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Categories: Biology: Cell Biology, Environmental: Water

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In a study of a species of African butterfly, researchers have discovered a previously undescribed molecular mechanism of how the sex of an embryo is initially specified.

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The global chemical industry is a major fossil fuel consumer and climate change contributor; however, new research has identified how the sector could clean up its green credentials by getting dirty.

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New research has looked into the potential effects of increased rainfall in regions being earmarked for expansion of temperate rainforests. Amid global calls for more trees to be planted as part of efforts to combat climate change, this study highlights the importance of factoring in soil conditions when looking at where and how to create the temperate rainforests of the future.

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Nature has consistently inspired engineering applications. Recently, a group of researchers drew new inspirations from the vascular network and developed a new type of fluidic system named VasFluidics.

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A recent study led to the development of a powerful epigenetic editing technology. The system unlocks the ability to precisely program chromatin modifications at any specific position in the genome, to understand their causal role in transcription regulation. This innovative approach will help to investigate the role of chromatin modifications in many biological processes, and to program desired gene activity responses, which may prove useful in disease settings.

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New research shows human activity is significantly altering the ways in which marine organisms are preserved, with lasting effects that can both improve and impair the fossil record.

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Local decision-makers looking for ways to reduce the impact of heat waves on their communities have a valuable new capability at their disposal: a new study on vegetation resilience. Scientists completed a study of how well vegetation survived extreme heat events in both urban and rural communities across the country in recent years. The analysis informs pathways for climate mitigation, including ways to reduce the effect of urban heat islands.

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Adjuvants make vaccines more effective, though one of the best is an expensive extract from the soap bark tree. To lower the cost and avoid the laborious extraction process from bark, synthetic biologists introduced 38 separate genes into yeast to recreate the synthesis of the active molecule, a complex chemical, QS-21, that has a terpene core and numerous sugars. This may be the longest biosynthetic pathway ever inserted into yeast.

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Freshwater bacteria with small genomes frequently undergo prolonged periods of adaptive stagnation. Based on genomic analyses of samples from European lakes, researchers uncovered specific evolutionary strategies that shape these bacteria's lifestyles. Understanding the evolutionary dynamics of aquatic microbial communities is key to safeguarding ecosystem services.

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When old food packaging, discarded children's toys and other mismanaged plastic waste break down into microplastics, they become even harder to clean up from oceans and waterways. These tiny bits of plastic also attract bacteria, including those that cause disease. Researchers describe swarms of microscale robots (microrobots) that captured bits of plastic and bacteria from water. Afterward, the bots were decontaminated and reused.

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Tracking individual enzymes during the breakdown of cellulose for biofuel production has revealed how several roadblocks slow this process when using plant material that might otherwise go to waste. The research may lead to new ways to improve the breakdown process and make the non-edible parts of plants and other plant waste, such as forestry residue, a more competitive source of biofuels.

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Fatty liver disease often leads to chronic liver inflammation and can even result in liver cancer. Scientists have now shown in mice that intermittent fasting on a 5:2 schedule can halt this development. The fasting regime reduces the development of liver cancer in mice with pre-existing liver inflammation. The researchers identified two proteins in liver cells that are jointly responsible for the protective effect of fasting. An approved drug can partially mimic this effect.

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A new computational model simulating fruit fly wing development has enabled researchers to identify previously hidden mechanisms behind organ generation. An research team developed a fruit fly model to reverse engineer the mechanisms that generate organ tissue.

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Researchers have found that herpesvirus infection modifies the structure and normal function of the mitochondria in the host cell. The new information will help to understand the interaction between herpesvirus and host cells. Knowledge can be utilized in the development of viral treatments.

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The earliest stages of mammalian embryo development are like an orchestra performance, where everyone must play at the exact right moment and in perfect harmony. New research identifies one of the conductors making sense of the chaos.

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Discharge from ships with so-called scrubbers cause great damage to the Baltic Sea. A new study shows that these emissions caused pollution corresponding to socio-economic costs of more than EUR 680 million between 2014 and 2022. At the same time, the researchers note that the shipping companies' investments in the much-discussed technology, where exhaust gases are 'washed' and discharged into the sea, have already been recouped for most of the ships. This means that the industry is now making billions of euros by running its ships on cheap heavy fuel oil instead of cleaner fuel.

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Plants' ability to sense light and temperature, and their ability to adapt to climate change, hinges on free-forming structures in their cells whose function was, until now, a mystery. Researchers have now determined how these structures work on a molecular level, as well as where and how they form.

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To preserve the important intertidal areas and salt marshes off our coasts for the future, we need more turbid water. That is one of the striking conclusions from a new study.

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By using experimental electrochemical analyses, mass spectrometry, and computational quantum chemistry modeling, the researchers created an 'atomic-scale storyline' to explain how ozone is generated on NATO electrocatalysts. They identified that some of the nickel in NATO is probably leaching out of the electrodes via corrosion, and these nickel atoms, now floating in the solution near the catalyst, can promote chemical reactions that eventually generate ozone.

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In research that may be a step forward toward finding personalized treatments for Tourette disorder, scientists have bred mice that exhibit some of the same behaviors and brain abnormalities seen in humans with the disorder.