/ en-us Â鶹ÒùÔº internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Â鶹ÒùÔºics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Proteins catalyze life by changing shape when they interact with other molecules. The result is a muscle twitching, the perception of light, or a bit of energy extracted from food. But this crucial ability has eluded the growing field of AI-augmented protein engineering. /news/2025-05-artificial-protein-nature.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 22 May 2025 14:00:03 EDT news667122061 With coral reefs in crisis due to climate change, scientists have engineered a bio-ink that could help promote coral larvae settlement and restore these underwater ecosystems before it's too late. In a paper published in Trends in Biotechnology, researchers demonstrate that the ink could boost coral settlement by more than 20 times, which they hope could contribute to rebuilding coral reefs around the world. /news/2025-05-ink-boosts-coral-settlement-rebuild.html Ecology Biotechnology Wed, 14 May 2025 11:00:05 EDT news666281701 Scientists at Northwestern University have developed a new approach that directly combats the progression of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). /news/2025-05-sugar-coated-nanotherapy-neuron-survival.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Wed, 14 May 2025 08:00:04 EDT news666347288 A team of biophysicists has published a step-by-step guide for the reliable cultivation of the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The guide will support researchers worldwide in the fields of life sciences, biophysics, and bioengineering in their investigations of biological, biophysical, and biotechnological principles. These reliable cultivation methods are detailed in Nature Protocols. /news/2025-05-manual-cultivating-algae-laboratory-important.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 13 May 2025 10:22:04 EDT news666350522 A new study by scientists at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and several institutes across India and Saudi Arabia has reported 26 novel bacterial species growing inside cleanrooms associated with NASA space missions. These unknown and newly described species carry genetic traits associated with resilience to extreme environments such as those found in space, highlighting the importance of rigorous contamination control to prevent unintentional microbial transfer during space missions. /news/2025-05-tough-microbes-nasa-cleanrooms-clues.html Space Exploration Astrobiology Mon, 12 May 2025 16:24:47 EDT news666285884 Natural products are among the most promising candidates for the development of new drugs. However, due to their structural complexity, they are often difficult to access. /news/2025-05-enzymatic-genetic-advances-synthesis-natural.html Biochemistry Analytical Chemistry Mon, 12 May 2025 14:16:40 EDT news666278193 Researchers from the University of Adelaide have discovered how water molecules are organized during plant hydrolytic reactions, knowledge that could have sweeping consequences for the biomedical, pharmaceutical, food and chemical industries. /news/2025-05-molecules-harmonized-networks-hydrolytic-reactions.html Biochemistry Analytical Chemistry Mon, 12 May 2025 10:45:19 EDT news666265515 Augmented-reality (AR) technology is rapidly finding its way into everyday life, from education and health care to gaming and entertainment. However, the core AR device remains bulky and heavy, making prolonged wear uncomfortable. A breakthrough from POSTECH now promises to change that. /news/2025-05-glass-full-millimeter-waveguide-augmented.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Thu, 08 May 2025 11:52:03 EDT news665923921 Looking around, you might not realize it, but corn is everywhere. In one form or another, it's in the cereals in your cupboard, the cosmetics and medicines in your bathroom, the kibble in your pet's food bowl, and the gas tank of your car. /news/2025-05-accessible-method-maize-bioengineering-doors.html Biotechnology Agriculture Thu, 01 May 2025 13:01:04 EDT news665323262 Traditional biochemical methods of studying human gene mutations are often laborious and costly. Now bioengineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a new simple approach to rapidly check on human gene changes and also screen chemicals as potential drugs by turning everyday bacteria into living test tubes. /news/2025-04-bacteria-tubes-human-gene-mutations.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 30 Apr 2025 14:44:03 EDT news665243041 An AI tool has made a step forward in translating the language proteins use to dictate whether they form sticky clumps similar to those linked to Alzheimer's disease and around fifty other types of human disease. In a departure from typical "black-box" AI models, the new tool, CANYA, was designed to be able to explain its decisions, revealing the specific chemical patterns that drive or prevent harmful protein folding. /news/2025-04-ai-secret-language-sticky-proteins.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 30 Apr 2025 14:00:06 EDT news665220661 The first case of an electric circuit created using a simple marker and a laser beam shows that simple and sustainable materials can generate innovative applications on any surface, such as a coffee cup. /news/2025-04-marker-ink-graphene-based-electric.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Wed, 30 Apr 2025 03:30:02 EDT news665197504 What if doctors could guide life-saving treatments through the body using only a magnet? An interdisciplinary collaboration at the University of Pittsburgh's Swanson School of Engineering is bringing that concept closer to reality with the development of silk iron microparticles (SIMPs)—tiny, magnetic, and biodegradable carriers designed to precisely deliver drugs and treatments to sites in the body, like aneurysms or tumors. /news/2025-04-tiny-magnetic-silk-iron-particles.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Tue, 29 Apr 2025 16:54:04 EDT news665164442 The human genome is like a big ball of yarn, made up of 3 billion molecular units arranged in sequence and then wrapped up around itself. Within this ball of yarn are your genes, which are regions of DNA that get copied and then turned into miniature molecular machines called proteins. The three-dimensional structure of the yarn dictates which of your genes get turned into proteins, and when this system fails, disease develops. But until now, it has not been possible to visualize how different regions of DNA talk to each other across space and time. /news/2025-04-imaging-tool-scientists-genome-dynamics.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 28 Apr 2025 10:10:04 EDT news665053764 When children lose their baby teeth, there is an adult set already growing beneath the gums, ready to emerge. But if we lose our permanent teeth, there aren't any more waiting in the wings. Right now, the options for replacing these lost teeth are either dentures or titanium implants, neither of which provide the same function and feedback as a real, living tooth. /news/2025-04-pigs-regrow-adult-teeth-humans.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Fri, 25 Apr 2025 17:05:20 EDT news664819509 A Kobe University team was able to edit the DNA of Lactobacillus strains directly without a template from other organisms. This technique is indistinguishable from natural variation and enabled the researchers to create a strain that doesn't produce diabetes-aggravating chemicals. /news/2025-04-dna-base-lactobacillus-strains.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Thu, 24 Apr 2025 08:34:03 EDT news664702441 A new study looking at deadly animal African trypanosomiasis has revealed how the parasite Trypanosoma congolense evades the immune system and drives severe disease in livestock. /news/2025-04-3d-uncover-deadly-parasites-evade.html Molecular & Computational biology Veterinary medicine Tue, 22 Apr 2025 12:15:04 EDT news664542901 Engineers and biologists at Dartmouth College have found that, just like word order affects meaning in a sentence, the placement of genes within a plasmid—known as gene syntax—can influence how strongly each gene is expressed, how consistently it behaves across cells, and how it interacts with nearby genes. /news/2025-04-gene-syntax-shown-variability-synthetic.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 22 Apr 2025 10:50:22 EDT news664537732 When smoke from Canadian wildfires turned New York City skies apocalyptically orange in June 2023, it delivered catastrophic air quality and an unexpected side effect: cooling the New York City region by about 3 degrees Celsius. /news/2025-04-canadian-wildfire-cooled-york-3c.html Earth Sciences Environment Mon, 21 Apr 2025 11:39:04 EDT news664454341 As the global population grows, the demand for food and energy is increasing even as extreme weather events make crops more vulnerable to stress. While traditional breeding takes years to develop more resilient crops, plant bioengineering offers a faster, more precise way to improve traits for higher yields and better stress tolerance. /news/2025-04-robot-powered-biofoundry-oil-production.html Plants & Animals Biotechnology Wed, 16 Apr 2025 11:19:04 EDT news664021141 Northeastern University researchers resurrected an extinct plant gene, turning back the evolutionary clock to pave a path forward for the development and discovery of new drugs. /news/2025-04-resurrect-extinct-gene-major-implications.html Biochemistry Tue, 15 Apr 2025 09:22:04 EDT news663927721 Last week, Colossal Biosciences made global headlines when they announced that they had successfully brought the dire wolf back from extinction, or at least a version of one. Colossal's team used pieces of the genetic code they uncovered in ancient dire wolf DNA samples to alter the genome of a common gray wolf to resemble that of its long-extinct cousin. The resulting pups are not exact replicas of their ancestors, but have many of their most distinctive traits. /news/2025-04-ancient-dna-aids-de-extinction.html Plants & Animals Evolution Mon, 14 Apr 2025 13:22:50 EDT news663855766 A team of bioengineers at Harvard University's Rowland Institute has found two new ways to control a tiny creature, essentially turning it into a micro-robot. In their study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group used a fruit fly's natural response to moving stimuli and odorants to effectively direct its movements. /news/2025-04-fruit-flies-micro-robots-pinwheels.html Plants & Animals Biotechnology Thu, 10 Apr 2025 13:39:19 EDT news663511150 Identifying rare microorganisms in microbiome data just got easier. A team of researchers from Portugal and Canada has developed a new tool that uses machine learning to automatically detect rare biosphere in ecological datasets. /news/2025-04-rare-microorganisms-ai-based-tool.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Wed, 09 Apr 2025 12:59:04 EDT news663422341 Preparing catalysts by sending hot, steamy car exhaust over them could improve their efficiency and reduce the amount of rare and expensive metals required in vehicle catalytic converters and many other emission control and industrial processes. /news/2025-04-serendipitous-discovery-boosts-catalyst-efficiency.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Wed, 09 Apr 2025 11:01:14 EDT news663415261 Scientists have attempted to map the human cell since the first microscope was invented more than 400 years ago. But many components of the cell still remain uncharted. /news/2025-04-interactive-human-cell-reveals-previously.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 09 Apr 2025 11:00:02 EDT news663414962 While it may be an unfamiliar sensation to humans, electroreception is relatively commonplace in the animal kingdom. Sharks, bees and even the platypus all share this ability to detect electric fields in their environment. /news/2025-04-scientists-fruit-fly-larvae-electric.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 09 Apr 2025 10:35:06 EDT news663413702 Monash researchers have discovered that swimming sperm create swirling fluid vortices—shaped like rolling corkscrews—giving them an extra boost in the race to the egg. /news/2025-04-sperm-dont.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 08 Apr 2025 13:07:00 EDT news663336416 A new way to watch catalytic reactions happen at the molecular level in real time could lead to better fundamental understanding and planning of the important reactions used in countless manufacturing processes every day. /news/2025-04-molecular-technique-reveals-catalytic-grain.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Tue, 08 Apr 2025 11:41:21 EDT news663331276 Drug-carrying DNA aptamers can deliver a one-two punch to leukemia by precisely targeting the elusive cancer stem cells that seed cancer relapses, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign report. /news/2025-04-drug-aptamers-leukemia-stem-cells.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 03 Apr 2025 15:56:57 EDT news662914613