Culture
The formation of four-stranded DNA has been tracked in living human cells, allowing scientists to see how it works, and its possible role in cancer.
DNA usually forms the classic double helix shape discovered in 1953 - two strands wound around each other. Several other structures have been formed in test tubes, but this does not necessarily mean they form within living cells.
Unraveling a key motif: The T lymphocytes of the immune system work to destroy infected cells or cancer cells. To do so, they have to identify the threat: Molecules perceived as foreign - so-called antigens - bind to the T-cell receptor on the T cell surface. Now research groups led by Dr. Susana Minguet und Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schamel from the University of Freiburg's signaling research Clusters of Excellence BIOSS and CIBSS have succeeded in demonstrating how this identification mechanism activates T cells to switch to attack mode.
In a new laboratory study, experts from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) investigated how many microplastic particles would be absorbed in the muscle tissue of young European sea bass after being given feed with extremely high microplastic particle content for a period of four months. At least with regard to this particular food fish, their findings are good news: only an extremely small percentage of the plastic particles ingested found their way into the fish fillets; the majority were excreted.
Researchers at Tel Aviv University, led by Prof. Yaniv Assaf of the School of Neurobiology, Biochemistry and Biophysics and the Sagol School of Neuroscience and Prof. Yossi Yovel of the School of Zoology, the Sagol School of Neuroscience, and the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, conducted a first-of-its-kind study designed to investigate brain connectivity in 130 mammalian species. The intriguing results, contradicting widespread conjectures, revealed that brain connectivity levels are equal in all mammals, including humans.
A phase 1/2 trial involving 1,077 healthy adults found that the vaccine induced strong antibody and T cell immune responses up to day 56 of the ongoing trial. These responses may be even greater after a second dose, according to a sub-group study of 10 participants
Compared to the control group (given a meningitis vaccine), the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine caused minor side effects more frequently, but some of these could be reduced by taking paracetamol. There were no serious adverse events from the vaccine
Researchers at EPFL are able to get paralyzed rodents walking again by stimulating the animals' damaged spinal cords. This promising treatment has already helped paraplegics regain mobility during clinical trials at Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV). Now, using artificial intelligence, the researchers can pinpoint which neurons are involved in the gait reacquisition process.
If you've ever wondered why we get goosebumps, you're in good company -- so did Charles Darwin, who mused about them in his writings on evolution. Goosebumps might protect animals with thick fur from the cold, but we humans don't seem to benefit from the reaction much -- so why has it been preserved during evolution all this time?
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- Which sleep stage is most important for learning: REM or non-REM? Does sleep improve learning by enhancing skills while people snooze, or by cementing those skills in the brain so that they're less likely to forget them? Do these processes occur every time someone sleeps, or only after they have learned something new?
The answer to these questions, according to a new study on visual learning, is "all of the above."
Boston, Mass. - In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the disease was characterized by many as a flu-like respiratory infection mainly affecting the lungs. Now, physicians recognize that the coronavirus can impact organs throughout the body. In a collaboration among physicians at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, researcher-clinicians have conducted an extensive review of the latest findings on COVID-19's effect on organ systems outside the lungs.
A new method for estimating the biological sex of human remains based on reading protein sequences rather than DNA has been used to study an archaeological site in Northern California. The protein-based technique gave superior results to DNA analysis in studying 55 sets of human remains between 300 and 2,300 years old. The work is published July 17 in Scientific Reports.
Cellular signal transmission is not only optimized for precision - it also includes a cost cap. The relationship between information and energy, a concept well established in physics and engineering, is likely to fundamentally shape cellular signalling networks. One of the questions addressed by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, headed by biophysicist Victor Sourjik, is: What enables reliable transmission of signals in the "noisy" cellular environment?
BOSTON (July 20, 2020, 8:00 a.m. EDT)--The nation needs to strengthen and increase funding for federal nutrition research and improve cross-governmental coordination in order to accelerate discoveries, grow the economy, and - most importantly - improve public health, food/nutrition security, and population resilience, according to a high-level group of research, policy, and government experts.
DALLAS, July 20, 2020 -- People who regularly exercise tend to have a lower risk of high blood pressure, even if they live in areas where air pollution is relatively high, according to new research published today in the American Heart Association's flagship journal Circulation.
The risk-benefit relationship between air pollution and physical activity is an important public concern because more than 91% of people worldwide live in areas where air quality does not meet World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.
Engineers have taken their inspiration from shells and grapefruits to create what they say is the first manufactured non-cuttable material.
This new material, which could be used in the security and health and safety industries, can turn back the force of a cutting tool upon itself.
The lightweight material - named Proteus after the shape-changing mythical god - is made of ceramic spheres encased in a cellular aluminium structure that in tests could not be cut by angle grinders, drills or high-pressure water jets.
Could we create massive sulfuric acid clouds that limit global warming and help meet the 2015 Paris international climate goals, while reducing unintended impacts?