Developmental Biology News

December 27, 2024

Top Headlines

Histone Modification Important for Correct Blood Cell Formation

Dec. 18, 2024 — Molecular biologists decode the epigenetic silencing of problematic retroviral gene ...

Programming Cells: Revolutionizing Genetic Circuits With Cutting-Edge RNA Tools

Dec. 20, 2024 — Researchers have developed a new technology that improves the precision and integration density of synthetic genetic ...

Giant Virus Encodes Key Piece of Protein-Making Machinery of Cellular Life

Dec. 18, 2024 — Researchers recently discovered that a virus, FloV-SA2, encodes one of the proteins needed to make ribosomes, the central engines in all cells that translate genetic information into proteins, the building blocks of life. This is the first ...

It's Complicated: Researchers Discover Unexpected Complexity of Sexual Differentiation in African Clawed Frog

Dec. 16, 2024 — Researchers have uncovered unexpected diversity in the genetic processes that determine the sex of the African clawed frog, a significant discovery in what was already one of the most widely studied ...

Latest Headlines

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A User Manual for Yeast's Genetic Switches

Dec. 19, 2024 — When introducing genes into yeast to make it produce drugs and other useful substances, it is also necessary to reliably switch the production on or off. Researchers have found three gene regulation ...

Scientists Find a Vulnerability in Antibiotic Resistance Mechanism

Dec. 17, 2024 — Superbugs, bacteria that are immune to multiple antibiotics, pose a great challenge to modern medicine. Researchers have now identified a weakness in the bacterial machinery that drives antibiotic ...

Building a Backbone: Scientists Recreate the Body's 'GPS System' in the Lab

Dec. 18, 2024 — Scientists have generated human stem cell models which contain notochord -- a tissue in the developing embryo that acts like a navigation system, directing cells where to build the spine and nervous ...

The Longevity Factor Foxo3 Mediates 'Unfit' Cell Elimination to Ensure Healthy Body Construction

Dec. 17, 2024 — Researchers have revealed some of the precise mechanisms by which erroneous cells are recognized, marked for removal, and eliminated via apoptosis in ...

A New Twist: The Molecular Machines That Loop Our Chromosomes Also Twist DNA

Dec. 13, 2024 — Scientists have discovered a new property of the molecular motors that shape our chromosomes. While six years ago they found that these so-called SMC ...

Intermittent Fasting Inhibits Hair Regeneration in Mice

Dec. 13, 2024 — Intermittent fasting has proven benefits for metabolic health, but a new study shows that it could slow hair growth -- at least in mice. Researchers report that mice subjected to intermittent fasting ...

Study Breaks the Silence on How Fish and Lizards Regenerate Hearing

Dec. 9, 2024 — A new study has identified key gene regulators that enable some deafened animals -- including fish and lizards -- to naturally regenerate their hearing. The findings could guide future efforts to ...

Your Immune Cells Are What They Eat

Dec. 12, 2024 — Scientists have discovered that our specialized immune cells, called T cells, are what they eat -- their switch from functional to 'exhausted' depends on the switch from metabolizing acetate to ...

The Maternal Microbiome During Pregnancy Impacts Offspring's Stem Cells in Mice

Dec. 11, 2024 — Gut microbiome composition during pregnancy has long-term effects on offspring stem cell growth and development, researchers report. Treating ...

Biological Diversity Is Not Just the Result of Genes

Dec. 11, 2024 — How can we explain the morphological diversity of living organisms? Although genetics is the answer that typically springs to mind, it is not the only explanation. By combining observations of ...

Breakthrough AI Model Can Translate the Language of Plant Life

Dec. 9, 2024 — A pioneering artificial intelligence (AI) powered model able to understand the sequences and structure patterns that make up the genetic 'language' of plants, has been launched by a ...

New Model for Replication of BKPyV Virus, a Major Cause of Kidney Transplant Failure

Dec. 6, 2024 — BK polyomavirus, or BKPyV, is a major cause of kidney transplant failure. There are no effective drugs to treat BKPyV. Research reveals new aspects of BKPyV replication, offering possible drug ...

Close Encounters Between Distant DNA Regions Cause Bursts of Gene Activity

Dec. 6, 2024 — Researchers have revealed a new mechanism underlying how spatial distance between specific regions of DNA is linked to bursts of gene activity. Using advanced cell imaging techniques and computer ...

Autonomous Imaging Robot Plays a Crucial Role in Assessing Embryos' Response to Environmental Change

Dec. 6, 2024 — The opensource LabEmbryoCam uses 3D-printed components to form a robotic microscope and is the result of over a decade of research at the University of Plymouth. Its creators say the instrument can ...

Mothers Massively Change Their Intestines During Pregnancy and Nursing

Dec. 5, 2024 — When women are pregnant and nurse their babies, their bodies change and various organs, such as the breasts or the immune system, are adapted to ensure the health of both mother and child. This ...

CRISPR-Cas Technology: Balancing Efficiency and Safety

Dec. 4, 2024 — Researchers have uncovered a serious side effect of using the CRISPR-Cas gene scissors. A molecule designed to make the process more efficient destroys parts of the ...

Phosphorylation and Dephosphorylation Enzyme Groups Regulate Sleep and Wakefulness in Mammals

Dec. 3, 2024 — A research group has discovered that in mammals, a protein kinase A (PKA) promotes wakefulness, while protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) and calcineurin promote sleep. This study revealed that the balance ...

DNA Engineered to Mimic Biological Catch Bonds

Dec. 2, 2024 — In a first-of-its-kind breakthrough, a team of researchers has developed an artificial adhesion system that closely mimics natural biological interactions. Their research focuses on understanding how ...

Study May Reverse Century-Old Understanding of the Shape of 'Arms' on Mammals' Brain Cells

Dec. 2, 2024 — Biology textbooks may need a revision, say scientists, who present new evidence that an arm-like structure of mammalian brain cells may be a different shape than scientists have assumed for more than ...

Mouse Study Captures Aging Process at the Cellular Level

Dec. 2, 2024 — As muscles age, their cells lose the ability to regenerate and heal after injury. Now, researchers have created the most comprehensive portrait to date of how that change, in mice, unfolds over ...

Sea Anemone Study Shows How Animals Stay 'in Shape'

Nov. 29, 2024 — Some animals, such as the starlet sea anemone, can regenerate large parts of their body, even after major injuries. Researchers have shown this regeneration response involves cells and molecules in ...

Brain Test Shows That Crabs Process Pain

Nov. 26, 2024 — Researchers have demonstrated that painful stimuli are sent to the brain of shore crabs providing more evidence for pain in crustaceans. EEG style measurements show clear neural reactions in the ...

New Era in Amphibian Biology

Nov. 26, 2024 — Amphibians hold a significant place in evolution, representing the transition from aquatic to terrestrial lifestyles. They are crucial for understanding the brain and spinal cord of tetrapods -- ...

Fighting Aging by Staying Compact

Nov. 25, 2024 — The secret to cellular youth may depend on keeping the nucleolus -- a condensed structure inside the nucleus of a cell -- small, according to nvestigators. The findings were elucidated in yeast, a ...

Cyanobacterial Circadian Clock Uses an AM Radio-Like Mechanism to Control Cellular Processes

Nov. 25, 2024 — Cyanobacteria, an ancient lineage of bacteria that perform photosynthesis, have been found to regulate their genes using the same physics principle used in AM radio ...

New Gene Drive Reverses Insecticide Resistance in Pests... Then Disappears

Nov. 22, 2024 — Geneticists have developed a gene drive-based solution to the widespread problem of insecticide resistance. In an effort to protect valuable crops, the researchers created an 'e-Drive' that ...

New Technology Points to Unexpected Uses for snoRNA

Nov. 22, 2024 — Researchers recently developed a new approach for identifying new cellular RNA targets of snoRNAs. They uncovered thousands of previously unknown targets for snoRNAs in human cells and mouse brain ...

Caste Differentiation in Ants

Nov. 22, 2024 — Scientists have revealed how a specific hormone regulates ant caste differentiation by phenotypic measurements of organ-level developmental changes and matching transcriptome ...

The Parasaurolophus' Pipes: Modeling the Dinosaur's Crest to Study Its Sound

Nov. 21, 2024 — Scientists have presented results on the acoustic characteristics of a physical model of the Parasaurolophus' crest. They created a physical setup made of tubes to represent a mathematical model ...

Single Gene Causes Embryo Notochord Deformity in Zebrafish

Nov. 21, 2024 — Researchers confirm using zebrafish that if a certain gene is not excluded when vertebrate embryos are developing, the notochord will not elongate properly, resulting in a shortened ...