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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

New study provides insights into developmental organization of the brain

What makes us human, and where does this mysterious property of "humanness" come from? Humans are genetically similar to chimpanzees and bonobos, yet there exist obvious behavioral and cognitive differences.

13 Feb 2019

New process efficiently reprograms stem cells in one step using measles virus vector

Induced pluripotent stem cells, the workhorse of many regenerative medicine projects, start out as differentiated cells that are reprogrammed to pluripotent stem cells by exposure to a complex set of genetic cocktails.

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

New method analyzes how single biological cells react to stressful situations

Human beings are not the only ones who suffer from stress - even microorganisms can be affected. Now, researchers from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have devised a new method to study how single biological cells react to stressful situations.

13 Feb 2019

Researchers uncover new mechanism of how Ebola viruses escape immune system

A research team from Tübingen and Göttingen has described in the renowned journal Cell Reports a new mechanism how the Ebola virus escapes the immune system.

12 Feb 2019

Marine snail venom reveals clues to developing faster-acting insulin for diabetic patients

Although moderately mobile, marine cone snails have perfected several strategies to capture prey. Some fish-hunting species release venom into the surrounding water.

12 Feb 2019

Lactate activates multiple genes that modulate neuronal activity

A genome-wide study led by Dean Pierre Magistretti sheds light on the mechanisms through which lactate regulates long-term memory formation and neuroprotection.

12 Feb 2019

Frequency of heteroresistance has been greatly underestimated, study finds

When antibiotics are used to treat bacteria susceptible to them, the treatment usually works. Nevertheless, the antibiotic chosen is sometimes ineffective. One of the reasons for this is heteroresistance, a phenomenon explored in depth by Uppsala and Emory University researchers in a new study.

12 Feb 2019

New bioengineered device enhances the production of T-cells

Bone marrow transplants, also known as hematopoietic stem cell transplants, are life-saving treatments for aggressive diseases, such as leukemia and multiple myeloma, and infections such as HIV. The procedure entails infusion of blood stem cells from a matched donor into the patient to 'reset' the blood and immune system.

12 Feb 2019

NIH scientists zero in on genes associated with AMD

National Eye Institute scientists led a collaborative study and zeroed in on genes associated with age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of vision loss and blindness among people age 65 and older.

12 Feb 2019

Researchers map extremely complex chromosome aberrations using DNA puzzle pieces

Using puzzle pieces from four different DNA analyses, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have been able to map three extremely complex chromosome aberrations.

12 Feb 2019

Scientists develop machine-learning approach to identify source of Salmonella

A team of scientists led by researchers at the University of Georgia Center for Food Safety in Griffin has developed a machine-learning approach that could lead to quicker identification of the animal source of certain Salmonella outbreaks.

12 Feb 2019

Super-resolution microscopy could help better study single cells

For a better understanding of biological processes, researchers need to be able to ‘see’ the smallest components of individual cells, such as DNA, mRNA and proteins.

12 Feb 2019

New model sheds light on how small cell lung cancer is initiated

Scientists from Weill Cornell Medicine have developed a stem-cell-based model of small cell lung cancer that will help them understand how the disease is initiated and how it progresses.

11 Feb 2019

Research sheds light on how motor enzyme can promote genome integrity

Approximately one per cent of each organism's genome encodes helicases. Helicases are mostly known as motor enzymes that can unwrap double-stranded DNA by use of energy.

11 Feb 2019

Scientists uncover main mechanisms of fluconazole drug resistance

The yeast Candida albicans occurs in most healthy people as a harmless colonizer in the digestive tract. However, it can also cause life-threatening infections, especially in immunocompromised patients.

11 Feb 2019

How blood cells help wounds heal scar-free revealed in new study

New insights on circumventing a key obstacle on the road to anti-scarring treatment have been published by Maksim Plikus, an associate professor in development and cell biology at the UCI School of Biological Sciences and colleagues in Nature Communications.

11 Feb 2019

Researchers identify genes that make Staphyloccocus bacteria resistant to treatment

A Rutgers-led team has discovered two genes that make some strains of harmful Staphyloccocus bacteria resistant to treatment by copper, a potent and frequently used antibacterial agent.

11 Feb 2019

When genomic sequencing fails to diagnose a rare disease

Routine sequencing has given unprecedented insight into the genetics of rare diseases, but genomics fails to diagnose up to half of patients who are tested. That's the problem German scientists tackled in a recent study in the journal Molecular & Cellular Proteomics.

11 Feb 2019