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Categories: Biology: Biochemistry, Space: Structures and Features

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The DNA double helix is composed of two DNA molecules whose sequences are complementary to each other. The stability of the duplex can be fine-tuned in the lab by controlling the amount and location of imperfect complementary sequences. Fluorescent markers bound to one of the matching DNA strands make the duplex visible, and fluorescence intensity increases with increasing duplex stability. Now, researchers have succeeded in creating fluorescent duplexes that can generate any of 16 million colors -- a work that surpasses the previous 256 colors limitation. This very large palette can be used to 'paint' with DNA and to accurately reproduce any digital image on a miniature 2D surface with 24-bit color depth.

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A team has studied the mountainous star coral, Orbicella faveolata, to determine whether coral populations that have survived higher temperatures can pass their heat tolerance on to their offspring.  To the scientists' surprise, the results showed the opposite: The offspring from a population that is less heat-tolerant performed better when exposed to high temperatures than their counterparts from a heat-tolerant population. The findings counter the commonly held notion among scientists that if coral parents can handle the heat, so should their offspring. 

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Now is the time to identify the conditions that cause plants to die. Doing so will allow us to better protect plants by choosing conservation targets more strategically, botanists argue.

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Using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), researchers captured unprecedented images of key immune system receptors interacting with messenger proteins, elucidating how the receptors change shape upon activation and transmit signals within the cell. The findings suggest new pathways for developing therapeutic molecules for diseases such as COVID-19, rheumatoid arthritis, neurodegenerative diseases and cancer.

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Scientists measured microplastic concentrations in the highly productive Barents Sea and suggest that ocean circulation, ice melt, tourism, inadequate waste management, shipping and fishing are all likely contributors.

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Infections with cytomegalovirus (CMV) are extremely common and often pose no major threat to the vast majority of people. They can however be deadly for people whose immune system is weakened, e.g., after bone marrow transplantation. Current treatments against CMV infections are very limited and can have severe side effects. Researchers now propose a new way to protect against CMV. Instead of targeting the virus, their approach boosts the weak immune system and lets it fight the virus on its own.

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Researchers say they have found 'definitive' archaeological evidence that seaweeds and other local freshwater plants were eaten in the mesolithic, through the Neolithic transition to farming and into the Early Middle Ages, suggesting that these resources, now rarely eaten in Europe, only became marginal much more recently.

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The legendary Alexander Fleming, who famously discovered penicillin, once said 'never to neglect an extraordinary appearance or happening.' And the path of science often leads to just that. New research is turning the page in our understanding of harmful bacteria and how they turn on certain genes, causing disease in our bodies.

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Nanozymes are synthetic materials that mimic the properties of natural enzymes for applications in biomedicine and chemical engineering. They are generally considered too toxic and expensive for use in agriculture and food science. Now, researchers have developed a nanozyme that is organic, non-toxic, environmentally friendly, and cost effective.

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In the world of threatened and endangered species conservation, the genomic revolution has raised some complicated questions: How can scientists justify assessing species genetic diversity without consulting entire genomes now that they can be sequenced? But then again, how can scientists justify the time and expense of genome sequencing when age-old measures of neutral genetic diversity are much cheaper and easier to obtain? A new study suggests making a transition from 'old school' genetics to 'new school' genomics for species conservation purposes probably isn't necessary in all cases.

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Researchers have discovered how the fungus Candida albicans enters the brain, activates two separate mechanisms in brain cells that promote its clearance, and, important for the understanding of Alzheimer's disease development, generates amyloid beta (Ab)-like peptides, toxic protein fragments from the amyloid precursor protein that are considered to be at the center of the development of Alzheimer's disease.

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A new article describes 'a missing law of nature,' recognizing for the first time an important norm within the natural world's workings.   In essence, the new law states that complex natural systems evolve to states of greater patterning, diversity, and complexity. In other words, evolution is not limited to life on Earth, it also occurs in other massively complex systems, from planets and stars to atoms, minerals, and more.

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A new study has reconstructed the well-preserved but damaged skull of a great ape species that lived about 12 million years ago. The species, Pierolapithecus catalaunicus, may be crucial to understanding great ape and human evolution.

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People overeat and become overweight for a variety of reasons. The fact that flavorful high-calorie food is often available nearly everywhere at any time doesn't help. Researchers have determined for the first time why certain chemicals in cooked or processed foods, called advanced glycation end products, or AGEs, increase hunger and test our willpower or ability to make healthy choices when it comes to food.

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A bacterium found in the sea can degrade a plastic that otherwise resists microbial breakdown in marine environments.

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When Hurricane Ian struck southwest Florida in September 2022, it unleashed a variety of Vibrio bacteria that can cause illness and death in humans, according to a new study.

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The heat shock response of cells is a classic model of biological adaptation, part of the fundamental processes of life -- conserved in creatures from single-celled yeast to humans -- that allow our cells to adjust to changing conditions in their environment. For years, scientists have focused on how different genes respond to heat stress to understand this survival technique. Now, thanks to the innovative use of advanced imaging techniques, researchers are getting an unprecedented look at the inner machinery of cells to see how they respond to heat stress. 

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One of the building blocks of ocean life can adapt to cope with the effects of climate change, according to new research. The discovery holds promises for biotechnology developments that could counter the negative effects of changing environmental conditions, such as ocean warming and even the reduction in the productivity of crops. 

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Fecal microbe transplants from healthy donors can treat patients with recurrent Clostridium difficile infections. However, after tens of thousands transplants, little was known about which donor strains provide long-term engraftment, and which engraft early after the transplant. Most failures of fecal microbe transplantation occur in the first four weeks. Researchers have now found 19 Bacteroides vulgatus genes that were unique to three strains that show early engraftment in patients after a fecal transplant, as opposed to seven strains that did not show early engraftment.

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Researchers have extracted and analyzed DNA from fruit flies housed in museum collections in Lund, Stockholm and Copenhagen. Surprisingly, the researchers found the fruit flies collected in Sweden in the early 1800s were more genetically similar to 21st century flies than the Swedish samples from the 1930s.