For sugar to taste sweet and for coffee to be stimulating, or even for light to be seen, first they all need to land on a G protein-coupled receptor. Ubiquitous and diverse, these receptors are a cell's chemical detection ...
Biochemistry
Oct 7, 2019
0
27
The Vertebrate Genomes Project (VGP) and collaborators are announcing the second data set of the largest number (101) of chromosomal-level genome assemblies of vertebrates towards completing Phase 1 of the VGP, which includes ...
Biotechnology
Aug 28, 2019
0
8
In the battle of the sexes, males appear to have the innovative edge—from a genetic standpoint, at least. Scientists are finding that the testes are more than mere factories for sperm; these organs also serve as hotspots ...
Evolution
Aug 16, 2019
28
135
The body's cells are constantly dividing—which, somewhat counterintuitively, means that they're constantly multiplying. Because when a cell divides it doesn't split into two useless halves, but rather into two fully functional ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 8, 2019
0
13
From a biological standpoint, the earliest stages of life are the most mysterious. A developing human embryo undergoes a flurry of rapid changes, and these changes are exceedingly difficult to study because they transpire ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 1, 2019
0
0
As animals explore their environment, they learn to master it. By discovering what sounds tend to precede predatorial attack, for example, or what smells predict dinner, they develop a kind of biological clairvoyance—a ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 26, 2019
0
1
Not all cells are destined for greatness. Deemed unfit to serve in the body, some are killed off during early development through a process called cell competition. This phenomenon has previously been documented in flies ...
Cell & Microbiology
May 15, 2019
0
36
In order to understand the brain, scientists must be able to see the brain—cell by cell, and moment by moment. However, because brains comprise billions of microscopic moving parts, faithfully recording their activity comes ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 12, 2019
0
249
Like many of the processes that drive a cell's basic functions, those enabling the splitting of a newly-replicated cell into two, shown above, happen quickly. So quickly, in fact, that scientists often have a hard time pinpointing ...
Biochemistry
Mar 25, 2019
0
9
She weighs less than one ten-thousandth of an ounce and her top speed is less than two miles per hour. Nonetheless, the female mosquito is one of the most dangerous animals on the planet. For as she flies from person to person, ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 7, 2019
0
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