A sulfosugar from green vegetables promotes the growth of important gut bacteria. Diet and the gut microbiome With the consumption of a single type of vegetable such as spinach, hundreds of chemical components enter our digestive tract. There, they are further metabolized by the gut microbiome, a unique collection of hundreds of microbial species. The gut microbiome thus plays a major role in determining how nutrition affects our health. “So far, however, the metabolic capabilities of many of these microorganisms…

Researchers at IMBA – Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences – demonstrate that different viruses can lead to brain malformations through diverse mechanisms by using human brain organoid models. The results are published in the journal Cell Stem Cell. Microcephaly, a term referring to developmental malformations of the fetal brain, can be caused by diverse infections during pregnancy. The infectious agents in question are grouped under the general term of TORCH pathogens, in reference to Toxoplasma…

For the millions of people worldwide who have sickle cell disease, there are only a few treatment options, which include risky bone marrow transplants, gene therapy or other treatments that address a subset of symptoms. Today, researchers will describe the discovery of a small molecule with the potential to address the root cause of sickle cell disease by boosting levels of fetal hemoglobin, a healthy form that adults normally do not make. The drug could be formulated into a convenient…

Short pieces of DNA–jumping genes–can bounce from one place to another in our genomes. When too many DNA fragments move around, cancer, infertility, and other problems can arise. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Professor & HHMI Investigator Leemor Joshua-Tor and a research investigator in her lab, Jonathan Ipsaro, study how cells safeguard the genome’s integrity and immobilize these restless bits of DNA. They found that one of the jumping genes’ most needed resources may also be their greatest vulnerability. The…

By mashing up brains from various insect species, neuroscientists at the University of Arizona were able to count the neurons in individual brains, providing a more meaningful metric than traditional studies measuring brain size or weight. Using a surprisingly simple technique, researchers in the University of Arizona Department of Neuroscience have succeeded in approximating how many brain cells make up the brains of several species of bees, ants and wasps. The work revealed that certain species of bees have a…

Oldenburg team reports first successful mass spawning of stony corals in Germany. Scientists at the University of Oldenburg’s Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM) have scored a success: in the aquariums at the ICBM’s Wilhelmshaven site they were able to induce sexual reproduction in stony corals for the first time ever in Germany. The research team, led by Professor Peter Schupp from the Environmental Biochemistry group, succeeded in accurately recreating the environmental conditions of the corals’…

PANDORA sequencing method developed by UC Riverside-led team can detect once-undetectable small RNAs. A team led by a biomedical scientist at the University of California, Riverside, has developed a new RNA-sequencing method– “Panoramic RNA Display by Overcoming RNA Modification Aborted Sequencing,” or PANDORA-seq — that can help discover numerous modified small RNAs that were previously undetectable. RNA plays a central role in decoding the genetic information in DNA to sustain an organism’s life. It is generally known as the intermediate…

Progression of Duchenne Muscle Dystrophy (DMD) can be delayed in mice by supplementing their diets with Urolithin A, according to new results reported today. The findings, published in Science Translational Medicine, raise hopes that new treatment options could one-day be developed for DMD, an uncurable genetic condition characterized by progressive muscle degeneration. About 1 in 3,500 boys are born with DMD, which usually develops in childhood and significantly reduces life expectancy. The new research carried out at the laboratory of…

Researchers at the University of Münster discover how cell contacts are dynamically remodelled during egg development in fruit flies / Study published in “Developmental Cell”. Within multicellular organisms, cells build connections with each other forming cell layers that cover the surfaces of tissues and organs and separate structures in the body. For example, the skin forms a mantle around the entire organism, and the layer of cells lining the blood vessels creates a boundary between the bloodstream and tissues. Special…

Scientists at the University of Bayreuth and the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen have developed a novel sensor that provides real-time insights into the inner life of plants. The hormone auxin is of central importance for the development of plants. Scientists at the University of Bayreuth and the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen have now developed a novel sensor that makes the spatial distribution of auxin in the cells of living plants visible in…

Next-generation sutures can deliver drugs, prevent infections, and monitor wounds. Sutures are used to close wounds and speed up the natural healing process, but they can also complicate matters by causing damage to soft tissues with their stiff fibers. To remedy the problem, researchers from Montreal have developed innovative tough gel sheathed (TGS) sutures inspired by the human tendon. These next-generation sutures contain a slippery, yet tough gel envelop, imitating the structure of soft connective tissues. In putting the TGS…

Around the world, a huge amount of research and development work is currently being done on carbon-containing, or organic, molecules that emit coloured light after appropriate excitation. This research field is driven by the display industry and the development of biomedical imaging techniques. While precise colour tuning in organic fluorescent dyes has so far usually been achieved by mixing different molecules, ETH researchers have now developed an approach that can generate a broad palette of colours by way of chemical…

The current method of manufacturing carbon nanotubes–in essence rolled up sheets of graphene–is unable to allow complete control over their diameter, length and type. This problem has recently been solved for two of the three different types of nanotubes, but the third type, known as ‘zigzag’ nanotubes, had remained out of reach. Researchers with Japan’s National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) have now figured out how to synthesize the zigzag variety. Their method is described in the journal Nature Chemistry,…

Small device contains wells to let small bits of tissue grow, develop, and be studied in real time. Scientists from MIT and the Indian Institute of Technology Madras have grown small amounts of self-organizing brain tissue, known as organoids, in a tiny 3D-printed system that allows observation while they grow and develop. The work is reported in Biomicrofluidics, by AIP Publishing. Current technology for real-time observation of growing organoids involves the use of commercial culture dishes with many wells in…

Researchers at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) have experimentally demonstrated a novel cancer diagnosis technique based on the scattering of circularly polarized light. Computational studies revealed that this technique can detect the progression of precancerous lesions and early cancer. This method can be implemented using an endoscope equipped with spin-LEDs–devices that emit circularly polarized light. Most cancers of the digestive system emerge in the surface layer first and then progress into deeper layers. While surface layer carcinomas can be…

An extracellular matrix obtained by controlled decellularization is used to reconstruct the liver with human-like characteristics. Researchers at the Human Genome and Stem Cell Research Center (HUG-CELL), hosted by the University of São Paulo’s Institute of Biosciences (IB-USP) in Brazil, have developed a technique to reconstruct and produce livers in the laboratory. The proof-of-concept study was conducted with rat livers. In the next stage of their research, the scientists will adapt the technique for the production of human livers in…