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Categories: Biology: Cell Biology, Geoscience: Geochemistry

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Respiratory infections can be severe, even deadly, in some individuals, but not in others. Scientists have gained new understanding of why this is the case by uncovering an early molecular driver that underpins fatal disease. Oleoyl-ACP-hydrolase (OLAH) is an enzyme involved in fatty acid metabolism. A study shows that OLAH drives severe disease outcomes.

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Anyone who's tried to neatly gather a fitted sheet can tell you: folding is hard. Get it wrong with your laundry and the result can be a crumpled, wrinkled mess of fabric, but when folding fails among the approximately 7,000 proteins with an origami-like complexity that regulate essential cellular functions, the result can lead to one of a multitude of serious diseases ranging from emphysema and cystic fibrosis to Alzheimer's disease. Fortunately, our bodies have a quality-control system that identifies misfolded proteins and marks them either for additional folding work or destruction, but how, exactly, this quality-control process functions is not entirely known. Researchers have now made a major leap forward in our understanding of how this quality-control system works by discovering the 'hot spot' where all the action takes place.

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Anti-rejection regimens currently in use are broad immunosuppressive agents that make patients susceptible to infections. By using specific antibodies, it may be possible to just block the inflammation that leads to rejection but leave anti-microbial immunity intact.

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Methane-oxidizing bacteria could play a greater role than previously thought in preventing the release of climate-damaging methane from lakes, researchers from Bremen report. They also show who is behind the process and how it works.

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A new study has identified why a diet rich in magnesium is so important for our health, reducing the risk of DNA damage and chronic degenerative disorders.

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Mature forests have a key role to play in the fight against climate change -- extracting carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and locking it into new wood.

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A previously unknown mechanism of active matter self-organization essential for bacterial cell division follows the motto 'dying to align': Misaligned filaments 'die' spontaneously to form a ring structure at the center of the dividing cell. The work could find applications in developing synthetic self-healing materials.

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With the help of a tiny, transparent worm called Caenorhabditis elegans, researchers have identified novel players in dopamine signaling by taking advantage of a powerful platform generated via the Million Mutation Project (MMP) for the rapid identification of mutant genes based on their functional impact. They can seek insights from simpler organisms whose genes bear striking similarity to those found in humans and where opportunities for genetic insights to disease can be pursued more efficiently and inexpensively.

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The body has a veritable army constantly on guard to keep us safe from microscopic threats from infections to cancer. Chief among this force is the macrophage, a white blood cell that surveils tissues and consumes pathogens, debris, dead cells, and cancer. Macrophages have a delicate task. It's crucial that they ignore healthy cells while on patrol, otherwise they could trigger an autoimmune response while performing their duties.

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Researchers genetically modified poplar trees to produce high-performance, structural wood without the use of chemicals or energy intensive processing.

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A key question that remains in biology and biophysics is how three-dimensional tissue shapes emerge during animal development. Research teams have now found a mechanism by which tissues can be 'programmed' to transition from a flat state to a three-dimensional shape.

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Climate-driven wildfire events are rapidly transferring harmful particulate matter containing toxic chemicals over long distances, compromising air quality in the New Jersey and New York City areas, according to recent research.

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The movement of radiant heat -- felt when a hot surface warms our bodies and homes -- between buildings and their surroundings at ground level makes buildings with less skyward-facing surfaces harder to cool. A research team has demonstrated a new passive cooling technology that coats walls and windows with materials that can better manage heat movement between buildings and their surroundings at ground level. Findings could reduce the reliance on air conditioning and provide a more environmentally friendly, low-cost and scalable option for low-income communities with limited or no access to cooling and heating systems.

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Catastrophic volcanic eruptions that warmed the planet millions of years ago shed new light on how plants evolve and regulate climate. Researchers reveal the long-term effects of disturbed natural ecosystems on climate in geological history and its implications for today.

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While seeking to unravel how marine algae create their chemically complex toxins, scientists have discovered the largest protein yet identified in biology. Uncovering the biological machinery the algae evolved to make its intricate toxin also revealed previously unknown strategies for assembling chemicals, which could unlock the development of new medicines and materials.

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Gene therapy could potentially cure genetic diseases but it remains a challenge to package and deliver new genes to specific cells safely and effectively. Existing methods of engineering one of the most commonly used gene-delivery vehicles, adeno-associated viruses (AAV), are often slow and inefficient. Now, researchers have developed a machine-learning approach that promises to speed up AAV engineering for gene therapy. The tool helps researchers engineer the protein shells of AAVs, called capsids, to have multiple desirable traits, such as the ability to deliver cargo to a specific organ but not others or to work in multiple species. Other methods only look for capsids that have one trait at a time.

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A 'loopy' discovery in bacteria is raising fundamental questions about the makeup of our own genome -- and revealing a potential wellspring of material for new genetic therapies.

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A new artificial intelligence model can predict how different proteins may bind to DNA.

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New research has shown that glossy black-cockatoos prefer to feed from trees growing in acidic soils.

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A research team reports a pioneering plasma-catalytic process for the hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. This breakthrough addresses the limitations of traditional thermal catalysis, which often requires high temperatures and pressures, resulting in low CO2 conversion and methanol yield.