News by Subject Biology

Why did the oceans warm and cool at such different rates in the early 20th century? New research from Harvard University and the UK's National Oceanography Centre points to an answer both as mundane as a decimal point truncation and as complicated as global politics. Part history, part climate science, this research corrects decades of data and suggests that ocean warming occurred in a much more homogenous way.

It's a case of grand larceny that could lead to new fuels and cleanup chemicals. Ten species of red algae stole about 1 percent of their genes from bacteria to cope with toxic metals and salt stress in hot springs, according to a study in the journal eLife. These red algal species, known as Cyanidiales, also stole many genes that allow them to absorb and process different sources of carbon in the environment to provide additional sources of energy and supplement their photosynthetic lifestyle.

For decades, researchers have chased ways to study biological machines. Every mechanical movement--from contracting a muscle to replicating DNA--relies on molecular motors that take near-undetectable steps. Trying to see them move is like trying to watch a soccer game taking place on the moon. Now, with DNA origami helicopters, researchers have captured the first recorded rotational steps of a molecular motor as it moved from one DNA base pair to another.

UCLouvain's researchers have discovered a new high performance and safe battery material (LTPS) capable of speeding up charge and discharge to a level never observed so far. Practically, if the first tests are confirmed, this new material could be used in the batteries of the future with better energy storage, faster charge and discharge and higher safety targeting many uses from smartphones, to electric bicycle and cars. These results are published in the prestigious journal Chem from Cell Press.

Carnegie Mellon University's Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Maysam Chamanzar and ECE Ph.D. student Matteo Giuseppe Scopelliti today published research that introduces a novel technique which uses ultrasound to noninvasively take optical images through a turbid medium such as biological tissue to image body's organs. This new method has the potential to eliminate the need for invasive visual exams using endoscopic cameras.

A new University at Buffalo-led study describes how researchers wirelessly controlled FGFR1 -- a gene that plays a key role in how humans grow from embryos to adults -- in lab-grown brain tissue. The ability to manipulate the gene, the study's authors say, could lead to new cancer treatments, and ways to prevent and treat mental disorders such as schizophrenia.

New study looks at how plastics can be recycled and could help reduce plastic waste.