Showing 20 articles starting at article 661
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Categories: Biology: Genetics, Environmental: Ecosystems
Published First heat map for individual red blood cells
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Entropy is often associated with disorder and chaos, but in biology it is related to energy efficiency and is closely linked to metabolism, the set of chemical reactions that sustain life. An international research team has now developed a novel methodology for the measurement of entropy production at the scale of a nanometer, meaning one-billionth of a meter. The new approach enabled the scientists to measure the heat flow, known as the entropy production rate, of single red blood cells.
Published Marine algae implants could boost crop yields
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have discovered the gene that enables marine algae to make a unique type of chlorophyll. They successfully implanted this gene in a land plant, paving the way for better crop yields on less land.
Published Revealing the evolutionary origin of genomic imprinting
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Some of our genes can be expressed or silenced depending on whether we inherited them from our mother or our father. The mechanism behind this phenomenon, known as genomic imprinting, is determined by DNA modifications during egg and sperm production.
Published Universal tool for tracking cell-to-cell interactions
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An updated method for directly observing physical interactions between cells, could allow scientists to one day map every possible cell interaction.
Published Synthetic gene helps explain the mysteries of transcription across species
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source 'Random DNA' is naturally active in the one-celled fungi yeast, while such DNA is turned off as its natural state in mammalian cells, despite their having a common ancestor a billion years ago and the same basic molecular machinery, a new study finds.
Published Decoding the language of epigenetic modifications
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Epigenetic changes play important roles in cancer, metabolic and aging-related diseases, but also during loss of resilience as they cause the genetic material to be incorrectly interpreted in affected cells. A major study now provides important new insights into how complex epigenetic modification signatures regulate the genome. This study will pave the way for new treatments of diseases caused by faulty epigenetic machineries.
Published Deconstructing the structural elements of a lesser-known microbe
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers shed light on archaea, intriguing microbes found in extreme environments but also in the human gut microbiome.
Published Herbivores, displaced by ocean warming, threaten subtropical seagrass meadows
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The findings suggest that subtropical seagrasses are less resilient to heavy grazing from marine herbivores, in part because they receive less sunlight relative to their tropical counterparts. As tropical herbivores move into subtropical waters, overgrazing may prevent subtropical seagrass meadows from persisting in these environments.
Published New deep-sea worm discovered at methane seep off Costa Rica
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Marine biologists have discovered a new species of deep-sea worm living near a methane seep some 50 kilometers (30 miles) off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica.
Published Genetic mutation in a quarter of all Labradors hard-wires them for obesity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research finds around a quarter of Labrador retriever dogs face a double-whammy of feeling hungry all the time and burning fewer calories due to a genetic mutation.
Published Lab-grown liver organoid to speed up turtle research, making useful traits easier to harness
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers developed protocols for growing organoids that mimic a turtle liver, the first organoids developed for a turtle and only the second for any reptile. The discovery will aid deeper study of turtle genetics, including the cause of traits with potential medical applications for humans such as the ability to survive weeks without oxygen.
Published Microalgae with unusual cell biology
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A globally distributed single-celled organism that occurs in harmful algal blooms has been found to exhibit an unusual organisation of photosynthesis. Researchers have taken a closer look at the unusual cell biology of the species Prorocentrum cordatum from the group of dinoflagellates. The results of their study could help to better understand the role of the species in the environment and the increased occurrence of algal blooms at higher water temperatures.
Published After decades of Arctic sea ice getting faster and more hazardous for transport, models suggest a dramatic reversal is coming
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Will ice floating in the Arctic Ocean move faster or slower over the coming decades? The answer to this question will tell us whether marine transportation can be expected to get more or less hazardous. It might also have important implications for the rate of ice cover loss, which is hugely consequential for Northern Indigenous communities, ecosystems, and the global climate system. While observational data suggest the trend has been towards faster sea ice speeds, climate models project that those speeds will slow down during the summer season. This contrast has led to some questions around the plausibility of the model projections.
Published We know the Arctic is warming -- What will changing river flows do to its environment?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists recently combined satellite data, field observations and sophisticated numerical modeling to paint a picture of how 22.45 million square kilometers of the Arctic will change over the next 80 years. As expected, the overall region will be warmer and wetter, but the details -- up to 25% more runoff, 30% more subsurface runoff and a progressively drier southern Arctic, provides one of the clearest views yet of how the landscape will respond to climate change.
Published Arctic could become 'ice-free' within a decade
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source While summer sea ice loss in the Arctic is inevitable, it can be reversed if the planet cools down, researchers say.
Published Less ice in the Arctic Ocean has complex effects on marine ecosystems and ocean productivity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Most of the sunlight reaching the Arctic Ocean is reflected to space by sea ice, effectively shielding ocean ecosystems from sunlight. As the Arctic sea ice continues its downward trend, larger areas of the ocean become exposed to sunlight for longer periods, potentially allowing more primary production on the seafloor. However, according to a new study, this anticipated increase in primary production does not seem to be occurring uniformly across the Arctic Ocean.
Published Antarctica's coasts are becoming less icy
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists found unexpected evidence the area of polynyas around Antarctica is increasing dramatically, and it follows an intriguing cycle, growing and shrinking roughly every 16 years.
Published An inside look at Beech tree disease
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study found differences at the cellular level of leaves from infected Beech trees -- variations that may account for tree mortality.
Published Modeling the origins of life: New evidence for an 'RNA World'
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists provide fresh insights on the origins of life, presenting compelling evidence supporting the 'RNA World' hypothesis. The study unveils an RNA enzyme that can make accurate copies of other functional RNA strands, while also allowing new variants of the molecule to emerge over time. These remarkable capabilities suggest the earliest forms of evolution may have occurred on a molecular scale in RNA, and also bring scientists one step closer to re-creating autonomous RNA-based life in the laboratory.
Published An evolutionary mystery 125 million years in the making
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Plant biologists have uncovered an evolutionary mystery over 100 million years in the making. It turns out that sometime during the last 125 million years, tomatoes and Arabidopsis thaliana plants experienced an extreme genetic makeover. Just what happened remains unclear. But the mystery surrounds CLV3, a gene key to healthy plant growth and development.