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Molecular & Computational biology news
Scientists elucidate molecular mechanisms behind dinoflagellate cyst dormancy
Dinoflagellates play crucial roles in aquatic ecosystems, particularly as major contributors to harmful algal blooms. They can enter a dormant stage, known as the resting cyst stage, that allows them to survive for extended ...
Ecology
Feb 7, 2025
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Tracking algae species interactions to help predict harmful algae blooms
Harmful algal blooms, sometimes called HABs, occur when algae grow out of control. Algae are photosynthetic organisms that mostly live in water and rely on the sunlight for energy. Because of climate change, the frequency ...
Ecology
Feb 7, 2025
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Nerve cells optimize energy by controlling mRNA and protein distribution, study finds
Nerve cells have amazing strategies to save energy and still perform the most important of their tasks. Researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn as well as the University Medical Center ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 7, 2025
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Computational tool maps cell differentiation with precision and efficiency
Understanding how cells transform into specialized types during human development is a central challenge in biology. This complex process, known as cell differentiation, holds the key to understanding developmental biology ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 7, 2025
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Bacterial species study challenges assumption that structural similarity predicts protein behavior
A new study published in Biochemistry sheds light on how bacteria regulate their genes, challenging long-held assumptions about protein behavior. The research compares how two bacterial species—Escherichia coli and Mycobacterium ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 7, 2025
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Scientists produce first complete genome of a banana slug
Scientists at UC Santa Cruz have completed the first end-to-end genome of the iconic Pacific banana slug, a species synonymous with California's coastal redwood forests and the university's beloved mascot.
Plants & Animals
Feb 7, 2025
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Genetic study sheds light on changes that shaped human brain evolution
A new Yale study provides a fuller picture of the genetic changes that shaped the evolution of the human brain, and how the process differed from the evolution of chimpanzees.
Evolution
Feb 7, 2025
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206
New AI model deciphers the code in proteins that tells them where to go
Proteins are the workhorses that keep our cells running, and there are many thousands of types of proteins in our cells, each performing a specialized function. Researchers have long known that the structure of a protein ...
Biotechnology
Feb 7, 2025
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The spliceosome: An atomic-level look into how cells avoid errors when manufacturing mRNA
A complex molecular machine, the spliceosome, ensures that the genetic information from the genome, after being transcribed into mRNA precursors, is correctly assembled into mature mRNA. Splicing is a basic requirement for ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 7, 2025
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A planarian's guide to growing a new head
Cut off any part of this worm's body and it will regrow. This is the spectacular yet mysterious regenerative ability of freshwater flatworms known as planarians. The lab of Whitehead Institute Member Peter Reddien investigates ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 7, 2025
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Minecraft players can now explore whole cells and their contents
Scientists have translated nanoscale experimental and computational data into precise 3D representations of bacteria, yeast and human epithelial, breast and breast cancer cells in Minecraft, a video game that allows players ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 7, 2025
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Volcanic hot springs-dwelling algae reveal photosynthetic insights
Italy's Phlegraean Fields is a hotspot of volcanic activity—an ever-shifting landscape pocketed with acidic hot springs. This huge caldera is a part of the Campanian volcanic arc, which includes Mount Vesuvius, whose eruption ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 6, 2025
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Curcumin and light show promise in warding off superbugs and antibiotic resistance
In 2017, a tragic incident unfolded in a Nevada hospital. A woman, admitted for pneumonia, tragically succumbed to multiple organ failure and sepsis. The culprit? A strain of bacteria that had developed resistance to a staggering ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Feb 6, 2025
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Essential gene map of malaria parasite Plasmodium knowlesi aids in treatment design
A new, comprehensive map of all the genes essential for blood infections in Plasmodium knowlesi (P. knowlesi), a parasite that causes malaria in humans, has been generated by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Feb 6, 2025
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Mantis shrimp clubs filter sound to mitigate damage
Known for their powerful punch, mantis shrimp can smash a shell with the force of a .22 caliber bullet. Yet, amazingly, these tough critters remain intact despite the intense shockwaves created by their own strikes.
Plants & Animals
Feb 6, 2025
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Repressed but ready to go: How bivalency holds developmental genes in a poised state for expression
As well as being essential in the precise packaging of DNA into the space of the nucleus, histone proteins are also the site of modifications, chemical additions referred to as epigenetic marks, that control whether a gene ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 6, 2025
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The short and long of protein tails: How they aid membrane insertion and may impact genetic disorders
The fatty membrane surrounding every living cell is a vibrant environment where countless biological processes take place. This membrane protects the cell from its surroundings and divides it into internal compartments; it ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 6, 2025
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Researchers uncover molecular mechanisms of cold tolerance in desert moss
A study led by Prof. Zhang Daoyuan from the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography (XIEG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has revealed crucial molecular insights into the cold tolerance of Syntrichia caninervis, a ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 6, 2025
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Scientists recode the genome for programmable synthetic proteins
Synthetic biologists from Yale were able to re-write the genetic code of an organism—a novel genomically recoded organism (GRO) with one stop codon—using a cellular platform that they developed enabling the production ...
Biotechnology
Feb 6, 2025
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Large differences in water-seeking ability found in US corn varieties
A corn plant knows how to find water in soil with the very tips of its roots, but some varieties, including many used for breeding high-yielding corn in the U.S., appear to have lost a portion of that ability, according to ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Feb 6, 2025
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More news
Advanced imaging captures bacterial gene expression in diverse environments
Study reveals how RNA travels between cells to control genes across generations
Why antibiotics can fail even against non-resistant bacteria
Sugars from field peas speed up sour beer brewing, researchers discover
Biophysics research illuminates the beginnings of animal development
Molecular simulations provide new insights into the dynamics of supercoiled DNA
New study reveals how Sudan virus binds to human cells
High-yield rice breed emits up to 70% less methane
How dengue virus infections hijack human plasmin
Other news
Soft tissue of a plesiosaur reveals it had scales similar to those of sea turtles
Optimized nickel particles improve catalyst performance for hydrogenation reactions
NZ's gene technology reform carries benefits and risks—a truly independent regulator will be vital
Healthy gut bacteria that feed on sugar analyzed for the first time
Life as a cascade of machines making machines: Living matter framework extends from atomic scale to entire biosphere
Ribosomes team up in difficult situations, new imaging method reveals
Future antibiotics face early bacterial resistance challenges, studies show
Balancing the pressure: How plant cells protect their vacuoles
