Curated News: Nature (journal)

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Mitochondria that power cellular activity fragment and change shape in breast cancer cells that migrate to the brain, an adaptation that appears necessary for the cells to survive, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report in a new study. The findings, published in Nature Cancer, could lead to new ways to prevent brain metastases, or the spread of cells from primary tumors to the brain.

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What connects a fossil found in a cave in northern Laos with stone tools made in north Australia? The answer is, we do. When our early Homo sapiens ancestors first arrived in Southeast Asia on their way from Africa to Australia, they left evidence of their presence in the form of human fossils that accumulated over thousands of years deep in a cave.

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In a recent article published in the journal Nature Communications, Binghamton University Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences Adam Session and Daniel S. Rokhsar, a professor of genetics, evolution and development at the University of California, Berkeley, outline a way to trace these genomes back to the polypoid hybrid’s parent species.

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Cultural exchanges and interbreeding between African hunter-gatherers, Neolithic European farmers, and East-Saharan herders shaped changes in lifestyles, cultural expression and genetic makeup in the Maghreb between 5500 and 4500 BC, according to a study published today in Nature.

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In a study published in Nature Astronomy today, a team of researchers from the University of Naples “Federico II”, the University of Wroclaw, and the University of Bergen examined a quantum-gravity model of particle propagation in which the speed of ultrarelativistic particles decreases with rising energy.

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Howard Colman, MD, PhD, was recently featured as an author on a publication in Nature Medicine describing the results of a recent clinical trial – a breakthrough in glioblastoma treatment with the help of a modified cold virus injected directly into the tumor. When combined with an immunotherapy drug, the authors observed a subset of patients that appeared to be living longer as a result of this therapy.

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An international team of astronomers is the first to apply an old technique to discover a new type of planet that orbits two stars – what is known as a circumbinary planet.

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New research points to a flexible, cost-effective option for backup power when trouble strikes: batteries aboard trains. A study from Berkeley Lab finds that rail-based mobile energy storage is a feasible way to ensure reliability during exceptional events.

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An overactive inflammatory response could be at the root of many long COVID cases, according to a new study from the Allen Institute and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.

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The earliest reptiles, birds and mammals may have borne live young, researchers from Nanjing University and University of Bristol have revealed.

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Plastic particles less than five millimeters in size, also known as microplastics, often settle far away from their point of origin. Empa researchers have now developed a model that can be used to calculate the concentration of microplastics in Swiss lakes and rivers.

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A new study in mice, led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, explains how prostate cancer senses a drop in testosterone levels due to common anti-hormone therapy and then begins making cholesterol — a necessary precursor to testosterone — to generate its own testosterone to fuel tumor growth. The study also points to a possible drug combination that may stop the cancer from feeding its own growth.

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Although the prehistoric site of Eynan-Mallaha in northern Israel has been thoroughly examined since 1955, it still holds some surprises for scientists. Seven prehistoric wind instruments known as flutes, recently identified by a Franco-Israeli team.

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In a study published in Nature Communications, scientists assess a new technique which could convert renewable, green energy from outside the Earth’s atmosphere. They are taking advantage of photosynthesis – the chemical process plants undergo every day to create energy – to help the space industry become more sustainable.

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Scientists at Brookhaven Lab have determined the atomic-level structure of a zinc-transporter protein, a molecular machine that regulates levels of this crucial trace metal micronutrient inside cells. The structure reveals how the cellular membrane protein shifts its shape to move zinc from the environment into a cell, and temporarily blocks this action automatically when zinc levels inside the cell get too high.

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A team of scientists from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) in collaboration with the National Center for Genomic Analysis (CNAG) has discovered that IL-17 protein plays a central role in skin ageing. The study, which was led by Dr. Guiomar Solanas, Dr. Salvador Aznar Benitah, both at IRB Barcelona, ​​and Dr. Holger Heyn, at CNAG, highlights an IL-17-mediated ageing process to an inflammatory state.

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Plant biologist James O’Dwyer and graduate student Kenneth Jops report in Nature the development of a method that reliably predicts the complementary life histories of pairs of plants that manage to thrive while competing for many of the same resources.

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A team led by University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers discovered a new method for tuning the thermal conductivity of materials, achieving a record-high range of tunability that will open a door to developing more energy-efficient and durable electronic devices.

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A genomic analysis of ancient human remains from Morocco in northwest Africa revealed that food production was introduced by Neolithic European and Levantine migrants and then adopted by local groups.

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The first stars illuminated the Universe during the Cosmic Dawn and put an end to the cosmic "dark ages" that followed the Big Bang. However, the distribution of their mass is one of the great unsolved mysteries of the cosmos.

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The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Research Highlights showcases the latest breakthroughs in cancer care, research and prevention.

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Scientists have analyzed single atoms using X-rays for the first time at Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source. This new capability will find wide application in environmental and medical research, as well as in batteries, microelectronic devices and beyond.

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Dreams have been considered a hallmark of human sleep for a long time. Latest findings, however, suggest that when pigeons sleep, they might experience visions of flight. Researchers at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, and at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence studied brain activation patterns in sleeping pigeons, using functional magnetic resonance imaging.

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A team of experimental neurobiologists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and theoretical biologists at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin has managed to solve a mystery that has been baffling scientists for decades. They have been able to determine the nature of the electrical activity in the nervous system of insects that controls their flight. In a paper recently published in Nature, they report on a previously unknown function of electrical synapses employed by fruit flies during flight.

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Research shows that the natural peptide, called drosocin, protects fruit flies from bacterial infections by binding to ribosomes in bacteria. Once bound, drosocin prevents the ribosome from making new proteins.

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A University of Minnesota Twin Cities-led team has developed a more energy-efficient, tunable superconducting diode—a promising component for future electronic devices—that could help scale up quantum computers for industry and improve artificial intelligence systems.

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Scientists from the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have developed a new method to bioprint miniature tumor organoids that are designed to mimic the function and architecture of real tumors. The improved process allows researchers to use an advanced imaging method to study and analyze individual organoids in great detail, which can help researchers identify personalized treatments for people with rare or hard-to-treat cancers.

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Scientists from the National University of Singapore have invented a powerful tool that captures data on immune cell response at a single-cell level. This groundbreaking technique will accelerate the discovery of new immunotherapies to treat diseases such as cancer, autoimmune disorders, and infectious diseases.

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Fundamental research offers opportunities for new varieties of pigmented rice and a resource to address malnutrition.

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A team of researchers from EPFL have found a way to use the phenomenon of strong gravitational lensing to determine with precision – about 3 times more precise than any other technique – the mass of a galaxy containing a quasar, as well as their evolution in cosmic time.

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Two new discoveries from the Dudley lab at UVA Cancer Center highlight the different roles of blood vessels in solid tumors – and the findings could help prevent breast cancer from spreading and enhance the effectiveness of one of the most important new cancer treatments in many years.

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Johns Hopkins scientists have developed a method involving artificial intelligence to visualize and track changes in the strength of synapses — the connection points through which nerve cells in the brain communicate — in live animals. The technique, described in Nature Methods, should lead, the scientists say, to a better understanding of how such connections in human brains change with learning, aging, injury and disease.

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Microbes are by far the most important factor in determining how much carbon is stored in the soil, according to a new study with implications for mitigating climate change and improving soil health for agriculture and food production.

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An international team of marine biologists has discovered the remnants of ancient RNA viruses embedded in the DNA of symbiotic organisms living inside reef-building corals.

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Researchers from the Center for Cognition and Sociality (CCS) within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) recently announced the discovery of neurons that allow us to recognize others. The research team discovered that the neurons that deal with the information associated with different individuals are located in the CA1 region of the hippocampus.

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Tumors are composed of rapidly multiplying cancer cells. Understanding which biochemical processes fuel their relentless growth can provide hints at therapeutic targets. Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis have developed a technology to study tumor growth in another dimension — literally. The scientists established a new method to watch what nutrients are used at which rates spatially throughout a tissue.

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A brief roundup of news and story ideas from the experts at UCLA Health. For more information on these stories or for help on other stories, please contact us at [email protected].

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University of Washington researchers have discovered they can detect atomic "breathing," or the mechanical vibration between two layers of atoms, by observing the type of light those atoms emitted when stimulated by a laser. The sound of this atomic "breath" could help researchers encode and transmit quantum information.

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This study provides provides the first physiological evidence from inside the human brain supporting the dominant scientific theory on how the brain consolidates memory during sleep. Further, deep-brain stimulation during a critical time in the sleep cycle appeared to improve memory consolidation.

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Liquid helium-4, which is in a superfluid state at cryogenic temperatures close to absolute zero (-273°C), has a special vortex called a quantized vortex that originates from quantum mechanical effects.

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The accuracy of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening for prostate cancer can be improved by accounting for genetic factors that cause changes in PSA levels that are not associated with cancer, according to a multi-center study led by UC San Francisco and Stanford University, publishing June 1 in Nature Medicine.

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Researchers recently discovered that extremely thorough “deep sequencing” of the genome in tissue samples and cell-free DNA of patients with potentially life-threatening vascular anomalies captured several genetic variants related to disease that were not captured with conventional genetic sequencing methods. More than 60% of patients saw an improvement in their condition after being placed on targeted therapies related to these newly found genetic variants.

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The new findings challenge the conventional understanding of solar dynamics and could improve predictions of solar weather in the future