University of Exeter – compared the number of males and females migrating at a northern point (Denmark) and further south (Spain). At the northern point, 50% of hoverflies were male and 50% were female – but at the southern point about 90% were female, suggesting males are “poor long-distance fliers”. “We carried out a range of tests and found females were better adapted for long-distance ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Certain groups of consumers appear to be open to drinking smoke-impacted wines, a finding in a new study that could provide market opportunities for winemakers increasingly dealing with the effects of wildfire smoke on grapes. The study by researchers at Oregon State University and in New Zealand found that consumers, particularly those that like smokey flavors in food and beverages, are open to drinking smoke-impacted wines. They also found that the type of information on the label can modulate consumer acceptance. “This ...

New research has highlighted microalgae’s capacity as a solution in the fight against climate change, but researchers warn that “smart microalgal bioprospecting” is needed to unlock its full potential.   The study highlights the vast, largely unexplored capacity of microalgae to mitigate CO2 emissions while driving sustainable industry.  “Microalgae have remarkable properties that make them an ideal tool for tackling climate change,” said lead author, PhD candidate Joan Labara Tirado from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS).  The review paper, The need for smart microalgal bioprospecting was ...

Fewer wildfires burn in North American forests today than in previous centuries, increasing the risk of more severe wildfires, according to research published this week in Nature Communications. The findings may seem counterintuitive, but frequent low-lying surface fires often maintain balance in forests by reducing fuel sources across large areas.  The new study led by the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado Boulder and the U.S. Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station ...

Older people have greater general happiness, life satisfaction and sense of purpose than they did before the Covid-19 pandemic. That’s according to a new study which tracked 3,999 over 50s in England for 11 years, published today in the peer-reviewed journal, Aging and Mental Health. Analysing data to understand positive psychological well-being and depression within this group, an expert team from UCL (University College London), funded by the National Institute of Ageing, a consortium of UK government departments coordinated by the National Institute ...

Dr. Alison Altman, an assistant professor in the Texas A&M Chemistry Department, has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, which supports early-career faculty in research and education. The award recognizes her work on underexplored elements of the periodic table and her dedication to teaching. For Altman, it’s a launchpad for future discoveries. “It’s an honor to receive this award, as it acknowledges not just my research program but also my teaching efforts,” ...

Micro- and nanoscale plastic particles in soil and water can significantly increase how much toxic chemicals plants and human intestinal cells absorb, according to two new studies from Rutgers Health that raise fresh concerns about food safety from plastic pollution. The first study in NanoImpact found that lettuce exposed to both nanoscale plastic particles and common environmental pollutants such as arsenic took up substantially more of the toxic substances than plants exposed to the pollutants, alone confirming the risks of polycontamination of our food chain. A companion study in Microplastics journal showed ...

Seeking to understand what constitutes a healthy vaginal microbiome, a global research collaboration that includes a Rutgers-New Brunswick scientist has reported a series of findings, including identifying which bacteria thwart vaginal disease and determining that microbiomes vary significantly across human populations. Authors of the study, published in Trends in Microbiology, are part of a Belgium-based initiative called the Isala Sisterhood. Members of the group aim to inspire research on microbiomes worldwide by creating a “reference map” of vaginal microbiota. Launched in 2020 at the University of Antwerp, the project has expanded to include more than 3,000 ...

The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) today announced that University of Pittsburgh Professor Fang Peng, an internationally acclaimed power electronics researcher, is among the newest cohort elected to the academy. The NAE is recognizing Peng for “contributions to the development of high-powered electronic technologies for advanced power grid and energy conversion.” Peng, the RK Mellon Endowed Chair Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Director of the Energy GRID Institute at Pitt’s Swanson School of Engineering, ...

In a randomized clinical trial, researchers from Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah (the U) have found that short-course, higher dose vaginal brachytherapy for endometrial cancer had similar effectiveness to more frequent, lower dose sessions. Gita Suneja, MD, MS, physician-scientist at Huntsman Cancer Institute and professor of radiation oncology at the U, is the first author of the SAVE trial report—which stands for, Short-Course Adjuvant Vaginal Cuff Brachytherapy in Early Endometrial Cancer Compared with Standard of Care. “There ...

Scientists have developed new light-sensitive chemicals that can radically improve the treatment of aggressive cancers with minimal side effects. In mouse tests, the new therapy completely eradicated metastatic breast cancer tumors.  The novel chemicals, called cyanine-carborane salts, and their role in the next-generation of cancer treatments, are described in a new article published in Angewandte Chemie, a journal of the German Chemical Society. Photodynamic therapy, or PDT, has been used for decades to treat forms of skin and bladder cancers. It works by flooding a patient’s body with light-sensitive chemicals that accumulate in cancer cells. ...

WASHINGTON–Interventional heart failure (IHF) has rapidly evolved as a critical subspecialty within cardiology at the crossroads of advanced heart failure and interventional cardiology. The increasing complexity of patient care—spanning both pharmacological treatments and an expanding array of device-based therapies—has underscored the urgent need for a standardized approach to training and career development in this field.  That’s the message from experts in a comprehensive review, “Charting the Course for Careers in Interventional Heart ...

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have demonstrated a new synthetic approach that turbocharges bacteria into producing more of a specific protein, even proteins that would normally destroy them, such as antibiotics. The technique directs bacteria to produce synthetic disordered proteins that bunch together to form compartments called biological condensates. When these compartments trap mRNA carrying instructions for specific proteins together with the machinery needed to implement them, they can greatly enhance the rate of protein production. The technique could be a boon to industries that use bacteria to produce a wide range of products such as pharmaceuticals, ...

It’s the globally popular video game that’s captured the attention of more than 141 million active players, but Minecraft can also play a significant role in shaping children’s development, social interactions, and cognitive learning, say researchers at the University of South Australia.   Published in the new book Children’s online learning and interaction, the study found that when children engage in collaborative Minecraft play, they foster teamwork, communication, and social skills as players exchange ideas and problem-solve ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – An alternative energy mechanical engineer, two aerospace engineers, and a corrosion research engineer received the highest honor bestowed to early career U.S. government scientists and engineers. These four U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) researchers each received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) for their research on next generation energy storage solutions, solid fuel combustion for use in high-speed propulsion devices, solving large-scale ...

February 11, 2025, Mountain View, CA -- The SETI Institute awarded the first Frank Drake Postdoctoral Fellowship to Dr. Anastasia Yanchilina. Yanchilina will focus on distinguishing biosignatures from false positives across space and time. Her research combines experimental and analytical research to refine biosignature detection techniques. She will conduct lab experiments to generate key mineral analogs and study Earth’s extreme environments to understand what potential signs of life to look for on other planets. “It has long been my scientific dream to explore whether life exists ...

Particle detectors play a crucial role in our understanding of the fundamental building blocks of the universe. They allow scientists to study the behavior and properties of the particles produced in high-energy collisions. Such particles are boosted to near the speed of light in large accelerators and then smashed into targets or other particles where they are then analyzed with detectors. Traditional detectors, however, lack the needed sensitivity and precision for certain types of research. Researchers at the U.S. Department of ...

Blood clots form in response to signals from the lungs of cancer patients—not from other organ sites, as previously thought—according to a preclinical study by Weill Cornell Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and University of California San Diego Health. Clots are the second-leading cause of death among cancer patients with advanced disease or aggressive tumors. While blood clots usually form to stop a wound from bleeding, cancer patients can form clots without injury, plugging up vessels and cutting off circulation to organs. The study, published Feb. 11 in Cell, shows that tumors drive clot formation (thrombosis) by releasing ...