Scientists have documented the way a single gene in the bacterium that causes bubonic plague, Yersinia pestis, allowed it to survive hundreds of years by adjusting its virulence and the length of time it took to kill its victims, but these forms of plague ultimately died out.
A study by…
We don’t always understand our emotions, but we couldn’t lead normal lives without them. They steer us through life, guiding the decisions we make and the actions we take. But if they’re inappropriate or stick around for too long, they can cause trouble.
Neuroscientists and psychiatrists,…
In a groundbreaking study published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), researchers from Queen Mary University of London and the University of Dundee have shed new light on the fundamental mechanisms governing the dynamic growth of microtubules — the…
Arriving home after a long day may be a relief, but for some people, seeing their front door or inserting a key into the lock triggers a powerful urge to pee. Known as “latchkey incontinence,” this phenomenon is the subject of a new study by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh who found…
The process of necrosis, a form of cell death, may represent one of the most promising ways to change the course of human aging, disease and even space travel, according to a new study from researchers at UCL, drug discovery company LinkGevity and the European Space Agency (ESA).
In the study,…
New techniques used to analyse soft tissue in dinosaur fossils may hold the key to new cancer discoveries, according to a new study published in the journal Biology.
Researchers from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and Imperial College London analysed dinosaur fossils using advanced…
Long-read sequencing technologies analyse long, continuous stretches of DNA. These methods have the potential to improve researchers’ ability to detect complex genetic alterations in cancer genomes. However, the complex structure of cancer genomes means that standard analysis tools, including…
A research team has developed a new method to accelerate the discovery of affordable, stable materials that support clean hydrogen production. Their approach could help make hydrogen — a promising clean energy source — more widely accessible by reducing reliance on costly noble metals.
Sensing environmental temperature is crucial for the development and survival of animals. Insects such as fruit flies have evolved a particularly delicate thermosensory system that can discriminate temperature changes within a milli-degree per second. This accurate thermosensation relies on the…
Caffeine is not only found in coffee, but also in tea, chocolate, energy drinks and many soft drinks, making it one of the most widely consumed psychoactive substances in the world.
In a study published in April in Nature Communications Biology, a team of researchers from Université de…