Team investigates sex-determination mechanisms in birds

Scientists have known that sex-determination in vertebrates happens in the germ cells, a body's reproductive cells, and the somatic cells, the cells that are not reproductive cells. Yet they have not fully understood the ...

Bird neurons use three times less glucose than mammalian neurons

Birds have impressive cognitive abilities and show a high level of intelligence. Compared to mammals of about the same size, the brains of birds also contain many more neurons. Now a new study reported in Current Biology ...

Cross-species cell landscape constructed at single-cell level

Thanks to high-throughput single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), it is possible to construct single-cell transcriptomic atlases at the organic level. For example, cell atlases for vertebrate and invertebrate systems have ...

First mouse model with mitochondrial tRNALeu mutation developed

Studying the role of mitochondria—the specialized structures within cells responsible for energy production—in metabolic diseases has been difficult because of a lack of animal models with the necessary mitochondrial ...

Building human muscle genes in the DNA of baker's yeast

Biotechnologist Pascale Daran-Lapujade and her group at Delft University of Technology managed to build human muscle genes in the DNA of baker's yeast. This is the first time researchers have successfully placed such a vital ...

Secret language of cells? New cell computations uncovered

Throughout evolution, individual cells have been making successful decisions on their own, even while forming parts of vast networks, such as neurons and glia in the human brain. Now scientists from King Abdullah University ...

Metabolic protein explains how flies choose 'healthy' food

Many animals, including humans, have a preference for nutrient-balanced diets. Among all essential nutrients, multicellular organisms need to consume the building blocks of proteins, called amino acids, in order to build ...

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