News by Subject Biology

Scientists have uncovered a process in cells that prevents DNA from becoming tangled, which resembles a method used to control climbers' ropes.

Obesity can break down our protective blood brain barrier resulting in problems with learning and memory, scientists report.

NTU Singapore scientists have developed a sustainable way to demonstrate a new genetic modification that can increase the yield of natural oil in seeds by up to 15% in laboratory conditions.

What will a three-degree-warmer world look like? When experiencing stress or damage from various sources, plants use chloroplast-to-nucleus communication to regulate gene expression and help them cope. Now, Salk Institute researchers have found that GUN1 -- a gene that integrates numerous chloroplast-to-nucleus retrograde signaling pathways -- also plays an important role in how proteins are made in damaged chloroplasts, which provides a new insight into how plants respond to stress.

New evidence points to a key role for a molecular switch called VGLL3 in autoimmune diseases, and the major gap in incidence between women and men. Building on past research showing that women have more VGLL3 in their skin cells than men, a team studied it further in mice. They show that having too much VGLL3 in skin cells pushes the immune system into overdrive, leading to an autoimmune response and symptoms similar to lupus.

Named after the dark stripes that form inside potatoes after they are cut and fried, zebra chip disease is a potentially devastating affliction that can result in yield losses up to 100% for farmers. Swisher et al. identified a new haplotype, designated haplotype F, that causes zebra chip symptoms in potato. Prior to this discovery, 'only haplotypes A and B were known to cause zebra chip symptoms in potato,' explains Swisher.