Culture
Neanderthal DNA sequences may be more common in modern Africans than previously thought, and different non-African populations have levels of Neanderthal ancestry surprisingly similar to each other, finds a study publishing January 30 in the journal Cell. Researchers arrived at these findings by developing a new statistical method, called IBDmix, to identify Neanderthal sequences in the genomes of modern humans. The results also suggest that African genomes contain Neanderthal sequences in part due to back-migration of ancestors of present-day Europeans.
When the first Neanderthal genome was sequenced, using DNA collected from ancient bones, it was accompanied by the discovery that modern humans in Asia, Europe and America inherited approximately 2% of their DNA from Neanderthals -- proving humans and Neanderthals had interbred after humans left Africa. Since that study, new methods have continued to catalogue Neanderthal ancestry in non-African populations, seeking to better understand human history and the effects of Neanderthal DNA on human health and disease.
The first genetic analysis of schizophrenia in an ancestral African population, the South African Xhosa, will be published Jan. 31 in Science. An international group of scientists conducted the research.
The study of schizophrenia was carried out in the Xhosa population because Africa is the birthplace of all humans, yet ancestral African populations have rarely been the focus of genetics research. The Xhosa do not have an unusually high risk of schizophrenia.
Scientists from The University of Texas at Austin report in the journal Science that they have developed a new strategy to protect honey bees from a deadly trend known as colony collapse: genetically engineered strains of bacteria.
Daily drinking and smoking may be associated with modest increases in relative brain age compared to those who drink and smoke less, according to a study published in Scientific Reports.
Research has shown that certain lifestyle habits, such as heavy smoking and alcohol consumption, are associated with adverse effects in specific brain regions. However, it is unclear how smoking and alcohol consumption may be associated with brain age, especially when the whole brain is considered.
A century after it was first theorized, researchers have detected the effects of Lense-Thirring precession - an effect of relativistic frame-dragging - in the motion of a distant binary star system, a new study reports. The results of the twenty-year study confirm a prediction of Einstein's general theory of relativity. When a massive object rotates, general relativity predicts that it pulls the surrounding spacetime around with it, a phenomenon known as frame-dragging. This phenomenon causes precession of the orbital motion of gravitationally bound objects.
Cerebral edema, swelling that occurs in the brain, is a severe and potentially fatal complication of stroke. New research, which was conducted in mice and appears in the journal Science, shows for the first time that the glymphatic system - normally associated with the beneficial task of waste removal - goes awry during a stroke and floods the brain, triggering edema and drowning brain cells.
(Boston)--Using a combination of pluripotent stem cells (cells that can potentially produce any cell or tissue type) and machine learning (artificial intelligence that allows computers to learn automatically), researchers have improved how they generate lung cells.
Using this technique, cells can be grown in a laboratory and stored for more than one year without losing their lung identity and used to model lung diseases thereby finding better treatments and cures for lung diseases in the future.
The first genetic analysis of schizophrenia in an ancestral African population, the South African Xhosa, appears in the Jan. 31 issue of the journal Science. An international group of scientists conducted the research, including investigators from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and New York State Psychiatric Institute, as well as the University of Cape Town and the University of Washington.
An international team of astrophysicists led by Australian Professor Matthew Bailes, from the ARC Centre of Excellence of Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav), has shown exciting new evidence for 'frame-dragging'--how the spinning of a celestial body twists space and time--after tracking the orbit of an exotic stellar pair for almost two decades. The data, which is further evidence for Einstein's theory of General Relativity, is published today (31 January 2020) in the prestigious journal, Science.
Trees are known for their great, but not unlimited, trunk height and diameter. They have evolved to develop a heavy above-ground biomass, but this integral feature poses a challenge to the trunk's stability.
Despite its evident importance, the principle by which plant stems respond to their increasing weight remains unknown. To address this question, a theory of "vertical proprioception", a mechanism that balances the radial growth of the stem with the weight increase, has been developed.
From wind turbines and electric motors to sensors and magnetic switching systems: permanent magnets are used in many different electrical applications. The production of these magnets usually involves sintering or injection moulding. But due to the increasing miniaturisation of electronics and the more exacting requirements, this places on magnetic components in terms of geometry, these conventional manufacturing methods are frequently coming up short.
Strigolactones (SLs) are a class of chemical compounds found in plants that have received attention due to their roles as plant hormones and rhizosphere signaling molecules. They play an importantrole in regulating plant architecture, as well as promoting germination of root parasitic weeds (*1) that have great detrimental effects on plant growth and production.
Engineers have developed a new scanning technique inspired by the natural world that can detect corroding metals in oil and gas pipelines.
By mimicking how bats use differing wavelengths of ultrasound to detect objects, hunt, and avoid predators, engineers have developed a new system that combines two separate types of radiation, fast neutrons and gamma rays, to detect corrosion - a major cause of pipeline leaks.
The tool has produced encouraging results in a clinical study and its impact on management and outcomes of women with ovarian cancer will now be evaluated in a major trial at 18 hospitals in the UK, including Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
The tool is able to distinguish between malignant and benign ovarian cysts with 90 per cent accuracy, in cases that cannot be distinguished on ultrasound. It was developed by researchers led by Professor Isabelle Thomassin-Naggara at the APHP-Sorbonne Université, with Professor Andrea Rockall at Imperial College London.