Culture
Prehistoric humans left Africa for the first time about 2 million years ago. The research community has been aware of this for some time. Now, novel research reveals that hyenas apparently did the same thing.
'Our new study shows that prehistoric humans and hyenas left Africa at approximately the same time. And like humans, spotted hyenas have had extensive and complex migration between continents. We can observe repeated gene flow events between Africa and Eurasia', says Michael Westbury, corresponding author and postdoc at GLOBE Institute at the University of Copenhagen.
Among the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease are the Alzheimer fibrils: deposits of the protein tau, which accumulate in nerve cells in the form of fibres and disrupt communication between nerve cells. But how does this fibre formation take place? Why do such harmful deposits develop from the originally useful protein tau, which normally stabilizes cells? This question was addressed by a team of researchers from the University of Konstanz and Utrecht University (Netherlands), led by Konstanz chemist Professor Malte Drescher.
Research published today in Science Advances sheds new light on the molecular machinery that enables the shape, growth and movement of neurons. It is the first time scientists have revealed how the brain shuttles genetic code within its cells, a process believed to be crucial for the formation and storage of long-term memories.
Adaptive immunity is a powerful defense mechanism in vertebrates. A finely tuned interplay of different cell types provides a pathogen-specific immune response to eliminate for example bacteria and viruses. Max Planck researchers now identify the mechanistic basis of antigen receptor gene assembly that more than 500 million years ago independently evolved in one of the two sister branches of vertebrates.
URBANA, Ill. - Edamame may be a niche crop in the United States, but growers and processors still need the best possible information to make sound management decisions. That's why USDA Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) and University of Illinois researchers are making new plant density recommendations for machine-harvested edamame, at less than half the rate suggested by seed companies.
Erythropoietin, or Epo for short, is a notorious doping agent. It promotes the formation of red blood cells, leading thereby to enhanced physical performance - at least, that is what we have believed until now. However, as a growth factor, it also protects and regenerates nerve cells in the brain. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine in Göttingen have now revealed how Epo achieves this effect. They have discovered that cognitive challenges trigger a slight oxygen deficit (termed 'functional hypoxia' by the researchers) in the brain's nerve cells.
ITHACA, NY, March 13, 2020 -- Some 500 million years ago - when our continents were likely connected in a single land mass and most life existed underwater - hornworts were one of the first groups of plants to colonize land. But biologists have never understood much about the genetics of these ancient plants, which have very unique biology.
Infectious disease researchers at The University of Texas at Austin studying the novel coronavirus were able to identify how quickly the virus can spread, a factor that may help public health officials in their efforts at containment. They found that time between cases in a chain of transmission is less than a week and that more than 10% of patients are infected by somebody who has the virus but does not yet have symptoms.
Current guidance on coronavirus "largely ignores" the implications for public health and clinical responses in light of those most at risk, according to an international group of global health experts.
Oncotarget Volume 11, Issue 10 reported that the statistically associated Cp G sites were analyzed in blood samples from two separate atherothrombotic stroke cohorts, ischemic stroke-cohort 1: 37 atherothrombotic patients and 6 controls, ischemic stroke-cohort 2: 80 atherothrombotic patients and 184 controls.
Oncotarget Volume 11, Issue 10 reported that dysregulation of noncoding micro RNA molecules has been associated with immune cell activation in the context of Helicobacter pylori-induced gastric inflammation as well as carcinogenesis, but also with downregulation of mismatch repair genes, and may interfere with immune checkpoint proteins that lead to the overexpression of antigens on gastric tumor cells.
A sperm enters an egg, an embryo develops and eventually a baby is born. But back up a second -- how does the mother's half-genome actually merge with the father's half-genome to form one new human genome? Turns out researchers don't really know that much about these relatively brief, yet crucial, incipient moments in fertilization.
Editor's Note: This release has been removed upon request of the submitting institution. For more information please contact Jenny Lavey, Jenny.lavey@mso.umt.edu.
Journal
Conservation Biology
DOI
Oncotarget Volume 11, Issue 10 reported that there are not standardized predictive biomarkers able to identify patients who benefit most from treatments.
It is already hard to believe that there is ice on Mercury, where daytime temperatures reach 400 degrees Celsius, or 750 degrees Fahrenheit. Now an upcoming study says that the Vulcan heat on the planet closest to the sun likely helps make some of that ice.