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Categories: Biology: Biotechnology, Ecology: Sea Life

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A plant geneticist and computational biologist teamed up to decipher the unpredictability of natural and engineered mutations in tomatoes. They discovered some combinations of mutations behave as expected while others are more erratic. Their work may help scientists find some order in the chaos of evolution and genome editing.

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Scientists have discovered the deepest known evidence of coral reef bleaching, more than 90 metres below the surface of the Indian Ocean. Identified during a research cruise, the damage to the deeper reefs in the Central Indian Ocean has been attributed to significant changes in the region's ocean temperature caused by the Indian Ocean Dipole. The researchers have also warned such incidences are only likely to increase as a result of present and future climate change.

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New research reveals a chain of environmental disasters. These took place in what is today's South Africa, during an ancient time period called the Early-Middle Devonian. The crises led to the extinction of a unique group of marine animals called the Malvinoxhosan biota.

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Proteins are important molecules that perform a variety of functions essential to life. To function properly, many proteins must fold into specific structures. However, the way proteins fold into specific structures is still largely unknown. Researchers have developed a novel physical theory that can accurately predict how proteins fold. Their model can predict things previous models cannot. Improved knowledge of protein folding could offer huge benefits to medical research, as well as to various industrial processes.

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Yeast cells are widely used to study G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), a large group of cell surface proteins in humans. However, several of these proteins lose their function when introduced into yeast cells. To tackle this issue, researchers developed an innovative strategy to restore GPCR function in yeast cells by inducing random mutations. Their findings can help understand GPCRs better and could pave the way to therapeutic breakthroughs for many diseases.

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A research team has discovered that parasites manipulate their hosts using stolen genes that they likely acquired through a phenomenon called horizontal gene transfer.

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Scientists  have developed a genome-scale metabolic model or 'subway map' of key metabolic activities of the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. Using this map, they have successfully identified two compounds that selectively target routes only used by Lyme disease to infect a host.

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New soft, implantable fibers can deliver light to major nerves through the body. They are an experimental tool for scientists to explore the causes and potential treatments for peripheral nerve disorders in animal models.

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Many people have experienced a muddy off-flavor in farmed fish. While the aquaculture industry has known about the problem for 20 years, it continues to impact the consumption of otherwise healthy and potentially sustainable fish. Now, researchers have been able to pinpoint exactly when the off-flavors emerge. And this can make it easier to deal with the compounds that turn people away from farmed fish.

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Researchers have harnessed the power of baker's yeast to create a cost-effective and highly efficient approach for unraveling how plants synthesize medicinal compounds, and used the new method to identify key enzymes in a kratom tree.

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Biodegradable plastics may not be the solution to plastic pollution many hoped for, with a new study showing they are still harmful to fish.

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A new study reveals how reduced water flows and rising atmospheric temperatures are set to heat our rivers -- creating major challenges for aquatic life, ecosystems, and society.

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A microscopic discovery will not only enable scientists to understand the microbial world around us but could also provide a new way to control CRISPR-Cas biotechnologies.

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The crown-of-thorns starfish is nature's ultimate coral predator that has a circle of life perfectly adapted to warming waters.

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The symbiotic communities of invertebrates in dead coral gravel on the shallow, warm-temperate coast of the Kii Peninsula in western Japan. New bivalve species and sideswimmer have been found to live communally with the greenish Bonellia spoonworm. Live-in symbionts share the burrows of other organisms in sand and mud on the seabed. However, studies on burrow niches in rigid substrates, such as rocks on the seabed, have been scarce.

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A research group has developed a new method for studying how cancer cells function in softer and stiffer tissue environments. This insight challenges the existing paradigm, opening up new possibilities for research in cancer biology and tissue engineering.

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Whaling in the 20th century destroyed 99% of the Eastern North Pacific fin whale breeding population. Because there is enough genetic diversity, current conservation measures should help the population rebound without becoming inbred. The future of fin whales in the Gulf of California depends on the recovery of the Eastern North Pacific population.

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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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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.