The process of ageing begins even before we are born, according to an international team of researchers led by the University of Cambridge. In a study using rats to model pregnancy and fetal development, the researchers also found that providing…
The modern plagues of obesity, physical inactivity and processed food have been definitively established as modern causes of colon cancer. Researchers have also associated a mutation of the Adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene with the deadly disease. But which came…
Every hour, a multitude of chemicals complete their use life in homes, agricultural fields and industries and flood into the environment. The ultimate fate of these compounds is often poorly understood, as are the risks they may pose to humans…
Researchers have made an advance in the fight against a deadly virus that affects pigs. The team used advanced genetic techniques to produce pigs that are potentially resilient to African Swine Fever — a highly contagious disease that kills up…
The research of two Montana State University microbiologists into how bacteria fend off attacks from viruses is included in a new paper published in the scientific journal Nature. Blake Wiedenheft, assistant professor of microbiology and immunology in the College of…
The majority of disease-causing bacteria in the body are rendered harmless by the protective effects of the immune system. Those that manage to escape the immune system can be killed by antibiotics, but bacteria are becoming more and more resistant…
Plant health and interaction with microbes is maintained by intricate antennas — plant immune receptors. A certain class of receptors is turning out to be highly informative about plant disease resistance. A few of such Nucleotide-binding Leucine-Rich Repeat receptors (NLRs)…
Engineered gene drives, which have the potential to spread desirable genes throughout wild populations or to suppress harmful species, have received a lot of recent attention because of their potential to control organisms, such as mosquitoes that carry diseases such…
Stanford scientists have found that chronically low levels of oxygen throughout the oceans hampered the recovery of life after the Permian-Triassic extinction, the most catastrophic die-off in our planet’s history. Also known as the “Great Dying,” global ecosystems collapsed as…
Bacteria have evolved thousands of clever tactics for invading our bodies while evading our natural defenses. Now, UNC School of Medicine scientists studying one of the world’s most virulent pathogens and a separate very common bacterium have discovered a new…