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.
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.
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 3, 2022
0
9
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 ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 20, 2022
1
1655
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 ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 18, 2022
0
103
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 ...
Cell & Microbiology
May 31, 2022
0
65
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 ...
Molecular & Computational biology
May 27, 2022
0
40
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 ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 6, 2022
0
97
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 ...
Biotechnology
Mar 31, 2022
0
802
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 ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Mar 25, 2022
0
506
Of the roughly 250,000 known marine species, scientists think all ~126 marine mammals emit sounds—the 'thwop', 'muah', and 'boop's of a humpback whale, for example, or the 'boing' of a minke whale. Audible too are at least ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 17, 2022
0
80
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, ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 9, 2022
0
303