Scientists have discovered a group of extraordinary microbial molecules found in exclusively cold environments, such as glaciers. The molecules, which they called ‘cryorhodopsins’, allow microbes to absorb energy from sunlight, similarly to chlorophyll, and can be engineered to act as a light-operated power switch for electrical activity in neurons. Some of them are blue – a rare light absorption property that can have wide applications in many scientific fields. Cryorhodopsins are the first observed prototypical switches that turn electrical signalling in cells both on and off depending on the colour of light they receive – a remarkable ability that offers new possibilities for science and medicine. The study was led by a scientist at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Hamburg and involved scientists from Germany’s University Medical Center Göttingen and Goethe University Frankfurt, as well as from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, and others.

New research has revealed alarming coral mortality rates of 92 per cent after last year’s bleaching event at Lizard Island on Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef, marking one of the highest coral mortality rates ever documented globally.  

Case Western Reserve University chemist Divita Mathur was awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) grant for her research in synthetic DNA nanoparticles, which have potential applications in gene therapy.

A first-of-its-kind study in mice reveals that neurons add and shed synapses at a frenzied pace during development to integrate visual signals from the two eyes.

An international collaboration featuring the University of Vienna and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA) has led to the first-ever chromosome-level genome assembly of a sea spider (Pycnogonum litorale). The genome informs about the development of the characteristic sea spider body plan and constitutes a landmark for revealing the evolutionary history of chelicerates in general. The study was recently published in BMC Biology.