The brain cells that slow us down when we're sick

We tend to eat, drink, and move less when we're feeling under the weather. And we're not alone—most animals reduce those same three behaviors when they're fighting an infection.

Ant colonies behave like neural networks when making decisions

Temperatures are rising, and one colony of ants will soon have to make a collective decision. Each ant feels the rising heat beneath its feet but carries along as usual until, suddenly, the ants reverse course. The whole ...

How intestine replaces and repairs itself

To act as a robust barrier against pathogens while also absorbing needed nutrients, the lining of the intestines must regenerate on a daily basis to remain equal to the task. The intestine's resident stem cells are responsible ...

How intricate patterns arise in developing tissues

Early development is like a carefully choreographed dance, with uniform swaths of cells arranging themselves into elaborate patterns—a first step toward the formation of functional organs. A flat layer of skin cells, for ...

Linker histone's surprising partnership with single-stranded DNA

To keep order in the tight quarters of the cell nucleus, our DNA is neatly clamped in place around a central disk by H1 linker histone, which helps shepherd DNA into the tidy chromatin fibers that comprise chromosomes. Linker ...

How a narrow-spectrum antibiotic takes aim at C. difficile

Most antibiotics are double-edged swords. Besides killing the pathogen they are prescribed for, they also decimate beneficial bacteria and change the composition of the gut microbiome. As a result, patients become more prone ...

The human genome is, at long last, complete

When scientists declared the Human Genome Project complete two decades ago, their announcement was a tad premature. A milestone achievement had certainly been reached, with researchers around the world gaining access to the ...

How bacteria 'self-vaccinate' against viral invaders

Like most organisms, bacteria are preyed upon by viruses—and their go-to approach to destroying the invaders is to simply chop them up. As soon as it sees a virus, a bacterium may employ a host of immune strategies to slice ...

Scientists discover new mechanism involved in learning and memory

What happens inside neurons when we memorize a password or learn the cello? Some of our basic understanding about learning and memory comes from the study of conditions in which cognitive development is disrupted. For example, ...

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