Culture
Although the DNA and its double-helix are one of the most familiar molecules of our time, our knowledge of how cells control what genes they want to express still is rather limited. In order to create, for example, an enzyme, the information that's inscribed in our DNA about this enzyme needs to be transcribed and translated. To start this highly complex process special regulatory proteins called transcription factors (TFs) bind to specific DNA regions. That way, they can turn the expression of a gene on and off.
Announcing a new publication for BIO Integration journal. In this article the authors Meng Zhang, Wu Zhang, Zihuang Wang and Weiqian Chen from Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA and Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China review viscoelastic flow mixing in microfluidics.
Company reporting frequency should be relaxed to allow for greater innovation and longer-term thinking, according to new research from the Business School (formerly Cass).
Astronomers have taken a step towards understanding how the Moon might have formed out of a giant collision between the early Earth and another massive object 4.5 billion years ago.
Scientists led by Durham University, UK, ran supercomputer simulations on the DiRAC High-Performance Computing facility to send a Mars-sized planet - called Theia - crashing into the early Earth.
Their simulations produced an orbiting body that could potentially evolve into a Moon-like object.
Everyday life for the more than 46 million people around the world who suffer from type 1 diabetes could become much easier and safer.
Researchers from the University of Copenhagen and biotech firm Gubra have developed a new insulin molecule that, in the future, will ensure that diabetics receive just the right amount of insulin.
The insulin on the market today is unable to identify whether a patient with type 1 diabetes needs a small or large effect from the insulin, which lowers blood sugar.
Researchers from the University of Helsinki have developed a novel bioinformatics pipeline called Lazypipe for identifying viruses in host-associated or environmental samples.
The pipeline was developed in close collaboration between virologists and bioinformaticians. The researchers believe they have succeeded to address many challenges typically encountered in viral metagenomics.
Psoriasis has always been a common disease. Historically, its causes were obscure and surrounded by stigma; it wasn't until recently that scientists categorized it as an autoimmune condition. Indeed, modern scientific research shows that the body's own T-cells, macrophages and dendritic cells are responsible for attacking healthy skin tissue, triggering inflammation and proliferation of skin cells, and resulting in the characteristic red, painful plaque-like lesions experienced by psoriasis patients.
A new study suggests that COVID-19 guidance in Sweden may have reduced people's risks of having a heart attack.
By using anonymous location data from mobile phones, researchers developed an aggregate picture of the activities of the Swedish population and mapped it against attendances at the country's 29 emergency cardiac angiography units.
Cardiac angiography is used to treat blockages to the heart's blood vessels.
TAMPA, Fla. (December 3, 2020)- A team of researchers at the University of South Florida Department of Surgery has made a key discovery as to why we become more susceptible to heart disease as we age. The human body, especially the heart, is dependent on the mitochondria, the part of the cell responsible for producing energy to maintain organ function. The protein, Sesn2, is located inside the mitochondria and plays a pivotal role in protecting the heart from stress.
Neuroscientists have provided clear visual evidence that a region of the human brain known as the ventral striatum kicks in during decision-making to weigh the costs versus the benefits of making a physical effort.
Nature Human Behavior published the research by scientists at Emory University. It gives the first detailed view of ventral striatum activity during three phases of effort-based decision-making -- the anticipation of initiating an effort, the actual execution of the effort and the reward, or outcome, of the effort.
A researcher at the University of Tartu described new associations between Neandertal DNA and autoimmune diseases, prostate cancer and type 2 diabetes.
The Gaia space telescope has measured the acceleration of the Solar System when it orbits the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The Solar System motion relative to the stars agrees with the results by Finnish astronomers in the 19th century.
Moreover, the observational data by Gaia improves satellite navigation. Finnish researchers are participating in this massive endeavor, that results in three-dimensional mapping of our galaxy, to be completed in 2024.
What makes the elderly and people with underlying conditions more vulnerable to COVID-19? According to a new study led by McGill University researchers, clues can be found in the proteins involved in initiating infection, as the virus binds to host cells of different animals. Greater cellular oxidation with aging and sickness may explain why seniors and people with chronic illness get infected more often and more severely.
DALLAS - Dec. 3, 2020 - A team led by UT Southwestern has derived a new "intermediate" embryonic stem cell type from multiple species that can contribute to chimeras and create precursors to sperm and eggs in a culture dish.
The findings, published online this week in Cell Stem Cell, could lead to a host of advances in basic biology, regenerative medicine, and reproductive technology.
Over a quarter of all proteins in a cell are found in the membrane, where they perform vital functions. To fulfil these roles, membrane proteins must be reliably transported from their site of production in the cell to their destination and correctly inserted into the target membrane. Researchers from the Heidelberg University Biochemistry Center (BZH) have succeeded in determining the three-dimensional structure of a molecular machine responsible for the correct placement of an important membrane protein family - the so-called "tail-anchored" membrane proteins, or TA proteins for short.