A team of scientists at the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS) has uncovered a previously unknown mechanism that controls how genes are switched ‘on’ and ‘off’ during embryonic development. Their study sheds light on how diverse cell types are produced in developing embryos.

For 50 years, scientists believed that schools of fish would save the most energy by swimming in flat diamond formations. A team of researchers at Princeton and Harvard ran an experiment that found fish don’t swim in diamonds but rather in a dynamic pattern that the researchers call a ladder, where they’re staggered in three dimensions. The finding has implications for both biology and robotics.

The ion channel PIEZO2 doesn’t just convey touch stimuli. It also plays a key role in the development of coronary vessels, a team led by Annette Hammes from the Max Delbrück Center reports in “Nature Cardiovascular Research.” The findings could improve our understanding of congenital heart defects.

Researchers at the University of Tokyo have demonstrated that the strength of synaptic connections in the cerebral cortex varies during sleep, influenced by synaptic learning rules and neuronal activity. Using simulations, they identified conditions under which “sleep learning” may occur. These findings could deepen our understanding of the relationship between sleep and learning/memory and help elucidate the mechanisms of brain disorders linked to sleep disturbances.

A new study has revealed for the first time that zooplankton migration contributes significantly to carbon sequestration in the Southern Ocean—a process overlooked in climate models.