A new study indicates that sharks of the same species can have different personalities.
Certain Port Jackson sharks were bolder than others in tests of the propensity of individuals to emerge from cover and explore a novel, potentially dangerous habitat. Also, certain sharks were more stressed when held out of water.
Boldness and handling stress reactivity were both significantly repeatable in juvenile sharks, and there was a correlation between boldness and more active stress responses.
A research group led by Professor Mochida Tomoyuki (Kobe University Graduate School of Science) and Dr. Funasako Yusuke (Tokyo University of Science, Yamaguchi) has developed a metal-containing compound which transforms into a solid when exposed to light and returns to liquid form when heated. This substance could potentially be used for photolithography technology, such as fabricating printed circuits, among other applications. The findings were published in the journal Chemical Communications on May 7, 2016 (Japan Standard Time).
A DNA sample provided by a businessman has confirmed him as a descendant of a medieval king of Scotland.
It has also led to the discovery of a distinct genetic marker for descendants of King Robert III.
DNA tests undertaken as part of a study led by the University of Strathclyde, proved that Archie Shaw Stewart is in the family line of King Robert III, who reigned from 1390 until his death in 1406.
Animals can perceive changes in many environmental factors such as temperature and the taste or smell of foods. This is achieved by specialized nerve cells called sensory neurons. Interestingly, sensory neurons have been known to control the rate of aging in various animals, including the tiny free living roundworm C. elegans.
Several new malaria drugs under development share a common feature: they promote an influx of sodium ions into Plasmodium parasites that have invaded red blood cells and multiply there. A study published on May 26th in PLOS Pathogens suggests that this increase in sodium concentration kills the parasite by changing the composition of its outer membrane (the skin equivalent) and promoting division of the parasite before its genome has been replicated.
Fungi can sense environmental signals and react accordingly, changing their development, direction of growth, and metabolism. Sensory perception lies at the heart of adaptation to changing conditions, and helps fungi to improve growth and recycle organic waste, and to know when and how to infect a plant or animal host. New results based on characterizing and then conducting a comparative analysis of two genome sequences published online May 26, 2016 in the journal Current Biology shed new light on the evolution of sensory perception in fungi.
Malnourished children are most likely to die from common infections, not starvation. New experimental evidence, reviewed May 26 in Trends in Immunology, indicates that even with a healthy diet, defects in immune system function from birth could contribute to a malnourished state throughout life. Researchers speculate that targeting immune pathways could be a new approach to reduce the poor health and mortality caused by under- and overnutrition.
While no dengue vaccine has yet been approved for general use, several candidates are in clinical development. Data from the clinical trials can be used in mathematical models to estimate the benefits and risks and of different vaccination strategies. A study published in PLOS NTDs suggests that even a moderately efficient dengue vaccine--if it induces long-lasting immunity--can substantially reduce disease burden. However, if immunity wanes over time, vaccination could cause years with higher numbers of sick people, unless the initial vaccination is followed by regular boosters.
SALT LAKE CITY, UT, May 26, 2016--Scientists at the University of Utah, ARUP Laboratories, and IDbyDNA, Inc., have developed ultra-fast, meta-genomics analysis software called Taxonomer that dramatically improves the accuracy and speed of pathogen detection.
A team led by Oxford University has identified genes that make certain children more susceptible to invasive bacterial infections by performing a large genome-wide association study in African children.
Malnourished children are most likely to die from common infections, not starvation alone, and immune disorder may be part of the cause, according to a review led by Queen Mary University of London.
The paper, published in Trends in Immunology, also indicates that even with a healthy diet, defects in immune system function from birth could contribute to a malnourished state throughout life. These altered immune systems could be passed down from generation to generation regardless of the diet of any offspring.
LA JOLLA, CA - May 26, 2016 - Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have caught a cancer-causing mutation in the act.
A new study shows how a gene mutation found in several human cancers, including leukemia, gliomas and melanoma, promotes the growth of aggressive tumors.
"We've found the mechanism through which this mutation leads to a scrambling of the genome," said TSRI Associate Professor Eros Lazzerini Denchi, who co-led the study with Agnel Sfeir of New York University (NYU) School of Medicine. "That's when you get really massive tumors."
By using the gene editing tool CRISPR to create unique genetic "barcodes," it's possible to track the lineage of cells in a living organism, a new study reveals. The development could accelerate our understanding of an array of cellular processes. While several different methods exist for tracking cell lineages, each has limitations. For example, dyes may be used to track the creation of daughter cells, but do not provide insights into the relationships between the descendent cells.
An important feature for life is what embryos receive from mom and dad upon fertilization. Oddly enough, centrioles, the structures responsible for cell division and flagella movement, are given by the paternal gamete. How oocytes, the maternal gametes, lose centrioles and the importance of doing so for female fertility has been an enigma since the 1930s.
Johns Hopkins researchers report they have inadvertently found a way to make human muscle cells bearing genetic mutations from people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).
A report on the feat, published online in the journal Cell Reports on May 26, should shed light on how subtle genetic differences among DMD patients produce symptoms with a wide range of severity and disability. The cells, they say, could also be used to test new therapies.