Catching malaria evolution in the act
Understanding how malaria parasites evolve after a human is bitten by an infected mosquito is very difficult. There can be billions of individual parasites in a patient's bloodstream and traditional genetic sequencing techniques can't identify the ra.....»»
Genetic basis for the evolution of hair discovered in the clawed frog
The development of hair was of central importance for the evolution of mammals and, thus, also of humans. However, the evolutionary origin of the genetic program of hair was previously unknown. An international research team led by Leopold Eckhart fr.....»»
Innovative chemical strategy targets mosquito larvae gut to combat spread of deadly diseases
Mosquito-borne illnesses remain a formidable challenge threatening millions of people each year with diseases such as malaria, dengue, zika and chikungunya......»»
Sequencing the blue whale and Etruscan shrew genomes
The blue whale genome was published in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution, and the Etruscan shrew genome was published in the journal Scientific Data......»»
Chiral transmission by an open evolution trajectory in a non-Hermitian system
In non-Hermitian systems, two or more eigenvalues and eigenstates of a resonant system coalesce at Exceptional points (EPs). Dynamic encircling of EPs has received significant interest in recent years, as it leads to highly nontrivial phenomena, such.....»»
Can genetic parasites alter interactions between microbes and hosts?
Researchers from the Max Planck Institutes (MPI) for Evolutionary Biology in Plön and for Biology in Tübingen have made significant progress in understanding the evolution of interactions between plants and microbes. The study focuses on Pseudomona.....»»
Newly discovered fossil of giant turtle is named after Stephen King novel character
An international research team led by Dr. Gabriel S. Ferreira from the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment at the University of Tübingen has described a new species of giant turtle from the late Pleistocene......»»
Gene flow in giraffes and what it means for their conservation
Giraffes are a beautiful and powerful example of what adaptive evolution can achieve. However, in recent years, they have attained notoriety for a completely different reason: it has been suggested that instead of one giraffe species, there might be.....»»
Webb and Hubble telescopes affirm the universe"s expansion rate, but the puzzle persists
The rate at which the universe is expanding, known as the Hubble constant, is one of the fundamental parameters for understanding the evolution and ultimate fate of the cosmos......»»
Transitioning to memory-safe languages: Challenges and considerations
In this Help Net Security interview, Omkhar Arasaratnam, General Manager at the Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF), discusses the evolution of memory-safe programming languages and their emergence in response to the limitations of languages li.....»»
New study discovers how altered protein folding drives multicellular evolution
Researchers have discovered a mechanism steering the evolution of multicellular life. They identify how altered protein folding drives multicellular evolution......»»
Horizontal gene transfer: How fungi improve their ability to infect insects
Researchers at the Kiel Evolution Center have investigated for the first time in detail how a fungus important for biological plant protection can pass on an advantageous chromosome horizontally, using a previously little-studied way of exchanging ge.....»»
New study reveals the evolutionary nature of animal friendships
Biologists from Stockholm University and University of Neuchâtel present groundbreaking research shedding new light on the evolution of social bonds and cooperation among group-living animals. The study was published in the journal PNAS......»»
New study finds the malaria parasite generates genetic diversity using an evolutionary "copy-paste" tactic
By dissecting the genetic diversity of the most deadly human malaria parasite—Plasmodium falciparum—researchers at EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) have identified a mechanism of 'copy-paste' genetics that increases the genetic.....»»
Scientists use James Webb Space Telescope to uncover clues about Neptune"s evolution
A ring of icy rocks orbiting our sun just beyond Neptune may give us a glimpse of how Neptune—and other objects in the outskirts of our solar system—were formed......»»
Sweet Security raises $33 million to identify and address cloud risks
Six months after coming out of stealth, Sweet Security is announcing a $33 million Series A funding round. The round was led by Evolution Equity Partners, joined by Munich Re Ventures and Glilot Capital Partners. Capitalizing on its strong market tra.....»»
How to create an efficient governance control program
Your success as an organization, especially in the cyber realm, depends on your security posture. To account for the ongoing evolution of digital threats, you need to implement robust governance control programs that address the current control envir.....»»
How did evolution produce a firefly?
A new study looks at the development of a firefly's light-emitting organs. Enlarge (credit: Xinhua Fu) On one level, we have fireflies figured out. We know the enzyme they use to make light (called luciferase), as well a.....»»
Shortcut to success: Toward fast and robust quantum control through accelerating adiabatic passage
In work published in Physical Review Letters researchers at Osaka University's Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research (SANKEN) used "the shortcuts to the adiabaticity (STA)" method to greatly speed-up the adiabatic evolution of spin qubits......»»
Modeling the origins of life: New evidence for an "RNA World"
Charles Darwin described evolution as "descent with modification." Genetic information in the form of DNA sequences is copied and passed down from one generation to the next. But this process must also be somewhat flexible, allowing slight variations.....»»
Denis Villeneuve breaks down the evolution of sandworms in "Dune: Part Two"
The sandworms we meet in "Dune: Part Two" serve a different role from those in "Dune." Director Denis Villeneuve tells us why. The sandworms we see in Dune: Part Two couldn't be farther from those we see in the first Dune. Yes, they share the s.....»»