Eurekalert

A new study with zebrafish shows that a deadly form of skin cancer -- melanoma -- alters the metabolism of healthy tissues elsewhere in the body. The research from Washington University in St. Louis suggests that these other tissues could potentially be targeted to help treat cancer.

Radical changes to the food system are needed to safeguard our food supply and combat malnutrition in the face of climate change, environmental degradation and epidemics, says new report.

Climate change may be accelerating the degradation of ancient rock paintings in Indonesia, including the oldest known hand stencil in the world which dates back to 39,900 years ago, according to a study published in Scientific Reports.

Fossilised footprint tracks, recently discovered within the Hanna Formation in Wyoming, USA, which have been dated to 58 million years ago, may represent the earliest evidence of mammals gathering by the sea, according to a study published in Scientific Reports. Findings suggest that mammals may have first used marine habitats at least 9.4 million years earlier than previously thought, in the late Paleocene (66-56 million years ago), rather than the Eocene (56-33.9 million years ago).

Artificial food colorants can cause disease when the immune system has become dysregulated, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai researchers report. The study, published in Cell Metabolism in May, was the first to show this phenomenon.

The once-abundant California condor briefly went extinct in the wild, with only 22 individuals living in captivity by 1982. Today, 300 condors live freely in the wild and another 200 are in captivity. But, despite the condor's struggles, a new study of the California condor genome reported in the journal Current Biology on May 13 has found a surprising amount of genetic diversity.

Scientists from Sydney and New York, inspired by Black Lives Matter, describe the critical worldwide need to improve the diversity of cells used in medical research. Currently, 95% of all human cell lines used in research are of European descent. The authors provide actionable steps, in this publication in Cell, that researchers and the biomedical community can take to promote more inclusivity in preclinical and basic science research.

Clinicians and scientists have long observed that cells in overstressed hearts have high levels of the simple sugar O-GlcNAc modifying thousands of proteins within cells. Now, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine have found evidence in mouse experiments that these excess sugars could well be a cause, not merely a consequence or marker of heart failure.

The relevance of pet dog biobanking in molecular research and the initiative to make pioneering steps in this field. The Hungarian Canine Brain and Tissue Bank (CBTB) was established by the research team of the Senior Family Dog Project in 2017, following the examples of human tissue banks. In a recent paper, the team reports findings, which would not have been possible without the CBTB, and may augment further progress in dog aging and biomarker research.

A new WCS study looks at the prevalence of human consumption of lemur and fossa (Madagascar's largest predator) in villages within and around Makira Natural Park, northeastern Madagascar, providing up-to-date estimates of the percentage of households who eat meat from these protected species.

Research conducted by an international team of scientists discovered a mechanism that leads to Herceptin resistance, representing a significant clinical obstacle to successfully treating HER2-positive breast cancer. They also identified a new approach to potentially overcome it.

Zebra finches also suffer from a suppressed immune function due to the chronic stress.

Researchers from TMDU, collaborating with scientists from MBL and RIKEN, developed a new probe, POLArIS, for real-time live-cell imaging that reveals the orientation of molecules and is expected to be applicable to a wide range of cell types and specimens. They tested POLArIS in starfish early embryos and discovered the existence of a new F-actin cellular architecture, FLARE, extending alongside the astral microtubules to the cell cortex. This may provide answers to some of the most fundamental questions regarding cell division.

Spatial-frequency-shift microscopy with evanescent wave illumination shows intriguing advantages, including a large field of view, high speed, and good modularity. However, a missing band in the spatial frequency domain hampers the spatial-frequency-shift superresolution microscopy from achieving resolution better than 3 folds of the Abbe diffraction limit. Recently researchers at Zhejiang University have proposed chip-compatible wide-field 3D nanoscopy through tunable spatial frequency shift effect, making the diffraction limit overcome in the linear optical imaging system.

Study by UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health suggests that heart disease and obesity-associated cancer mortality rates have continued to improve, but at a slowing pace.

World-first nanotechnology developed by the University of South Australia could change the lives of thousands of people living with cystic fibrosis (CF) as groundbreaking research shows it can improve the effectiveness of the CF antibiotic Tobramycin, increasing its efficacy by up to 100,000-fold.

Accurate and focused information about COVID-19 from credible sources reduces stigmatisation and stress, according to a world-first study led by Monash University. Foreigners, minorities, police and frontline workers were blamed for spreading the virus in India. The study was conducted during the first wave of the virus. Researchers say elements of stigmatisation are still valid as India battles a tragic second wave.

Tackling the scar tissue that shields pancreatic tumours from effective drug access is a promising advance in a notoriously hard-to-treat cancer.

The recent advent of femtosecond X-ray sources offers unprecedented opportunities for structural and dynamical studies. It requires, however, manipulating spectral properties, as commonly done by non-linear optics at visible/infrared wavelengths. Here we show the first evidence for Self-Phase Modulation, a key non-linear effect in ultrafast laser science, in the soft X-Rays. Building on such effect, we demonstrate how to tune spectral properties in this wavelength region critical for core electrons pump-probe spectroscopy and nanoimaging.

Researchers at Brussels Photonics, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, have developed a 'first time right' design method that eliminates the "step-and-repeat" and "trial-and-error" approach in optical system design. They demonstrated the systematic, deterministic, scalable, and holistic character of their disruptive technique with various freeform lens- and mirror-based high-end examples and invite optical designers to experience their new method hands-on via an open-access trial web application.