Natural loss of foot muscle in rodents shares mechanisms often associated with disease and injury
Researchers have developed new insight on how the natural loss of foot muscles occurred in rodents and other species during their evolution.
Read moreDevelopmental Biology
A mathematical model reveals long-distance cell communication mechanism
An interdisciplinary collaborative team has identified how a large community can communicate with each other almost simultaneously even with very short distance signaling.
Read moreResearchers build a soft robot with neurologic capabilities
In work that combines a deep understanding of the biology of soft-bodied animals such as earthworms with advances in materials and electronic technologies, researchers have developed a robotic device containing a stretchable transistor that allows neurological function.
Read more'Tricked' bacteria open new pathways to antimicrobial treatments
Scientists have developed a new technique to trick bacteria into revealing hundreds of holes in their cell walls, opening the door for drugs that destroy bacteria's cells.
Read moreCarnivorous plant study captures universal rules of leaf making
Leaves display a remarkable range of forms from flat sheets with simple outlines to the cup-shaped traps found in carnivorous plants.
Read moreLongtime DNA mystery illuminated by buttons and flies
Biologists have uncovered an important clue in the longtime mystery of how long strands of DNA fold up to squeeze into microscopic cells, with each pair of chromosomes aligned to ensure perfect development.
Read moreSecrets to climate change adaptation uncovered in the European corn borer moth
Biologists have found two genes that may permit some insect species to survive climate change by adjusting their biological annual clocks while others succumb. The researchers looked at the European corn borer moth and pinpointed variation in two circadian clock genes — per and Pdfr — that enable different populations of the moth to adapt their transitions to longer or shorter winters.
Read moreHow chromosomes change their shape during cell differentiation
Scientists have provided an explanation of how chromosomes undergo structural changes during cell differentiation.
Read moreVoltage gated calcium channels 'read' electric patterns in embryos to create cartilage and bone
Scientists have revealed how the electrical patterns formed within an embryo initiate a cascade of molecular changes that culminate in the development of cartilage and bone. Prior studies have shown these electrical patterns appear like blueprints of the tissues and organs that eventually take shape as the embryo matures. The new study demonstrates that voltage gated calcium channels 'read' the electrical pattern, setting off the expression of genes that guide differentiation to mature cells.
Read moreHistone modifications are the influencers of zygotic genome awakening
Scientists have observed changes to the gene-regulating factors during zebrafish development and discovered that modifications to 'histone H3', one of the proteins around which DNA is bound, play an important role in 'zygotic genome activation' or transition of control of zebrafish embryonic development from maternal material to the zygote.
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