SCIENCE

A team of researchers have discovered that terahertz (THz) wave irradiation activates the filamentation of actin protein. Drs. Shota Yamazaki and Masahiko Harata (Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University); Dr. Yuichi Ogawa (Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University); Dr. Hiromichi Hoshina (THz imaging and the sensing team at RIKEN); ... Read More »

The overall mortality in patients suffering non-neonatal tetanus is high. Efforts to reduce mortality in one sub-Saharan African intensive care unit (ICU) by implementing a standard tetanus protocol did little to change mortality rates, although they shifted causes of deaths, researchers have now reported in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. Tetanus ... Read More »

Insights into how harmful white blood cells form during tuberculosis infection point to novel targets for pharmacological interventions, according to a study published in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Valentina Guerrini and Maria Laura Gennaro of Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, and colleagues. Foam cells are a type of ... Read More »

A new diagnostic tool has been developed by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin that can easily, quickly and cheaply identify whether a mosquito belongs to the species that carries dangerous diseases such as Zika virus, dengue, chikungunya or yellow fever. It can also determine whether the bug ... Read More »

No one knows how many times in a day, or even an hour, the trillions of cells in our body need to make proteins. But we do know that it’s going on all the time, on a massive scale. We also know that every time this happens, an editing process ... Read More »

Neisseria gonorrhoea continues to show high levels of resistance to azithromycin across the European Union and European Economic Area, according to the 2016 results of the European Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme (Euro-GASP). This threatens the effectiveness of the currently recommended dual therapy regimen for gonorrhoea. Overall, the rates of resistance ... Read More »

Scientists have determined the DNA code of the opium poppy genome, uncovering key steps in how the plant evolved to produce the pharmaceutical compounds used to make vital medicines. The discovery may pave the way for scientists to improve yields and the disease resistance of the medicinal plant, securing a ... Read More »

A study of earthquakes induced by injecting fluids deep underground has revealed surprising patterns, suggesting that current recommendations for hydraulic fracturing, wastewater disposal, and geothermal wells may need to be revised. Researchers at UC Santa Cruz compiled and analyzed data from around the world for earthquakes clearly associated with injection ... Read More »

Chewing: We don’t think about it, we just do it. But biologists don’t know a lot about how chewing behavior leaves telltale signs on the underlying bones. To find out, researchers at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo have been studying the jaw ... Read More »

Scientists have now developed an assay that concurrently profiles both the epigenome and transcriptome of each of thousands of single cells. The epigenome and transcriptome are part of the molecular biology that converts a genetic blueprint into tools and materials for living cells. The genomes of different types of cells ... Read More »

Without dramatic reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions, most of the planet’s land-based ecosystems — from its forests and grasslands to the deserts and tundra — are at high risk of “major transformation” due to climate change, according to a new study from an international research team. The researchers used fossil records ... Read More »

Scientists for the first time have used CRISPR gene editing to halt the progression of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) in a large mammal, according to a study by UT Southwestern that provides a strong indication that a lifesaving treatment may be in the pipeline. The research published in Science documents ... Read More »

A new paper reviews current knowledge on climate change and biodiversity. In the past, plants and animals reacted to environmental changes by adapting, migrating or going extinct. These findings point to radical changes in biodiversity due to climate change in the future. The paper is published in the scientific journal ... Read More »

Scientists have already warned that climate change likely will impact the food we grow. From rising global temperatures to more frequent “extreme” weather events like droughts and floods, climate change is expected to negatively affect our ability to produce food for a growing human population. But new research is showing ... Read More »

What do ancient seafaring explorers and fruit flies have in common? Caltech researchers have discovered that, similar to nautical navigators of old, fruit flies use celestial cues like the sun to navigate in straight lines. The research is described in a paper appearing online on August 30 in the journal ... Read More »

As the saying goes, everything old is new again. While the common phrase often refers to fashion, design, or technology, scientists at the University of New Hampshire have found there is some truth to this mantra even when it comes to research. Revisiting some older data, the researchers discovered new ... Read More »

A new study led by the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) reveals that up to 20% of genes classified as coding (those that produce the proteins that are the building blocks of all living things) may not be coding after all because they have characteristics that are typical of ... Read More »

A newly developed rapid imaging protocol quickly and cheaply diagnosed heart ailments in patients in Peru, according to new research in Journal of the American Heart Association, the Open Access Journal of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. In Peru, cardiovascular disease affects 3.2 million (16 percent of the adult ... Read More »

Research from King’s College London has found that a single dose of the cannabis extract cannabidiol can help reduce brain function abnormalities seen in people with psychosis. Results from a new MRC-funded trial, published in JAMA Psychiatry, provide the first evidence of how cannabidiol acts in the brain to reduce ... Read More »

If governments don’t act decisively by 2035 to fight climate change, humanity could cross a point of no return after which limiting global warming below 2°C in 2100 will be unlikely, according to a new study by scientists in the UK and the Netherlands. The research also shows the deadline ... Read More »