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Categories: Biology: Genetics, Mathematics: Puzzles

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Scientists are reporting a discovery about unexpected asymmetry on the hair cells of zebrafish that allow them to detect movement with greater sensitivity from the back than the front.

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A research team has recently made a significant discovery about the evolutionary age of different type of cells in a small animal called Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). By using single-cell transcriptomic data and refined phylostratigraphy, the team determines the transcriptomic age of individual cells, which means they are able to estimate the evolutionary origin of different cells based on the age of the genes expressed in the cells.

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Genes are not the only drivers of evolution. The iconic fins of skates are caused by changes in the non-coding genome and its three-dimensional structure, an international research team reports.

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Acylceramides and protein-bound ceramides are vital for the formation of the oral barrier in mice, similar to their role in skin, protecting from infection.

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Scientists have demonstrated the following findings which apply across the animal kingdom: with increasing age, the transcriptional elongation speed of genes increases, whereby the quality of the gene products suffers. With dietary restrictions, these processes could be reversed.

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A study of Britain's native flowering plants has led to new insights into the mysterious process that allows wild plants to breed across species -- one of plants' most powerful evolutionary forces.  When wild flowering plants are sizing up others they may often end up in a marriage between close relatives rather than neighbors, a new study has revealed.

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Scientists have discovered over 30,000 viruses by using the high-performance computer cluster 'Leo' and sophisticated detective work. The viruses hide in the DNA of unicellular organisms. In some cases, up to 10% of microbial DNA consists of built-in viruses.

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Researchers discovered that males of the yellow crazy ant have maternal and paternal genomes in different cells of their body and are thus chimeras.

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Babies tumble about with more than 200 previously unknown viral families within their intestines. This large number comes as a surprise to researchers, who closely studied the diapers of 647 Danish babies and made this mapping. These viruses most likely play an important role in protecting children from chronic diseases.

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Nitrogen is such a crucial nutrient for plants that vast quantities of nitrogen-containing fertilizers are spread on farmlands worldwide. However, excess nitrogen in the soil and in drainage run-off into lakes and rivers causes serious ecological imbalances. A recent study has uncovered the regulatory mechanisms at work when plants utilize nitrogenous fertilizers in their roots, a positive step in the quest to generate crops that require less fertilizer while still producing the yields needed to feed the world.

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Tobacco plants have been engineered to manufacture an alluring perfume of insect sex pheromones, which could be used to confuse would-be pests looking for love and reduce the need for harmful pesticides.

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Researchers have spotted how specific proteins within the chromosomes of roundworms enable their offspring to produce specialized cells generations later, a startling finding that upends classical thinking that hereditary information for cell differentiation is mostly ingrained within DNA and other genetic factors.

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A team of researchers compared the genomes of woolly mammoths with modern day elephants to find out what made woolly mammoths unique, both as individuals and as a species. The investigators report that many of the woolly mammoth's trademark features -- including their woolly coats and large fat deposits -- were already genetically encoded in the earliest woolly mammoths, but these and other traits became more defined over the species' 700,000+ year existence. They also identified a gene with several mutations that may have been responsible for the woolly mammoth's miniscule ears.

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New research investigates how cells divide, particularly in the fibrous environment of living tissue. Cells are typically studied in a flat environment, and the difference between flat and fibrous landscapes opens new windows into the behavior of cells and the diseases that impact them.

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Broccoli is known to be beneficial to our health. For example, research has shown that increased consumption of the cruciferous vegetable decreases incidence of cancer and type 2 diabetes. In a recent study, researchers found that broccoli contains certain molecules that bind to a receptor within mice and help to protect the lining of the small intestine, thereby inhibiting the development of disease. The findings lend support to the idea that broccoli truly is a 'superfood.'

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A team of researchers reconstructed long-extinct proteins of a UV protection system of cyanobacteria. The surprising result: the proteins were already compatible with each other when they first met. This discovery expands the knowledge horizon on the rules of evolution.

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Human embryo development and early organ formation remain largely unexplored due to ethical issues surrounding the use of embryos for research as well as limited availability of materials to study. Investigators now report on the creation of embryo-like structures from monkey embryonic stem cells. The investigators also transferred these embryo-like structures into the uteruses of female monkeys and determined that the structures were able to implant and elicit a hormonal response similar to pregnancy.

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Scientists have found that human ribosomes decode mRNA slower than bacteria, with implications for drug development.

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In a twist on the question, 'Which came first, the chicken or the egg?', scientists have long faced a similar question about how human adenovirus replicates: 'Which comes first, assembly of the viral particle, or packaging of the viral genome?' Now, in a new study, scientists have answered that question, showing that viral proteins use a process called phase separation to coordinate production of viral progeny.

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Biologists have explored the genetic mechanisms underlying the transition from freezing Antarctic waters to more temperature waters by Antarctic Notothenioid fish.