https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Transport proteins are responsible for the ongoing movement of substrates into and out of a biological cell. However, it is difficult to determine which substrates a specific protein can transport. Bioinformaticians at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) have developed a model—called SPOT—that can predict this with a high degree of accuracy using artificial intelligence (AI). https://phys.org/news/2024-09-ai-substrate-movement-cells.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 26 Sep 2024 14:46:10 EDT news646580759 Like people, bacteria have their preferences when it comes to relationships. Some are totally independent, while others prefer company. Salmonella and many other kinds of bacteria are of the social type: They can live and even thrive inside a host cell. But unlike us, these bacteria do not spend a long time wooing the cell in the hope that it will welcome them in. Instead, they inject proteins that take control of the host cell's systems. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-sequencing-method-unprecedented-glimpse-relationship.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 26 Sep 2024 14:45:59 EDT news646580753 Many cellular functions in the human body are controlled by biological droplets called liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) droplets. These droplets, made of soft biological materials, exist inside living cells but are not enclosed by membranes like most cell structures. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-scientists-method-synthetic-dna-droplet.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 26 Sep 2024 14:00:10 EDT news646578001 A team of chemical biologists at the University of Washington, working with colleagues at Oxford Nanopore Technologies, has developed a protein sequencing process that involves pulling proteins through nanopores in a lipid membrane. Their paper is published in the journal Nature. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-biologists-sequence-proteins-nanopores.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 26 Sep 2024 10:32:26 EDT news646565540 A new artificial intelligence model developed by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin paves the way for more effective and less toxic treatments and new preventive strategies in medicine. The AI model informs the design of protein-based therapies and vaccines by leveraging the underlying logic from nature's evolutionary processes. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-ai-evolution-playbook-proteins-spur.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 26 Sep 2024 09:36:05 EDT news646562161 In recent years, the scientific community has made significant strides in the field of gene editing, particularly through the development of the CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) systems. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-crispr-cas13-frontier-rna-therapeutic.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 25 Sep 2024 11:54:04 EDT news646484042 A Mississippi State biologist's research in improving global nutrition and sustainability is featured this week in New Phytologist. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-protein-staple-crops-alleviate-global.html Biotechnology Agriculture Tue, 24 Sep 2024 04:48:44 EDT news646372118 It has only recently been discovered that single-celled organisms (bacteria and archaea) also have histones—proteins that structure DNA. Now, Leiden Ph.D. candidate Samuel Schwab has found that the histones in these organisms are much more diverse than previously thought. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-chemists-ways-celled-dna.html Biochemistry Mon, 23 Sep 2024 10:53:03 EDT news646307581 A new international collaborative study provides a list of the wildlife species present at the market from which SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, most likely arose in late 2019. The study is based on a new analysis of metatranscriptomic data released by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). https://phys.org/news/2024-09-genetic-huanan-seafood-covid-animal.html Plants & Animals Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 19 Sep 2024 11:00:01 EDT news645955039 The Jacktree (Sinojackia xylocarpa), native to China, is renowned for its unique spindle-shaped fruits and ornamental appeal. However, its survival is threatened by factors such as limited population size, fragmented habitats, and low germination rates caused by tough, lignified pericarps. Addressing these challenges requires in-depth genetic research to develop effective conservation measures. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-unraveling-conundrum-china-native-jacktree.html Plants & Animals Agriculture Wed, 18 Sep 2024 15:39:03 EDT news645892742 Imagine you're looking at millions upon millions of mysterious genetic mutations. With CRISPR gene-editing technology, a select few of these mutations might have therapeutic potential. However, proving it would mean many thousands of hours of lab work. Just figuring out which ones are worth exploring further would take a lot of time and money. But what if you could do it in the virtual realm with artificial intelligence? https://phys.org/news/2024-09-virtual-laboratory-scientists-simulate-specific.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 16 Sep 2024 09:35:27 EDT news645698125 Our world today is populated by multicellular organisms, from big trees to climate-wrecking humans. This multicellularity arose independently in plants and animals. Both animals and plants cope differently with the challenges of corralling individual cells together to form a larger organism, such as the need to communicate and coordinate between cells, to share and transport nutrients, and to form specialized structures. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-unbiased-reveals-transcriptional.html Plants & Animals Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 12 Sep 2024 09:57:03 EDT news645353821 A new study led by Cesar de la Fuente, Ph.D., Presidential Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Microbiology, Chemistry, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania, has uncovered sequences for infection-fighting molecules in the genomic data of extinct species. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-uncover-infection-molecules-molecular-de.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 11 Sep 2024 13:33:47 EDT news645280421 People often think of all whales as giants of the sea when in fact they vary in size dramatically, from the 30-meter blue whale to the two-meter dwarf sperm whale. However, almost all of the largest family by size, the baleen whales, are massive—and scientists have only recently understood how they grew so big. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-baleen-whales-biggest-creatures-earth.html Plants & Animals Wed, 11 Sep 2024 12:33:04 EDT news645276781 A new study from College of Veterinary Medicine researchers finds the first genetic evidence of feline coronavirus (FCoV) transmission between a captive wild and a domestic cat. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-feline-coronavirus-domestic-wild-cats.html Cell & Microbiology Veterinary medicine Tue, 10 Sep 2024 16:39:04 EDT news645205142 Like many threatened land turtle species, the spur-thighed tortoise had no complete genome. Now for the first time, researchers from the Ecology departments at Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH) and the University of Alicante (UA) have successfully sequenced the genome of the spur-thighed tortoise, using the genome of another closely related native American tortoise as a reference. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-sequence-genome-spur-thighed-tortoise.html Plants & Animals Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 10 Sep 2024 16:32:04 EDT news645204721 Aotearoa New Zealand's flightless parrot, the kākāpō, evolved two different color types to potentially help them avoid detection by a now-extinct apex predator, Lara Urban at Helmholtz AI, Germany and colleagues from the Aotearoa New Zealand Department of Conservation and the Māori iwi Ngāi Tahu, report in the open-access journal PLOS Biology. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-zealand-kkp-feather-evade-predatory.html Plants & Animals Evolution Tue, 10 Sep 2024 14:00:01 EDT news645175742 One of the most fascinating discoveries in biology is that cells have mechanisms for dynamically regulating genetic expression. This ability to promote or restrict the transcription of specific genes without altering the DNA sequences themselves is essential to all forms of life, from single-cell organisms to the most complex plant and animal species. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-reveal-epigenetic-dynamic-gene-silencing.html Plants & Animals Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 10 Sep 2024 11:14:03 EDT news645185641 Every cell in our body contains the same DNA, yet liver cells are different from brain cells, and skin cells differ from muscle cells. What determines these differences? It all comes down to gene regulation; essentially how and when genes are turned on and off to meet the cell's demands. But gene regulation is quite complex, especially because it is itself regulated by other parts of DNA. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-context-specific-factors-gene.html Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 09 Sep 2024 05:00:01 EDT news644849004 The first crystal structure of an alternative DNA shape from the insulin gene has been revealed by a UCL-led research team. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-crystallized-alternative-dna-insulin-diabetes.html Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 06 Sep 2024 11:49:04 EDT news644842142 A research team led by Associate Professor Junji Konuma of Toho University and Professor Teiji Sota of Kyoto University has discovered the genetic background of the morphological variation in the snail-eating carabid beetle, Carabus blaptoides. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-genetic-difference-strategy-beetles.html Plants & Animals Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 06 Sep 2024 11:35:03 EDT news644841301 Scientists from China have investigated how short peptide chains aggregate together in order to deepen our understanding of the process which is crucial for drug stability and material development. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-exploring-peptide-clumping-drug-material.html Biochemistry Analytical Chemistry Tue, 03 Sep 2024 01:10:02 EDT news644484241 As direct descendants of ancient bacteria, mitochondria have always been a little alien. Now a study shows that mitochondria are possibly even stranger than we thought. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-mitochondria-dna-brain-cells.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 22 Aug 2024 14:29:03 EDT news643555741 To the average person, knowing how a protein wiggles might not seem that exciting or pertinent, but then again, most people aren't fascinated by the natural movements and fluctuations of proteins and their functional properties. If, however, you were interested in designing new drugs, better understanding how diseases can be eradicated or enhancing biotechnology for industrial and therapeutic applications, you might be on the edge of your seat waiting to see what a new study on protein sequencing and crystallization has to offer. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-protein-dynamic-signatures.html Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 22 Aug 2024 13:35:03 EDT news643552501 When you become infected with a virus, some of the first weapons your body deploys to fight it are those passed down to us from our microbial ancestors billions of years ago. According to new research from The University of Texas at Austin, two key elements of our innate immune system came from a group of microbes called Asgard archaea. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-ancient-microbes-linked-evolution-human.html Evolution Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 21 Aug 2024 16:24:03 EDT news643476241 For the malaria parasite to reach the blood of its human host, it must first enter the liver, where only a small number of parasites differentiate and replicate for upward of seven days, making it a bottleneck in the parasite's lifecycle. This bottleneck makes the liver stage an optimal target for effective and long-lasting vaccines against the disease. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-spatial-malaria-infection-liver-possibilities.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 20 Aug 2024 09:59:05 EDT news643366742 Scientists from Tokyo Metropolitan University have identified a new photoreceptor in cyanobacteria with a modification in part of its structure which makes it sensitive to green/teal light. The photoreceptor belongs to a family usually sensitive to red/green light in the environment. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-photoreceptor-cyanobacteria.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 19 Aug 2024 10:03:03 EDT news643280581 Previous scientific studies have indicated that North American dog lineages were replaced with European ones between 1492 and the present day. To better understand the timing of this replacement, researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of Iowa sequenced mitochondrial DNA from archaeological dogs. Their findings suggest a complex social history of dogs during the early colonial period. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-ancient-dna-reveals-indigenous-dog.html Archaeology Sat, 17 Aug 2024 03:39:34 EDT news643084767 A genetic study led by researchers from RIKEN's Center for Integrative Medical Sciences has uncovered evidence that people in Japan descend from three ancestral groups. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-dna-ancestry-people-japan.html Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 16 Aug 2024 10:56:04 EDT news643024561 An international team of astronomers has reported the discovery of a new brown dwarf, which received designation TOI-2490 b. The newfound object is about 74 times more massive than Jupiter and orbits a sun-like star on a highly eccentric orbit. The finding was detailed in a paper published August 8 on the pre-print server arXiv. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-massive-eccentric-brown-dwarf.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Wed, 14 Aug 2024 11:55:10 EDT news642855306