Earth
Underneath their tough exteriors, some crocodilians have a sensitive side that scientists could use to shine light on our ancient climate, according to new findings published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
The idea of a clock inside a crocodile was imagined by JM Barrie in the story of Peter Pan, but instead of telling the current time, ancient crocodilians could serve as climate "clocks" - proxies to study past climates, in a similar way to the use of tree rings and ice cores.
CINCINNATI--Scientists used a gene editing method called CRISPR/Cas9 to generate mice that faithfully mimic a fatal respiratory disorder in newborn infants that turns their lips and skin blue. The new laboratory model allowed researchers to pinpoint the ailment's cause and develop a potential and desperately needed nanoparticle-based treatment.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Newly developed geological techniques help uncover the most accurate and high-resolution climate records to date, according to a new study. The research finds that the standard practice of using modern and fossil coral to measure sea-surface temperatures may not be as straightforward as originally thought. By combining high-resolution microscopic techniques and geochemical modeling, researchers are using the formational history of Porites coral skeletons to fine-tune the records used to make global climate predictions.
A groundbreaking drug that helps regulate bone development has boosted growth rates in children with achondroplasia - the most common type of dwarfism - in a global trial led by Melbourne's Murdoch Children's Research Institute.
Results of the Phase 2 trial in children aged five to 14 years are published today (Tuesday, June 18) in the New England Journal of Medicine. The project is now in Phase 3 to test the drug, vosoritide, in a larger group of patients aged 5 to 18 years.
Cohesin is a protein complex that is essential for chromosome segregation in dividing cells. Recent evidence suggests that it also plays an important role in 3D genome architecture, which folds like an origami and regulates essential cellular processes that include gene expression, DNA replication and DNA repair. Cohesin mutations have been identified in some types of cancer and in rare diseases referred to as cohesinopathies.
The roles of "climate change" versus "tectonics" that dominate erosion and sediment transport over geological time scales have long been a hot topic in Earth science. How to effectively separate their respective roles is a big challenge, like the famous "chicken or egg" question.
Coral bleaching events may occur more frequently in the Red Sea than previously thought, according to an algorithm developed by KAUST researchers. Their findings also indicate that the northern part of the Red Sea might not remain a thermal refuge for coral ecosystems for long.
Tumors and certain viral infections pose a challenge to the human body which the immune system typically fails to hand. In these diseases it switches to hypofunctional state that prevent adequate protection. A research team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has achieved a major success: They were able to identify the crucial molecular switch that triggers such dysfunctional immune responses. This could make it possible in the future to switch off or to prevent this state.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine, the Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Australia and seven other medical institutions report that an experimental drug called vosoritide, which interferes with certain proteins that block bone growth, allowed the average annual growth rate to increase in a study of 35 children and teenagers with achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism.
Researchers at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), with the participation of collaborators from the Baylor College of Medicine (Houston) and the University Institute of Oncology of Asturias (IUOPA), publish today in Cancer Research a study where they relate the high number of copies of a chromosomal region with the appearance of resistance to a chemotherapeutic drug. The research was led by Dr. Eva González-Suárez, head of the Transformation and Metastasis group at IDIBELL.
Depression is a disorder that often comes along with strong impairments of social functioning. Until recently, researchers assumed that acute episodes of depression also impair empathy, an essential skill for successful social interactions and understanding others. However, previous research had been mostly carried out in groups of patients who were on antidepressant medication.
Cancer research:
Nearly every time you open up a secure Google Chrome browser, a new MIT-developed cryptographic system is helping better protect your data.
In a paper presented at the recent IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, MIT researchers detail a system that, for the first time, automatically generates optimized cryptography code that's usually written by hand. Deployed in early 2018, the system is now being widely used by Google and other tech firms.
LSU College of the Coast & Environment Distinguished Professor Emeritus John Day has collaborated with archeologists on a new analysis of societal development. They report that over the past 10,000 years, humanity has experienced a number of foundational transitions, or "bottlenecks." During these periods of transition, the advance or decline of societies was related to energy availability in the form of a benign climate and other factors.
The first mission involving the autonomous submarine vehicle Autosub Long Range (better known as "Boaty McBoatface") has for the first time shed light on a key process linking increasing Antarctic winds to rising sea temperatures. Data collected from the expedition, published today in the scientific journal PNAS, will help climate scientists build more accurate predictions of the effects of climate change on rising sea levels.
The research, which took place in April 2017, studied the changing temperatures at the bottom of the Southern Ocean.