For much of human history, animals and plants were perceived to follow a different set of rules than the rest of the universe. In the 18th and 19th centuries, this culminated in a belief that living organisms were infused ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Jul 22, 2021
0
32
As a newborn mammal opens its eyes for the first time, it can already make visual sense of the world around it. But how does this happen before they have experienced sight?
Evolution
Jul 22, 2021
0
165
Manipulating RNA can allow plants to yield dramatically more crops, as well as increasing drought tolerance, announced a group of scientists from the University of Chicago, Peking University and Guizhou University.
Biotechnology
Jul 22, 2021
9
1609
Plants are DNA hoarders. Adhering to the maxim of never throwing anything out that might be useful later, they often duplicate their entire genome and hang on to the added genetic baggage. All those extra genes are then free ...
Evolution
Jul 19, 2021
0
19
Developing drugs to combat tuberculosis, or TB, can be frustrating business. A gene essential to the bacteria's lifecycle is discovered, scientists rush to develop drugs that inhibit the target, and then—disappointment. ...
Molecular & Computational biology
15 hours ago
0
7
Many disease-causing bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa crawl on surfaces through a walk-like motility known as "twitching." Nanometers-wide filaments called type IV pili are known to power twitching, but scientists ...
Molecular & Computational biology
15 hours ago
0
12
One protein. One mechanism of action. Two biologically opposite effects.
Biotechnology
15 hours ago
0
136
A new optogenetic tool, a protein that can be controlled by light, has been characterized by researchers at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB). They used an opsin—a protein that occurs in the brain and eyes—from zebrafish ...
Biotechnology
15 hours ago
0
7
Researchers from Osaka University have found that the attachment of a ubiquitin molecule to a protein called PCNA at the lysine 107 position causes gross chromosomal rearrangements. This lysine is located where two PCNA molecules ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 22, 2021
0
10
Advances in microscopy have enabled researchers to picture loops of DNA strands for the first time. The images reveal how the human genome organizes itself in three-dimensional space at much higher resolution than previously ...
Biotechnology
Jul 22, 2021
0
23
