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Categories: Biology: Genetics, Computer Science: General
Published A new addition to the CRISPR toolbox: Teaching the gene scissors to detect RNA



CRISPR-Cas systems, defense systems in bacteria, have become a plentiful source of technologies for molecular diagnostics. Researchers have now expanded this extensive toolbox further. Their novel method, called PUMA, enables the detection of RNA with Cas12 nucleases, which naturally target DNA. PUMA promises a wide range of applications and high accuracy.
Published Unique characteristics of previously unexplored protein discovered



Research achieves scientific breakthrough in understanding cell division.
Published Immune system in the spotlight



Our immune system is always on alert, detecting and eliminating pathogens and cancer cells. Cellular control mechanisms cause diseased cells to present antigens on their surface like signs for the immune system. For analysis of the necessary complex antigen processing and transport processes in real time, researchers have developed a 'cage' that is opened with light to release trapped antigens at a specific place and time.
Published Ancient microbes offer clues to how complex life evolved



Researchers have discovered that a single-celled organism, a close relative of animals, harbors the remnants of ancient giant viruses woven into its own genetic code. This finding sheds light on how complex organisms may have acquired some of their genes and highlights the dynamic interplay between viruses and their hosts.
Published E. coli variant may cause antimicrobial resistance in dogs, humans



Researchers studying antimicrobial-resistant E. coli -- the leading cause of human death due to antimicrobial resistance worldwide -- have identified a mechanism in dogs that may render multiple antibiotic classes ineffective.
Published A new neural network makes decisions like a human would



Researchers are training neural networks to make decisions more like humans would. This science of human decision-making is only just being applied to machine learning, but developing a neural network even closer to the actual human brain may make it more reliable, according to the researchers.
Published Building a roadmap to bioengineer plants that produce their own nitrogen fertilizer



Nitrogen fertilizers make it possible to feed the world's growing population, but they are also costly adn harm ecosystems. However, a few plants have evolved the ability to acquire their own nitrogen with the help of bacteria, and a new study helps explain how they did it, not once, but multiple times.
Published Big boost for new epigenetics paradigm: CoRSIVs, first discovered in humans, now found in cattle



A study opens new possibilities to improve production efficiency in the cattle industry and potentially animal agriculture more broadly.
Published When to trust an AI model



A new technique enables huge machine-learning models to efficiently generate more accurate quantifications of their uncertainty about certain predictions. This could help practitioners determine whether to trust the model when it is deployed in real-world settings.
Published A better way to make RNA drugs



RNA drugs are the next frontier of medicine, but manufacturing them requires an expensive and labor-intensive process that limits production and produces metric tons of toxic chemical waste. Researchers report a new, enzyme-based RNA synthesis method that can produce strands of RNA with both natural and modified nucleotides without the environmental hazards.
Published Insight into one of life's earliest ancestors revealed in new study



Researchers have shed light on Earth's earliest ecosystem, showing that within a few hundred million years of planetary formation, life on Earth was already flourishing.
Published Neural networks made of light



Scientists propose a new way of implementing a neural network with an optical system which could make machine learning more sustainable in the future. In a new paper, the researchers have demonstrated a method much simpler than previous approaches.
Published How plant cold specialists can adapt to the environment



Evolutionary biologists studied spoonworts to determine what influence genome duplication has on the adaptive potential of plants. The results show that polyploids -- species with more than two sets of chromosomes -- can have an accumulation of structural mutations with signals for a possible local adaptation, enabling them to occupy ecological niches time and time again.
Published How risk-averse are humans when interacting with robots?



How do people like to interact with robots when navigating a crowded environment? And what algorithms should roboticists use to program robots to interact with humans? These are the questions that a team of mechanical engineers and computer scientists sought to answer in a recent study.
Published Opening the right doors: 'Jumping gene' control mechanisms revealed



International joint research led by Akihisa Osakabe and Yoshimasa Takizawa of the University of Tokyo has clarified the molecular mechanisms in thale cresses (Arabidopsis thaliana) by which the DDM1 (Decreased in DNA Methylation 1) protein prevents the transcription of 'jumping genes.' DDM1 makes 'jumping genes' more accessible for transcription-suppressing chemical marks to be deposited. Because a variant of this protein exists in humans, the discovery provides insight into genetic conditions caused by such 'jumping gene' mutations.
Published First ever 3D reconstruction of 52,000-year-old woolly mammoth chromosomes thanks to serendipitously freeze-dried skin



An international research team has assembled the genome and 3D chromosomal structures of a 52,000-year-old woolly mammoth -- the first time such a feat has been achieved for any ancient DNA sample. The fossilized chromosomes, which are around a million times longer than most ancient DNA fragments, provide insight into how the mammoth's genome was organized within its living cells and which genes were active within the skin tissue from which the DNA was extracted. This unprecedented level of structural detail was retained because the mammoth underwent freeze-drying shortly after it died, which meant that its DNA was preserved in a glass-like state.
Published Novel genome editing approach restores hearing in adult preclinical models with genetic deafness



Researchers restored hearing in preclinical mouse models with a specific form of inherited deafness called DFNA50 caused by mutations in microRNA, by using a novel in vivo CRISPR genome editing approach. Since mouse and human microRNAs have identical sequences, the researchers hope this work can one day be translated into applications for humans.
Published Pumpkin disease not evolving, could make a difference for management



The pathogen that causes bacterial spot is very good at what it does. Forming small lesions on the rinds of pumpkins, melons, cucumbers, and other cucurbits, it mars the fruits' appearance and ushers in secondary pathogens that lead to rot and severe yield loss. The bacterium, Xanthomonas cucurbitae, is so successful that it has had no reason to evolve through time or space.
Published Atlas of proteins reveals inner workings of cells



Researchers discover how proteins behave inside cells using AI, which has the potential to guide drug design.
Published Not so simple: Mosses and ferns offer new hope for crop protection



Mosses, liverworts, ferns and algae may offer an exciting new research frontier in the global challenge of protecting crops from the threat of disease.