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How a broken DNA repair tool accelerates aging

Although DNA is tightly packed and protected within the cell nucleus, it is constantly threatened by damage from normal metabolic processes or external stressors such as radiation or chemical substances. To counteract this, ...

One of Earth's most abundant organisms is surprisingly fragile

A group of ocean bacteria long considered perfectly adapted to life in nutrient-poor waters may be more vulnerable to environmental change than scientists realized. The bacteria, known as SAR11, dominate surface seawater ...

Bacterial 'brains' operate on the brink of order and disorder

The sensory proteins that control the motion of bacteria constantly fluctuate. AMOLF researchers, together with international collaborators from ETH Zurich and University of Utah, found out that these proteins can jointly ...

Crosstalk inside cells helps pathogens evade drugs, study finds

Biologists have uncovered a new mode of communication inside cells that helps bacterial pathogens learn how to evade drugs. Their findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, describe how these mechanisms drive ...

A peek inside the clockwork that drives embryonic body patterning

The architecture of the body is not encoded as a formal blueprint; rather, it's the tightly orchestrated activation and deactivation of genes that coordinate body development. Many of these processes are not fully understood, ...

A specific immune system protein may drive antibiotic tolerance

If you have had strep throat or an ear infection, there's a good chance you received amoxicillin or penicillin to effectively kill the troublesome bacteria. These drugs, which belong to a broad group of antibiotics called ...

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Cell & Microbiology
How gut bacteria share antibiotic resistance genes and fuel dangerous hospital infections
Cell & Microbiology
Parasite behind toxoplasmosis hides multiple distinct subtypes inside each cyst
Cell & Microbiology
Mapping cell development with mathematics-informed machine learning
Cell & Microbiology
How gut bacteria control immune responses
Cell & Microbiology
Mighty microscopic fibers are the key to cell division and life itself
Cell & Microbiology
A protein 'tape recorder' enables scientists to measure and decode cellular processes at scale and over time
Cell & Microbiology
Hibernating hamsters maintain muscle cells by suppressing muscle regeneration, study shows
Cell & Microbiology
Epigenetic switch found to halt fat cell formation in adipose tissue
Ecology
In polar regions, microbes are influencing climate change as frozen ecosystems thaw
Ecology
Nanoplastics in water help bacteria form stronger, disinfectant-resistant biofilms
Cell & Microbiology
The shape of things to come: How spheroid geometry guides multicellular orbiting and invasion
Cell & Microbiology
Cryo-EM structures reveal conformational dynamics behind AP-4 membrane trafficking
Cell & Microbiology
Stealth and manipulation: Strategies of bacterial plasmids investigated
Cell & Microbiology
New sensor surface distinguishes aggressive cancer cells by physical behavior
Cell & Microbiology
3′UTR-derived small RNA couples acid resistance to metabolic reprogramming in Salmonella within macrophages
Cell & Microbiology
Bacteria use wrapping flagella to tunnel through microscopic passages, research reveals
Cell & Microbiology
Discovery reveals how acetylation controls key enzyme linked to cancer growth
Cell & Microbiology
Biologists and engineers follow goopy clues to plant-wilting bacteria
Cell & Microbiology
Glassy dynamics model predicts lipid exchange rates across cell membranes
Cell & Microbiology
Discovery of PITTs shows platelets can switch from clotting to driving vessel inflammation

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Space Exploration
NASA begins a practice countdown for its first moonshot with astronauts in more than 50 years
Analytical Chemistry
Multi-agent AI and robots automate materials discovery in closed-loop lab system
Astronomy
New 3D map of the sun's magnetic interior could improve predictions of disruptive solar flares
Other
Signs of Sir Terry Pratchett's dementia may have been hidden in his books
Paleontology & Fossils
Fossil hunters uncover 132-million-year-old dinosaur footprints on South Africa's coast
General Physics
Optical atomic clocks poised to redefine how the world measures seconds
Plants & Animals
New species of ladybird beetle discovered on university campus in Japan
Biotechnology
A world-first mouse that makes gene activity visible
Other
Saturday Citations: Understanding procrastination; delicious baby sauropods; a study on musical 'pleasure chills'
Molecular & Computational biology
'Negative viscosity' helps propel groups of migrating cells, study finds
Plants & Animals
Snakes on trains: King cobras are 'hopping railways' to unsuitable habitats in India
Earth Sciences
Tropical peatlands are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, research reveals
Environment
Land-intensive carbon removal requires better siting to protect biodiversity, study warns
Astronomy
Why are Tatooine planets rare? General relativity explains why binary star systems rarely host planets
Astronomy
Puzzling slow radio pulses are coming from space. A new study could finally explain them
General Physics
Lab study suggests longer waves fracture floating ice sheets at lower stress
Evolution
Spider spinneret evolution: How a genome duplication event 438 million years ago set the stage
Optics & Photonics
Record-breaking photons at telecom wavelengths—on demand
Optics & Photonics
Quantum mechanical effects help overcome a fundamental limitation of optical microscopy
Nanophysics
Liquid-repellent particle coating enables near-frictionless motion of pico- to nanoliter droplets

The mechanical ratchet: A new mechanism of cell division

Cell division is an essential process for all life on Earth, yet the exact mechanisms by which cells divide during early embryonic development have remained elusive—particularly for egg-laying species.