Model Organisms News and Research

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Salk researchers report new methods to identify AD drug candidates with anti-aging properties

Old age is the greatest risk factor for many diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and cancer. Geroprotectors are a recently identified class of anti-aging compounds.

14 Nov 2018

Research shines new, explanatory light on link between obesity and cancer

Scientists have made a major discovery that shines a new, explanatory light on the link between obesity and cancer. Their research confirms why the body's immune surveillance systems - led by cancer-fighting Natural Killer cells - stutter and fail in the presence of excess fat.

12 Nov 2018

Human neurons employ highly compartmentalized signaling, study shows

Human neurons are much larger than those of model organisms mice and rats, so it's been unclear whether it's size that makes a difference in our brain's computational power.

19 Oct 2018

Analyzing mouse’s potential as animal model of decision-making

Mice can be used to study the neural circuits underlying complex decision-making, suggests an analysis of more than 500,000 mouse decisions reported in JNeurosci.

From Society for Neuroscience 17 Oct 2018

New project aims to create complete cellular blueprint of zebrafish development

A new imaging project at the Morgridge Institute for Research might be the biology equivalent of a 19th century expressionist painting. Think Van Gogh's "Starry Night," a constellation of tiny lines of color combining into a powerful image.

3 Oct 2018

Scientists report conserved role for serotonin in mediating social behavior in octopus, humans

The mood-altering drug MDMA - which promotes positive, friendly social interactions in humans by inhibiting serotonin uptake in nerve cells - has a similar behavioral effect in an octopus species, scientists report today.

21 Sep 2018

New discovery may lead to targeted treatment for copper metabolism disorders

Individuals with defects in copper metabolism may soon have more targeted treatment options thanks to a discovery by a research team led by Dr. Vishal Gohil of Texas A&M AgriLife Research in College Station.

31 Jul 2018

Mutations of IRF2BPL gene associated with previously undiagnosed neurological disorder

An international team of scientists, including researchers from Baylor College of Medicine, has discovered mutations of gene IRF2BPL that are associated with a previously undiagnosed neurological disorder in seven unrelated individuals.

27 Jul 2018

New study may advance clinical management of infertile couples

A research team have identified the mechanism by which the fertilized egg balances out chromosomes inherited from the mother and the father.

25 Jul 2018

Genes associated with autism interact to modulate variable symptoms of disease

Genes located in a large chromosomal aberration associated with autism interact with each other to modulate the variable symptoms of the disease, according to new research.

29 Jun 2018

Morgridge researchers develop portable, shareable light sheet microscope

Modern microscopy has given scientists a front-row seat to living, breathing biology in all its technicolor glory. But access to the best technologies can be spotty.

22 Jun 2018

Study: Cellular housekeeping can help mammals live longer and healthier

Building on two decades of research, investigators at UT Southwestern have determined that "cellular housekeeping" can extend the lifespan and healthspan of mammals.

31 May 2018

Small part of cellular protein that helps form long-term memories also drives neurodegeneration

Scientists have just discovered that a small region of a cellular protein that helps long-term memories form also drives the neurodegeneration seen in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). This small part of the Ataxin-2 protein thus works for good and for bad.

23 May 2018

CRISPR-Cas9-based strategy allows researchers to precisely alter hundreds of different genes

Geneticists have been using model organisms ranging from the house mouse to the single-cell bakers' yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, to study basic biological processes that regulate human development and physiology, and that can be compromised in various diseases.

22 May 2018

Advances in Cell Lineage Analysis

Dr. Jan Phillip Junker discusses the applications of CRISPR-Cas9 in cell lineage analysis and the development of tomo-seq; a method to study the spatial organization of cells within whole organisms.

9 May 2018

Researchers use human and worm data to explore mutational causes of cancer

Researchers at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), the University of Dundee and the Wellcome Sanger Institute have used human and worm data to explore the mutational causes of cancer.

2 May 2018

Male fruit flies like sex and alcohol

Researchers at Bar-Ilan University in Israel have found that male fruit flies (Drosophilia melanogaster) enjoy ejaculation and sex and are also keen on alcohol consumption. The results of this novel study that shows that sexual gratification is preserved across species was published in the latest issue of the journal Current Biology this week.

19 Apr 2018