News by Subject Biology

In a new pair of papers, researchers from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) explore ways for computers to help doctors make better medical decisions.

For the first time, researchers are using proteomics to examine proteins and peptides in saliva in order to accurately detect exposure to Zika virus. With 70 countries and territories reporting evidence of mosquito-borne Zika virus transmission, there is an increased need for a rapid and effective test for the virus. This study, published online today in the Journal of Dental Research (JDR), offers a new, quicker and more cost-effect way to test for the virus.

Scientists have pinpointed how a tiny protein seems to make the deadly Ebola virus particularly contagious.

The study was based on observations that the more successful crops in areas typically affected by drought are usually protected by a thicker layer of leaf wax than other plants.

Fewer trips to the dentist may be in your future, and you have mussels to thank.

Not much is known about stem cell metabolism, but a new study from the Children's Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern has found that stem cells take up unusually high levels of vitamin C, which then regulates their function and suppresses the development of leukemia.

In The Plant Cell, UMass Amherst molecular biologist Elizabeth Vierling reports that heat-stressed plants not only need to produce new proteins to survive the stress, they need to make them right away. 'We found that a delay of even six hours of new protein translation will inhibit optimal growth and reproduction. The plants might not outright die, but they are severely impaired without the rapid synthesis of these new proteins.'

Gut microbes have been in the news lately. Recent studies show they can influence human health, behavior, and certain neurological disorders, such as autism. But just how do they communicate with the brain? Results from a new study suggest a pathway of communication between certain gut bacteria and brain metabolites, by way of a compound in the blood known as cortisol. And unexpectedly, the finding provides a potential mechanism to explain the characteristics of autism.