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Mountain chickadee research shows link between natural selection and spatial memory

Chickadees with better learning and memory skills, needed to find numerous food caches, are more likely to survive their first winter, a long-term study of mountain chickadees has found.

13 Feb 2019

Microbiologists identify enzyme that makes Helicobacter so adaptable

The bacterial pathogen Helicobacter pylori owes its worldwide distribution to its genetic adaptability. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Munich microbiologists have identified an enzyme that plays a vital role in the flexible control of global gene expression in the species.

13 Feb 2019

Insufficient sleep mirrored by DNA from blood leukocytes

An insufficient amount of sleep and qualitatively poor sleep are common among the general population. Prior studies have indicated that prolonged insufficient sleep and poor sleep quality are associated with a heightened risk of cardiovascular diseases, dementia and psychiatric disorders, particularly depression, yet the molecular mechanisms underlying this connection are not well known.

7 Feb 2019

EZH2 mutations can be used as marker for diagnosing different types of cancers

Inside the cell, DNA is tightly wrapped around proteins and packed in a complex, 3D structure that we call "chromatin".

29 Jan 2019

K-State JJC receives $521,805 to help develop support systems for youth and families

The K-State Juvenile Justice Collaborative, or K-State JJC, has been awarded $521,805 by the Kansas Department of Corrections and the Kansas Advisory Group to work with local communities in developing support systems for youth and families.

28 Jan 2019

Enemy number 1 - Air pollution and climate change top of WHO agenda

The World Health Organization (WHO has come up with a list of 10 major threats that are to affect the global population in 2019. Some of these include problems arising from air pollution and climate change which is slated to be the top threat.

21 Jan 2019

Researchers describe new behavior in energy metabolism that refutes existing evidence

Researchers from the Catalonian Institute of Bioengineering and the Seville Chemical Research Institute have described a new method for the transmission of electrons between proteins that refutes the evidence from experiments until now.

17 Jan 2019

Location of epigenetic changes co-locate with genetic signal causing psychartric disorder

It's no surprise to scientists that variety is the very essence of biology, not just the seasoning, but most previous studies of key brain cells have found little variability in a common cell process that involves how genetic information is read and acted on.

17 Jan 2019

Steady-state CD spectroscopy is a major structural tool in (bio)chemical analysis

In nature, certain molecules with the same chemical composition, can exist in two different shapes that are mirrors images of each other, much like our hands.

11 Jan 2019

Study examines neural mechanisms underlying smoking and drinking

Academics at the University of Warwick have found that low functional connectivity of the lateral orbitofrontal cortex that is associated with the tendency to smoke is associated with increased impulsiveness - which may contribute to the tendency to smoke.

8 Jan 2019

Researcher takes further steps in understanding how and why cute aggression occurs

Have you ever looked at a puppy and had the urge to squeeze or even bite it? Or felt compelled to pinch a baby's cheeks, albeit without a desire to harm it? If you answered yes to either question, you've experienced a phenomenon called cute aggression -- and you're far from alone.

5 Dec 2018

Less parental warmth and harshness can lead to callous-unemotional traits in children

Less parental warmth and more harshness in the home environment can affect how aggressive children become and whether they lack empathy and a moral compass-a set of characteristics known as callous-unemotional traits.

4 Dec 2018

Gene-brain association occurs differently in toddlers with autism and poor language development

An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of Cyprus and University of California San Diego School of Medicine, have identified a previously unknown, large-scale association between molecular gene expression activity in blood leukocyte cells and altered neural responses to speech in toddlers with autism as measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

27 Nov 2018

International study of ADHD at genomic scale

An international study, focused on the analysis of the genome of more than 50,000 people worldwide, has identified twelve specific fragments of DNA related to the vulnerability of the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

26 Nov 2018

Using light to control crucial step in embryonic development

In optogenetics, researchers use light to control protein activity. This technique allows them to alter the shape of embryonic tissue and to inhibit the development of abnormalities.

16 Nov 2018

Speed and error rate of DNA synthesis influenced by DNA structure

The speed and error rate of DNA synthesis is influenced by the three-dimensional structure of the DNA. Using "third-generation" genome-wide DNA sequencing data, a team of researchers from Penn State and the Czech Academy of Sciences showed that sequences with the potential to form unusual DNA conformations, which are frequently associated with cancer and neurological diseases, can in fact slow down or speed up the DNA synthesis process and cause more or fewer sequencing errors.

14 Nov 2018

Advanced AI and big data methods to tackle dementia

Sports concussions, Parkinson's disease, and hormone therapy for cancer - all can have memory loss as symptoms. But do the biochemical processes of each type of memory loss have anything to reveal about the memory loss that is part of Alzheimer's disease?

13 Nov 2018

First bifacial molecule can invade double-stranded DNA or RNA

Carnegie Mellon University researchers have developed a synthetic molecule that can recognize and bind to double-stranded DNA or RNA under normal physiological conditions. The molecule could provide a new platform for developing methods for the diagnosis and treatment of genetic conditions.

13 Nov 2018

Common bacteria that cause foodborne diseases found to be resistant to antibiotics

Brazil's Ministry of Health received reports of 11,524 outbreaks of foodborne diseases between 2000 and 2015, with 219,909 individuals falling sick and 167 dying from the diseases in question.

9 Nov 2018

Scientists discover new details about UHRF1 protein

Epigenetic changes often play an important role in cancer, because they cause the genetic material to be read incorrectly at certain locations. Genes that are especially critical are those that control the growth and death of cells.

7 Nov 2018