News by Subject Medicine & Health

How old is your tail-wagging bundle of joy in human years? According to the well-known "rule of paw," one dog year is the equivalent of 7 years. Now, in a study published July 2, in the journal Cell Systems, scientists say it's wrong. Dogs are much older than we think, and researchers devised a more accurate formula to calculate a dog's age based on the chemical changes in the DNA as organisms grow old.

Cyanobacteria hardly need any nutrients and use the energy of sunlight. Bathers are familiar with these microorganisms as they often occur in waters. A group of researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) has discovered that the multicellular species Phormidium lacuna can be genetically modified by natural transformation and could thus produce substances such as ethanol or hydrogen. They present their results in the online scientific journal PLOS ONE (DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone. 0234440).

Motile sperm are difficult to collect with a conventional cell sorter because they are vulnerable to physical damage. A Japanese research collaboration has developed a technique using a cell sorter with microfluidic chip technology to reduce cell damage and improve in vitro fertilization rates. This research is expected to increase in vitro fertilization rates to improve production of experimental animals and livestock, and could be used as a fertility treatment in reproductive medicine.

Problems with brain folding are linked with neurological conditions like autism, anorexia and schizophrenia, but there are currently no ways to detect, prevent or treat misfolding. New research offers genetic insights into the folding process, an important step towards developing potential treatments.

Infant marsupials and monotremes use a connection between their ear and jaw bones shortly after birth to enable them to drink their mothers' milk, new findings in eLife reveal.