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Study provides genomic insights into life history tradeoffs in butterflies

Have you ever wandered through your garden or a meadow on a summer day and wondered why and how butterflies exhibit such beautiful and diverse colors? Scientists have, especially when thinking about butterflies in the genus Colias. In most Colias butterflies, all males and most females are an orange or yellow color, but some females are white.

18 Dec 2019

New method identifies harmful bacteria in less time and at a very low cost

A new bacterial identification method, called ON-rep-seq, examines selective, strain-specific fragments of the bacterial genome, allowing the generation of results that earlier required DNA sequencing of the entire bacterial genome or tedious approaches like pulsed field gel electrophoresis, which previously has been the golden the standard for strain-level typing of microorganisms.

18 Dec 2019

A new function identified for glycine receptors during embryonic development

Glycine receptors are one of the most widely distributed inhibitory receptors in the central nervous system and have important roles in a variety of physiological processes.

18 Dec 2019

Brazilian researchers create hepatic organoids by 3D bioprinting

Using human blood cells, Brazilian researchers have succeeded in obtaining hepatic organoids ("mini-livers") that perform all of the liver's typical functions, such as producing vital proteins, storing vitamins, and secreting bile, among many others.

17 Dec 2019

Targeting specific nuclear transport systems may lead to possible therapeutic strategies for cancer

Although less often the focus of cancer research, recent studies have hinted at the possible importance of a type of protein known as nuclear transport receptors.

17 Dec 2019

Study shows how immune cells quickly switch to attack mode

Macrophages have two faces: In healthy tissue, they perform important tasks and support their environment. However during an infection, they stop this work and hunt down the pathogens instead.

17 Dec 2019

Researchers identify protein that is key for successful viral DNA uncoating

Viruses have been part of animals and humans for eons. When viruses invade a cell, they can infiltrate the nucleus with their genome and become part of the genome of the infected organism. Viruses transfer their genes between various organisms, as well as between tissues containing well differentiated cells inside a living creature. But how they uncoat their well-packed genes and release them to cause infection is largely unknown.

17 Dec 2019

Genetic mystery of infertility in fruit flies discovered

Researchers have discovered a novel parasitic gene in fruit flies that is responsible for destroying the eggs in the ovaries of their daughters.

17 Dec 2019

Extrachromosomal circular DNA can contribute to cancer development in children

Cancer development is associated with the gradual accumulation of DNA defects over time. Thus, cancer is considered an age-related disease.

17 Dec 2019

Penn researchers track defective sperm epigenome linked to male infertility

One out of eight couples has trouble conceiving, with nearly a quarter of those cases caused by unexplained male infertility. For the past decade, research has linked that infertility to defective sperm that fail to "evict" proteins called histones from DNA during development.

16 Dec 2019

Evolutionarily novel genes found to be expressed in tumors

A team of scientists from Peter the Great St.Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU) studied the evolutionary ages of human genes and identified a new class of them expressed in tumors -- tumor specifically expressed, evolutionarily novel (TSEEN) genes.

16 Dec 2019

Important discovery about male infertility could lead to new treatments

Using a new mouse model, Penn Medicine researchers have identified defects in the sperm epigenome that cause male infertility.

16 Dec 2019

Researchers identify rare genetic disorder

A team of South Australian researchers has cracked a rare gene variant for a disorder that sees a normal healthy child start to lose muscle tone and motor skills, ultimately losing the capacity to walk and use language.

16 Dec 2019

New gene technology shows 100-fold efficiency in targeting antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Taking advantage of powerful advances in CRISPR gene editing, scientists at the University of California San Diego have set their sights on one of society's most formidable threats to human health.

16 Dec 2019

New structure for HIV-1 viral shell proposed

The matrix shell of the HIV-1 virus may have a different shape than previously thought, and a newly proposed model has significant implications for understanding how the virus functions, according to a new study by University of Alberta scientists.

14 Dec 2019

Researchers identify novel genes associated with severity of peanut allergy

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have identified novel genes associated with the severity of peanut allergy, as well as ways in which these genes interact with other genes during allergic reactions.

14 Dec 2019

International project to preserve genetic resources of birds

The support is provided by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research and the Science and Innovation in East Asia Consortium. Kazan Federal University's partners are Mahidol University and Kumamoto University.

14 Dec 2019

Molecular subtyping of bladder tumors outperformed by standard pathology tests

While trying to develop a comparatively easy, inexpensive way to give physicians and their patients with bladder cancer a better idea of likely outcome and best treatment options, scientists found that sophisticated new subtyping techniques designed to do this provide no better information than long-standing pathology tests.

14 Dec 2019

Neuroscientists develop new method for uniquely targeted gene therapy

Neuroscientists at Lund University in Sweden have developed a new technology that engineers the shell of a virus to deliver gene therapy to the exact cell type in the body that needs to be treated. The researchers believe that the new technology can be likened to dramatically accelerating evolution from millions of years to weeks.

13 Dec 2019