The rise of RNA viruses like SARS-CoV-2 highlights the need for new ways to fight them. RNA-targeting tools like CRISPR/Cas13 are powerful but inefficient in the cytoplasm of cells, where many RNA viruses replicate. Scientists from Helmholtz Munich and the Technical University Munich (TUM) have devised a solution: Cas13d-NCS. This new molecular tool allows CRISPR RNA molecules that are located within the nucleus of a cell to move to the cytoplasm, making it highly effective at neutralizing RNA viruses. This…
Thousands of people around the world die every day from overdoses involving opioids such as fentanyl. Drugs that target opioid receptors sometimes have severe side effects. An international team of researchers has taken a closer look at the molecular mechanisms of these active substances. The research, carried out by Dr Matthias Elgeti, a biophysicist at Leipzig University, in collaboration with research groups from the US and China, has now been published in the journal Nature. Opioid receptors are of great…
What was it we were going to tell you about? Oh!! About the research into the complexity of electrical brain signals in patients with multiple sclerosis, a disease mainly associated with the slowing-down of information processing and a lack of motor coordination. These signals are beginning to show traces of multifractality, according to a scientific project carried out with the participation of the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Cracow. Multiple sclerosis is an incurable…
The meeting point of the stomach and esophagus, the so-called gastro-esophageal junction, is a region of the human body that is not well-suited to the modern lifestyle. Stress, alcohol, nicotine and severe obesity are often triggers for pathological changes to the mucosal membrane in this area, often resulting in esophageal cancer. An international research team has now gained new insights into the development of the cells, their communication with each other, and their regulation at the junction of the esophagus…
Modern biology textbooks assert that only bacteria can take nitrogen from the atmosphere and convert it into a form that is usable for life. Plants that fix nitrogen, such as legumes, do so by harboring symbiotic bacteria in root nodules. But a recent discovery upends that rule. In two recent papers, an international team of scientists describe the first known nitrogen-fixing organelle within a eukaryotic cell. The organelle is the fourth example in history of primary endosymbiosis — the process…
Chemists in Dortmund have identified the first inhibitors of the cancer-related RNA-modifier METTL16 and have thus taken a first step towards new therapeutic options. Only recently, a new era in medicine began with the first RNA vaccines. These active substances are modified RNAs that trigger immune responses of the human immune system. Another approach in RNA medicine targets the body’s own RNA and its protein modulators by specifically tailored active substances. Scientists around Peng Wu, research group leader at the…
New study confirms that even the simplest marine organisms tend to be individualistic. Sport junkie or couch potato? Always on time or often late? The animal kingdom, too, is home to a range of personalities, each with its own lifestyle. In a study just released in the journal PLOS Biology, a team led by Sören Häfker and Kristin Tessmar-Raible from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) and the University of Vienna report on a…
Insight into molecular motion on surfaces at the nanoscale. Now, using neutron spectroscopy experiments performed at Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) and advanced theorical models and computer simulations, a team led by Anton Tamtögl, from Graz University of Technology, unveiled the unique movement of triphenylphosphine (PPh3) molecules on graphite surfaces, a behaviour akin to a nanoscopic moonlander. In fact, PPh3 molecules exhibit a remarkable form of motion, rolling and translating in ways that challenge previous understandings. This moonlander-like motion seems to be…
A team of researchers at Nagoya University in Japan has discovered that aldehydes are metabolic byproducts associated with premature aging. Published in Nature Cell Biology, their findings reveal insights into premature aging diseases and potential strategies to combat aging in healthy individuals such as controlling exposure to aldehyde-inducing substances including alcohol, pollution, and smoke. A person’s health can be harmed by aldehydes. However, the group’s findings suggest these detrimental effects also include aging. The team who made this discovery included…
FOXO1 is required for memory in T cells and is associated with more durable clinical responses to CAR T cell therapy. CAR T cell therapy has revolutionized the way certain types of cancer are treated, and the longer those CAR T cells live in a patient’s body, the more effectively they respond to cancer. Now, in a new study, researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and Stanford Medicine have found that a protein called FOXO1 improves the survival and…
University of Montana researchers and their partners have found a new method to generate human cartilage of the head and neck. Mark Grimes, a biology professor in UM’s Division of Biological Sciences, said they have induced stem cells to become the cell type that normally makes up human craniofacial cartilage. Stem cells can replicate themselves and also develop into different types of cells. “The cells that normally give rise to this type of cartilage are called neural crest cells,” Grimes…
When scuba divers need to say “I’m okay” or “Shark!” to their dive partners, they use hand signals to communicate visually. But sometimes these movements are difficult to see. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Nano have constructed a waterproof “e-glove” that wirelessly transmits hand gestures made underwater to a computer that translates them into messages. The new technology could someday help divers communicate better with each other and with boat crews on the surface. E-gloves — gloves fitted with electronic…
New modular, spring-like devices maximize the work of live muscle fibers so they can be harnessed to power biohybrid bots. Our muscles are nature’s perfect actuators — devices that turn energy into motion. For their size, muscle fibers are more powerful and precise than most synthetic actuators. They can even heal from damage and grow stronger with exercise. For these reasons, engineers are exploring ways to power robots with natural muscles. They’ve demonstrated a handful of “biohybrid” robots that use…
With the Flick of a Switch… Imagine switching on a light and being able to understand and control the inner dynamics of a cell. This is what the Dimova group has achieved: by shining lights of different colors on replicates of cells, they altered the interactions between cellular elements. Controlling these complex interactions enables us to deliver specific drugs directly into the cells. And with the flick of a switch, we could adjust or even reverse this delivery, potentially revolutionizing…
Ring polymers show unexpected motion patterns under shear. It all depends on the linking: How ring polymers move… An international research team is attracting the attention of experts in the field with computational results on the behavior of ring polymers under shear forces: Reyhaneh Farimani, University of Vienna, and her colleagues showed that for the simplest case of connected ring pairs, the type of linkage – chemically bonded vs. mechanically linked – has profound effects on the dynamic properties under…
Pressure changes and mechanical forces trigger wound healing in plants. Plants are very robust and survive harsh environments, owing in part to their remarkably efficient wound-healing capacity. For over a century, scientists aimed to understand it in more detail. A new collaborative study at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) now shows that the process is quite straightforward, revolving around pressure and forces. The results, published in Developmental Cell, hold promise for advancing agriculture. Healing in plants. After…
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