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Categories: Biology: Molecular, Computer Science: Encryption

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A new study explores exactly what leads to the generation of Th17 cells -- an important subtype of cells in the intestine -- and uncovers some of the underappreciated molecular players and events that lead to cell differentiation in the gut.

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With the aid of some sea slugs, chemists have discovered that one of the smallest conceivable tweaks to a biomolecule can elicit one of the grandest conceivable consequences: directing the activation of neurons. The team has shown that the orientation of a single amino acid -- in this case, one of dozens found in the neuropeptide of a sea slug -- can dictate the likelihood that the peptide activates one neuron receptor versus another. Because different types of receptors are responsible for different neuronal activities, the finding points to another means by which a brain or nervous system can regulate the labyrinthine, life-sustaining communication among its cells.

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Researchers compared a new genetic animal model of Down syndrome to the standard model and found the updated version to be enhanced. The new mouse model shows milder cognitive traits compared to a previously studied Down syndrome mouse model.

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Scientists have done research that opens up a whole new world within our cells. Their study uncovers a vast network of interactions that assist cells in adjusting in real time to withstand stresses on our health.

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Meiotic recombination assures genetic variation during breeding. During meiotic prophase I, chromosomes are organized in a loop-base array by a proteinaceous structure called meiotic chromosome axis which is critical for meiotic recombination and genetically diverse gametes. An international research team reports the application of a TurboID (TbID)-based approach to identify proteins in proximity of meiotic chromosome axes in Arabidopsis thaliana. Not only known but also new meiotic proteins were uncovered.

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A whole new world of antibiotics is waiting inside the viruses that infect bacteria. Scientists are making it easier to study them.

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Surprisingly, bitter taste receptors are not only located in the mouth, but also elsewhere in the body, including the airways. Activating those receptors opens up lung passageways, so they're a potential target for treating asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Now, researchers report that they have designed a potent and selective compound that could lead the way to such therapies.

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The skeleton, tendons, and glands of a functional jaw all derive from the same population of stem cells, which arise from a cell population known as neural crest. To discover how these neural crest-derived cells know to make the right type of cell in the right location, researchers focused on a particular gene, Nr5a2, that was active in a region of the face that makes tendons and glands, but not skeleton. To understand the role of Nr5a2, the scientists created zebrafish lacking this gene. These mutant zebrafish generated excess cartilage and were missing tendons in their jaws.

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Strong electric fields can be used to create pores in biomembranes. The method is known as electroporation. Inducing such defects in membranes in a targeted manner is an important technique in medicine and biotechnology, but also in the treatment of foodstuffs.

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Most cells in the bodies of living things duplicate their contents and physically separate into new cells through the process of cell division. But across many species, germ cells, those that become eggs or sperm, don't fully separate. They remain interconnected through small bridges called ring canals and cluster together. In a new study, researchers uncover how it is that germ cells in fruit flies form these ring canals, a finding that they say will provide new insights into a widely shared feature of development and into diseases in which cell division is disrupted.

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Researchers have achieved a breakthrough to enable 'perfectly secure' hidden communications for the first time. The method uses new advances in information theory methods to conceal one piece of content inside another in a way that cannot be detected. This may have strong implications for information security, besides further applications in data compression and storage.

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New methodology and tools provide an opportunity to watch in unprecedented detail as a phage attacks a bacterium.

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Obese fruit flies are the experimental subjects in a study of the causes of muscle function decline due to obesity. In humans, skeletal muscle plays a crucial role in metabolism, and muscle dysfunction due to human obesity can lead to insulin resistance and reduced energy levels.

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Once upon a time, prevailing scientific opinion might have pronounced recently published research as unneeded. Now, climate change implications have heightened the need for this line of research. Flowers emit scent chemicals called volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Earlier this year, a study identified a protein that plays a key role in helping petunias emit volatiles.

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An international team of bee researchers has integrated a calcium sensor into honey bees to enable the study of neural information processing including response to odors. This also provides insights into how social behavior is located in the brain.

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In early cytological studies chromatids of metaphase chromosomes were suggested to coil into a spiral called chromonema. This assumption was recently supported by chromosomce conformation capture sequencing. Still, the direct visualization of the coiled chromonema confirming the helical model was lacking. Now, an international research team provides the direct proof of the helical coiling of condensed chromatids via super-resolution microscopy of specifically labelled chromonema regions.

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Scientists recently developed an efficient way to transplant pancreatic islets and demonstrated that the method can effectively reverse type 1 diabetes in nonhuman primates.

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A major new study reveals a 'traffic light' mechanism controlling genetic activity within cells -- a system which could potentially be targeted by cancer drugs already in development. The research describes how 'epigenetic' changes to the structure of DNA can act as a stop-go signal in determining whether a gene should be read. Unlike our genetic make-up, which is well understood, the world of epigenetics is still largely unexplored and referred to as the 'dark matter' of the genome.

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A detailed atlas of gene expression in the zebrafish brain.

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Biochemists have succeeded in resurrecting the ancestral genes of five detoxifying enzymes which are present in all tetrapods to show how their divergence in function has occurred.