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Scientists at EPFL and UNIL have used a novel algorithmic approach on cancer cells to understand how changes in histone marks (H3K27ac) induce repositioning of chromatin regions in the cell nucleus, and described how modifications of local contacts between regulatory elements (enhancers and promoters) influence oncogene expression.

New Curtin University research has found a bias among scientists toward colourful and visually striking plants, means they are more likely to be chosen for scientific study and benefit from subsequent conservation efforts, regardless of their ecological importance.

Numerous disease development processes are linked to epigenetic modulation. One protein involved in the process of modulation and identified as an important cancer marker is BRD4. A recent study by researchers at the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, now shows that the supply of purines as well as the purine synthesis of a cell can influence BRD4 activity and thus play a role in the carcinogenesis process. The findings were published in Nature Metabolism.

Biologists have identified specific neural firing patterns that can induce stuttering and stammering in songbirds. The discovery offers a model system that could enable researchers to uncover the origins of speech dysfunction in humans, and possible treatment to restore normal speech.

NASA's Voyager I spacecraft has long since zipped past the edge of the solar system through the heliopause - the solar system's border with interstellar space - into the interstellar medium. Now, its instruments have detected the constant drone of interstellar gas (plasma waves), according to Cornell University-led research published in Nature Astronomy.

How a planet comes together has implications for whether it captures and retains the volatile elements, including nitrogen, carbon and water, that eventually give rise to life, according to scientists at Rice University.

New research performed in mice models at Penn Medicine shows, mechanistically, how the infant lung regenerates cells after injury differently than the adult lung, with alveolar type 1 (AT1) cells reprograming into alveolar type 2 (AT2) cells (two very different lung alveolar epithelial cells), promoting cell regeneration, rather than AT2 cells differentiating into AT1 cells, which is the most widely accepted mechanism in the adult lung.

Widespread sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 genomes presents new opportunities for tracing global and local transmission dynamics, but analyzing so much genomic data is challenging. The sheer number of coronavirus genome sequences and their rapid accumulation makes it hard to place new sequences on a "family tree" showing how they are all related. But researchers at the UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute have developed a new method that does this with unprecedented speed.

BARseq2 is a new brain mapping technique that can identify cells by the unique sets of genes they use. Neuroscientists can use this tool to understand how brain cells are organized and connected.

For the first time ever, researchers have wirelessly programmed -- and then deprogrammed -- mice to socially interact with one another in real time. The advancement is thanks to a first-of-its-kind ultraminiature, wireless, battery-free and fully implantable device that uses light to activate neurons.

A new study from the Institute of Genomics of the University of Tartu, Estonia has shed light on the genetic prehistory of populations in modern day Italy through the analysis of ancient human individuals around 4,000 years ago. The genomic analysis of ancient samples enabled researchers from Estonia, Italy, and the UK to date the arrival of the Steppe-related ancestry component to 3,600 years ago in Central Italy, also finding changes in burial practice and kinship structure during this transition.

Scientists at UC San Francisco are learning how immune cells naturally clear the body of defunct -- or senescent -- cells that contribute to aging and many chronic diseases. Understanding this process may open new ways of treating age-related chronic diseases with immunotherapy.

A commentary from leaders at the National Institute on Drug Abuse discusses a new study showing that an extended-release injection of buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid use disorder, was preferred by patients compared to immediate-release buprenorphine, which must be taken orally every day. Extended-release formulations of medications used to treat opioid use disorder may be a valuable tool to address the current opioid addiction crisis and reduce its associated mortality.

An analysis of historical medical records found that men who were prenatally exposed during early gestation to the Dutch famine of 1944-1945 were 30 percent more likely to be overweight with a Body Mass Index of 25 or over at age 19, compared to a similar group not exposed to the famine.

The symptoms of grief people feel for a loved one facing a life-limiting illness fluctuate over time, a new study found - suggesting that individuals can adjust to their emotional pain, but also revealing factors that can make pre-loss grief more severe.

Porcupines are being illegally hunted and exploited throughout their range in Indonesia for local subsistence and commercial trade. They are reportedly in decline, yet there seems to be little control or monitoring on uptake and trade. A new study examining seizure data of porcupines in Indonesia found a total of 39 incidents from January 2013 to June 2020 involving an estimated 452 porcupines. The research was published in the open-access, peer-reviewed journal Nature Conservation.

Breakthrough technology may help prevent vision loss and understand effectiveness of therapy.

The process of combining maternal and paternal genetic information is surprisingly error-prone

Can expert commissions develop solutions for controversial issues that will enjoy broad democratic support? Researchers from the IASS have analysed the work of Germany's "Coal Exit Commission" using a set of new criteria. While the authors view positively the Commission's success in reaching a compromise, they criticise its failure to deliver an outcome that promotes the common good, particularly with respect to high costs of the coal exit and its unambitious contribution towards climate goals.

Climate change, a pandemic or the coordinated activity of neurons in the brain: In all of these examples, a transition takes place at a certain point from the base state to a new state. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have discovered a universal mathematical structure at these so-called tipping points. It creates the basis for a better understanding of the behavior of networked systems.