Scaffold of sub-cellular structures identified after a hundred years. Nuclear speckles are tiny agglomerations of proteins in the nucleus of the cell that are involved in the processing of genetic information. Berlin researchers have now discovered how nuclear speckles are constructed and were able to close a long-standing gap in research. When the famous Spanish physician Santiago Ramón y Cajal looked through his microscope in 1910, he discovered irregular and “transparent lumps” that appeared throughout the nucleus of a neuron….
A ‘game changing’ study deciphering the genetic material of the desert locust by researchers at the University of Leicester, could help combat the crop-ravaging behaviour of the notorious insect pest which currently exacerbates a hunger crisis across many developing countries. It is hoped that the study will provide the basis for developing ‘intelligent pesticides’, that act with surgical precision by tapping into locust-specific signals in the nervous system, to either kill or disable their swarming behaviour, without harming other organisms….
What if we didn’t have skin? We would have no sense of touch, no detection of coldness or pain, leaving us inept to respond to any situation. The skin is not just a protective shell for organs, but rather a signaling system for survival that provides information on the external stimuli or temperature, or a meteorological observatory that reports the weather. Tactile receptors, tightly packed throughout the skin, feel the temperature or mechanical stimuli – such as touching or pinching…
Enzymatic photocaging for the study of gene regulation through DNA methylation. The addition and removal of methyl groups on DNA plays an important role in gene regulation. In order to study these mechanisms more precisely, a German team has developed a new method by which specific methylation sites can be blocked and then unblocked at a precise time through irradiation with light (photocaging). As reported in the journal Angewandte Chemie, the required regent is produced enzymatically, in situ. Although they…
With new insights into how the genetic tool CRISPR – which allows direct editing of our genes – evolved and adapted, we are now one step closer to understanding the basis of the constant struggle for survival that takes place in nature. The results can be used in future biotechnologies. In 2020, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna for their discoveries of the molecular mechanism behind CRISPR-Cas and the use of the technology…
Due to its antibacterial properties, nanosilver is used in a wide range of products from textiles to cosmetics; but nanosilver if present at high concentrations also disrupts the metabolism of algae that are essential for the aquatic food web dynamics. Products derived from nanotechnology are efficient and highly sought-after, yet their effects on the environment are still poorly understood. A research team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), working in collaboration with the University of California at Santa Barbara, have…
Scientists from NUST MISIS have improved the technology of 3D printing from aluminum, having achieved an increase in the hardness of products by 1,5 times. The nanocarbon additive to aluminum powder, which they have developed, obtained from the products of processing associated petroleum gas, will improve the quality of 3D printed aerospace composites. The research results are published in the international scientific journal Composites Communications Today, the main field of application for aluminum 3D printing is the creation of high-tech…
Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids and their international colleagues found signatures of an unconventional Hall response in the quantum limit of the bulk metal HfTe5, adjacent to the three-dimensional quantum Hall effect of a single electron band at low magnetic fields. The quantum Hall effect is among the most prominent examples of a quantum phenomenon that occurs on a truly macroscopic scale. Its robust nature renders the quantum Hall effect vastly important for applications….
The researchers proposed a new approach by analysing the interaction of calcium acetylide with water and dimethyl sulfoxide on the atomic scale. Calcium acetylide was discovered more than 150 years ago. It is a yellowish-white, beige, or grey solid, a compound of calcium and carbon. Calcium acetylide is currently used to produce gaseous acetylene. In industry, it is widely used in the production of acetic acid and ethyl alcohol, as well as it can be used in the production of…
Physicists at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics have tested quantum mechanics to a completely new level of precision using hydrogen spectroscopy, and in doing so they came much closer to solving the well-known proton charge radius puzzle. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ) have succeeded in testing quantum electrodynamics with unprecedented accuracy to 13 decimal places. The new measurement is almost twice as accurate as all previous hydrogen measurements combined and moves science one…
Professors from the Department of Physics and Astronomy have created a serpentine path for electrons. A research team led by professors from the Department of Physics and Astronomy have created a serpentine path for electrons, imbuing them with new properties that could be useful in future quantum devices. Jeremy Levy, a distinguished professor of condensed matter physics, and Patrick Irvin, research professor, are coauthors of the paper “Engineered spin-orbit interactions in LaAlO3/SrTiO3-based 1D serpentine electron waveguides,” published in Science Advances…
Wheat researchers at the John Innes Centre are pioneering a new technique that promises to improve gene discovery for the globally important crop. Crop breeding involves assembling desired combinations of traits that are defined by underlying genetic variation. Part of this genetic variation often stays the same between generations, with certain genes being inherited together. These blocks of genes – very rarely broken up in genetic recombination – are called haplotype blocks. These haplotypes are the units that breeders switch…
Jena researchers develop open-source optical toolbox. The open-source system from the 3D printer delivers high-resolution images like commercial microscopes at hundreds of times the price. Modern microscopes used for biological imaging are expensive, are located in specialized laboratories and require highly qualified staff. To research novel, creative approaches to address urgent scientific issues — for example in the fight against infectious diseases such as Covid-19 — is thus primarily reserved for scientists at well-equipped research institutions in rich countries. A…
Scientists from Trinity College Dublin have developed a new gene therapy approach that offers promise for one day treating an eye disease that leads to a progressive loss of vision and affects thousands of people across the globe. The study, which involved a collaboration with clinical teams in the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital and the Mater Hospital, also has implications for a much wider suite of neurological disorders associated with ageing. The scientists publish their results today [Thursday…
Bread wheat can grow in highly diverse regional environments. An important reason for its great genetic variety is the cross-hybridization with many chromosome fragments from wild grasses. This is shown by the genome sequences of 10 wheat varieties from four continents, which an international consortium including researchers from the University of Zurich has now decoded. A variety of bread wheat that flourishes across Switzerland would remain just a poorly growing grass in India. This ability to adapt to regional climate…
Borexino detector succeeds in measuring the sun’s CNO fusion cycle. The Borexino Experiment research team has succeeded in detecting neutrinos from the sun’s second fusion process, the Carbon Nitrogen Oxygen cycle (CNO cycle) for the first time. This means that all of the theoretical predictions on how energy is generated within the sun have now also been experimentally verified. The findings are the result of years of efforts devoted to bringing the background sources in the energy range of the…
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