Ancient viruses may hold key to effective gene therapy treatments
Scientists have unlocked key insights into virus evolution, revealing new information that could help develop treatments for a wide variety of genetic diseases......»»
Geologists discover mysterious subduction zone beneath Pacific, reshaping understanding of Earth"s interior
University of Maryland scientists uncovered evidence of an ancient seafloor that sank deep into Earth during the age of dinosaurs, challenging existing theories about Earth's interior structure. Located in the East Pacific Rise (a tectonic plate boun.....»»
Study: Cats in little crocheted hats shed light on feline chronic pain
The custom-made caps hold electrodes in place and reduce motion artifacts during EEGs. Enlarge / “When you spend more time putting electrodes back on than you do actually recording the EEGs, you get creative." (credit: Alienor.....»»
Teacher strikes are effective in increasing wages, working conditions, study finds
A detailed study of more than 770 teacher strikes in the United States between 2007 and 2023 found that the strikes benefit teachers and classrooms, and have no measurable impact on students......»»
Developing an effective cyberwarfare response plan
In this Help Net Security interview, Nadir Izrael, CTO at Armis, discusses how AI has transformed cyberwarfare by amplifying attacks’ scale and sophistication. Izrael emphasizes the need for AI-powered defenses and proactive cybersecurity strat.....»»
How a protein keeps gene clusters quiet in the cell nucleolus
In a discovery that sheds light on the complex mechanisms of gene regulation, scientists at EPFL have uncovered a critical role for the protein ZNF274 in keeping certain gene clusters turned off by anchoring them to the cell nucleolus. The study is p.....»»
How iron and metabolic constraints can aid gene discovery for photosynthesis and biofuel production
The single-cell green alga Chromochloris zofingiensis is an emerging model organism for photosynthesis and metabolism research. Previous research has shown that with the addition of glucose, Chromochloris zofingiensis shuts off photosynthesis, rerout.....»»
How old is beer?
Humans are no strangers to kicking back with a cool pint of beer. The Ancient Egyptians, for example, had a hankering for beer that was a little bit tart, almost like a modern-day gose, a lemony beer from Germany. Homer, the Ancient Greek poet, spoke.....»»
AI trained on evolution"s playbook develops proteins that spur drug and scientific discovery
A new artificial intelligence model developed by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin paves the way for more effective and less toxic treatments and new preventive strategies in medicine. The AI model informs the design of protein-based t.....»»
Frozen in time: Rock fossils hint at Mars"s ancient climate
Long ago, flowing wind and water shaped Mars's malleable sand and sediment into dunes, ripples and other landscape patterns, called bedforms. Over billions of years, some of these landforms hardened into rock—scientists then call them paleo-bedform.....»»
Study shows that ancient reef-building stromatoporoids dodged extinction—at least temporarily
Will modern coral reefs go extinct? The answer is uncertain, but some of their ancient counterparts managed to dodge a bullet—for a while, at least......»»
Medicinal tree successfully grown from 1,000-year-old seed found in cave
An international team of botanists, agriculturists and historians has successfully grown a mature tree from an ancient seed found in a cave in Israel. In their paper, published in the journal Communications Biology, the group describes where the seed.....»»
Afar mantle plume study offers new insight into deep Earth processes
Sophisticated analysis of tiny bubbles of ancient gas trapped in volcanic rocks, combined with new geophysical modeling, has cast new light on long-held assumptions about the deep Earth......»»
Naked mole-rat found to have lost infection-resistant proteins
Scientists have found that the naked mole-rat—an underground rodent that lives up to 40 years—has lost a number of CD1 functional genes. The CD1 gene family in mammals is responsible for protein synthesis that protects the body against infectious.....»»
Ancient DNA helps uncover the Iberian lynx"s potential secret weapon against extinction
Many large mammals have lost genetic diversity, often thanks to the actions of people shrinking their populations. The implications can be severe because without genetic diversity, a population does not have a "genetic database" to fall back on to ad.....»»
Study finds good nutrition boosts honey bee resilience against pesticides, viruses
In a new study, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign tackled a thorny problem: How do nutritional stress, viral infections and exposure to pesticides together influence honey bee survival? By looking at all three stressors toget.....»»
1,000-year-old textiles reveal cultural resilience in the ancient Andes
Archaeologists have analyzed textiles from the ancient city of Huacas de Moche, Peru, showing how the population's cultural traditions survived in the face of external influence......»»
Family-owned businesses hold non-family CEOs more accountable than family CEOs for firm performance
Family-owned businesses account for 59% of the U.S. private workforce, with 35% of Fortune 500 companies being family-owned. Although family-owned firms employ more than half of the U.S. workforce, little is known about their operations due to the se.....»»
How diversity in heat tolerance can help protect coral reefs
New research out of Southern Cross University has found previously undocumented variation in coral heat tolerance on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, giving hope that corals' own genetic resources may hold the key for us to help in its recovery and ad.....»»
Compact "gene scissors" enable effective genome editing, may offer future treatment of high cholesterol gene defect
CRISPR-Cas is used broadly in research and medicine to edit, insert, delete or regulate genes in organisms. TnpB is an ancestor of this well-known "gene scissors" but is much smaller and thus easier to transport into cells......»»
Saturday Citations: Football metaphors in physics; vets treat adorable baby rhino"s broken leg
This week, researchers reported an effective way to protect working dogs from heat stress: training them to dunk their heads in cool water. A new computational technique provided a breakthrough in understanding the so-called "pseudogap" in quantum ph.....»»