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Particularly sensitive to chemical modifications, mRNAs are molecules responsible for transmitting the information encoded in our genome, allowing for the synthesis of proteins. Two teams (UNIGE) have focused on a specific type of chemical modification - called methylation - of mRNA molecules in the small worm Caenorhabditis elegans. They found that methylation on a particular sequence of an mRNA leads to its degradation and that this control mechanism depends on the worm's diet.

Researchers in Japan have compiled a first-of-its-kind genetic database for autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases. This resource will allow experts to more deeply understand how immune disorders develop and plan future drug discovery projects. Scientists also hope this atlas of immune-related genome data may eventually be applied to investigations of infectious diseases like COVID-19.

An experimental treatment produced improvements in cognitive function and language in patients with fragile X syndrome, according to study results published on April 29 in Nature Medicine.

What The Study Did: The association between exposure to antibiotics before birth and during the first year of life and the development of eczema during childhood was evaluated among children in Sweden.

What The Study Did: Researchers investigated whether spending  a year aboard the International Space Station was associated with worsening of spaceflight-associated structural changes to the eye.

What The Study Did: This case series investigates the frequency and type of SARS-CoV-2 nasopharyngeal test complications in Helsinki, Finland.

What The Study Did: Using insurance claims data, the change in screening rates for breast, colorectal and prostate cancers during the COVID-19 pandemic were estimated as well as the overall decline in cancer screening last year among the U.S. population.

What The Study Did: This survey study examines the associations of school closure and exposure to COVID-19-related stressors with caregivers' perceptions of their children's mental well-being.

New research led by scientists at the University of California, Irvine and Boston University, published in Nature Climate Change, suggests that new green biomass in the Arctic is not as large a carbon sink as scientists had hoped.

'Superhighways' used by a population of up to 6.5 million Indigenous Australians to navigate the continent tens of thousands of years ago have been revealed by new research using sophisticated modelling of past people and landscapes.

Scientists from the University of Bristol's Quantum Engineering Technology Labs (QETLabs) have developed an algorithm that provides valuable insights into the physics underlying quantum systems - paving the way for significant advances in quantum computation and sensing, and potentially turning a new page in scientific investigation.

Concerns about fertility often influence how young women with breast cancer approach treatment decisions and are a reason for forgoing or delaying hormone-blocking therapy, a new study by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators shows.

By simulating the physiology and decisions of early way-finders, an international team of archaeologists, geographers, ecologists, and computer scientists has mapped the probable "superhighways" that led to the first peopling of the Australian continent some 50,000-70,000 years ago.

Although robotic devices are used in everything from assembly lines to medicine, engineers have a hard time accounting for the friction that occurs when those robots grip objects - particularly in wet environments. Researchers have now discovered a new law of physics that accounts for this type of friction, which should advance a wide range of robotic technologies.

A team of University of British Columbia researchers has shown that the composition of a baby's first poop--a thick, dark green substance known as meconium--is associated with whether or not a child will develop allergies within their first year of life. By analyzing meconium samples from 100 infants, they show that the development of a healthy immune system and microbiota may start well before a child is born.

Scientists in China have developed a small, flexible device that can convert heat emitted from human skin to electrical power. In their research, presented April 29 in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science, the team showed that the device could power an LED light in real time when worn on a wristband. The findings suggest that body temperature could someday power wearable electronics such as fitness trackers.

Donating to a charity is often driven by emotion rather than by calculated assessments based on how to make the biggest impact. In a review article published on April 29 in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences, researchers look at what they call "the psychology of (in)effective altruism" and how people can be encouraged to direct their charitable contributions in ways that allow them to get more bang for the buck.

A new study draws the most detailed picture yet of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the lung, revealing mechanisms that cause lethal COVID-19 and how COVID-19 differs from other infectious diseases.

A new study from the University of Kansas just published in the open-access journal Comptes Rendus Geoscience, may answer "one of the greatest mysteries of our time . . . when humans made the first bold journey to the Americas."

Depression screening among cancer patients improved by 40 percent to cover more than 90 percent of patients under a quality improvement program launched by a multidisciplinary team at UT Southwestern Medical Center and Southwestern Health Resources.