Sleep-deprived fruit flies helped reveal what induces sleep. University of Oxford researchers Anissa Kempf, Gero Miesenböck, and colleagues reveal that fruit fly sleep is driven by oxidative stress, the imbalance of free ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Feb 18, 2020
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5
Even though they don't have conventional noses, insects have adapted to smell odors in nearly every imaginable niche. Mosquitoes find us by our odor molecules binding to odor receptors on their antennae, bees are drawn to ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 18, 2020
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6
A new technique can label diverse molecules and amplify the signal to help researchers spot those that are especially rare. Called SABER (signal amplification by exchange reaction), Peng Yin's lab at Harvard's Wyss Institute ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Feb 18, 2020
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4
Proteins made in our cells are folded into specific shapes so they can fulfill their functions. Scientists have discovered the static structures of over 100,000 proteins, but how they change in response to forces on the cell, ...
Biochemistry
Mar 1, 2019
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9
Proteins that normally reside inside cell nuclei have never been found in the blood, until now. A new blood test developed at the Johns Hopkins University by Shih-Chin Wang and Chih-Ping Mao—graduate students in Jie Xiao's ...
Biochemistry
Mar 1, 2019
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5
On early earth, a series of spontaneous events needed to happen in order for life as we know it to begin. One of those phenomena is the formation of compartments enclosed by lipid membranes. New research by Irep Gözen, Elif ...
Biochemistry
Mar 1, 2019
3
79
If it walks like a duck (or a goose or a swan), it can find food in mud without seeing or smelling it. These waterfowl bills are covered in skin that's a lot like the sensitive skin on the palms of our hands, and it can feel ...
Biochemistry
Mar 1, 2019
1
15
When bacteria enter the body, they have a great deal to overcome to colonize the colon. First, they must survive harsh environments with very few salts without bursting (unlike human blood cells within water). Then, they ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 20, 2018
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15
Our brains weave together inputs from sight, taste and smell to determine whether food is safe and enjoyable to eat. Though it is often overlooked, texture also has a powerful effect on how we perceive and enjoy food. Mathias ...
Ecology
Feb 20, 2018
1
15
A cell's membrane is its natural barrier between the inside of a cell and the outside world—composed of a double layer (bilayer) of lipids (such as fats, waxes, sterols, or fat-soluble vitamins). Intriguingly, it's been ...
Biochemistry
Feb 20, 2018
0
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