It has long been known that there is a complex interplay between genetic factors and environmental influences in shaping behavior. Recently it has been found that genes governing behavior in the brain operate within flexible ...
Other
Feb 27, 2024
1
145
Exercise. Social connections. Sunscreen. It seems there is no shortage of advice on how to stay young, but among scientists, the exact physiology behind aging remains unknown. Tufts Now asked biology professor Mitch McVey ...
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 16, 2023
0
11
As the days get shorter and chillier in the northern hemisphere, those who choose to work out in the mornings might find it harder to get up and running. A study in PNAS identifies a protein that, when missing, makes exercising ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 18, 2023
0
95
Salt marshes are home to tiny crustaceans called amphipods that keep a low profile: Their gray-brown coloring helps them blend in with their surroundings, and they spend most of their time hiding under vegetation. But when ...
Ecology
Aug 23, 2023
0
248
RIKEN geneticists have uncovered a protein in fruit flies that many textbooks say doesn't exist. The protein detects stress in cells and sets them on a pathway to self-destruction when they are overly stressed.
Cell & Microbiology
May 8, 2023
0
1064
National Institutes of Health researchers have developed and released an innovative software tool to assemble truly complete (i.e., gapless) genome sequences from a variety of species. This software, called Verkko, which ...
Biotechnology
Feb 16, 2023
0
20
Model animals, such as mice and fruit flies, have provided scientists with powerful insights into how cellular biology works. However, model animals are really just a guide, and it can be risky to generalize findings across ...
Ecology
Sep 23, 2022
0
234
A fruit fly genome is not a just made up of fruit fly DNA—at least for one fruit fly species. New research from the University of Maryland School of Medicine's (UMSOM) Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS) shows that one ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 2, 2022
0
150
The human genome is littered with "selfish genetic elements," which do not seem to benefit their hosts, but instead seek only to propagate themselves.
Evolution
Jul 6, 2022
0
94
Occurring in the genomes of most living organisms, transposable elements (TEs) are short DNA sequences that have the ability change their position. By means of various molecular mechanisms—so-called copy-paste or cut-and-paste—they ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 21, 2022
0
14
