News by Subject Biology

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have shown that different strains of the same bacterial pathogen can be distinguished by a machine learning analysis of their growth dynamics alone, which can then also accurately predict other traits such as resistance to antibiotics. The demonstration could point to methods for identifying diseases and predicting their behaviors that are faster, simpler, less expensive and more accurate than current standard techniques.

Researchers at CeMM have developed knowledge-primed neural networks (KPNNs), a new method that combines the power of deep learning with the interpretability of biological network models. KPNNs learn multiple layers of protein signaling and gene regulation from single-cell RNA-seq data, thereby providing a much-needed boost in our ability to convert massive single-cell atlas data into biological insights. These findings have now been published in the renowned scientific journal Genome Biology.

The mechanism unveiled triggers a mutation fog, causing hundreds of mutations in each tumor, which spread through the genome of lung, head-and-neck and breast cancers. Researchers from the Genome Data Science Lab have identified the antiviral APOBEC3A enzyme as the major cause of this new type of hypermutation. Published in Nature Genetics, the study shows how the mutation fog process generates many oncogenic "cancer driver" mutations, thus accelerating tumour development.

A new iron intervention study has determined which of the world's low-and-middle income countries would benefit from using iron-containing micronutrient powders to tackle childhood anaemia.

SARS-CoV-2 mutation rate remains low. Across Europe and Italy, the most widespread is strain G, while the L strain from Wuhan is gradually disappearing. These mutations, however, do not impinge on the process of developing effective vaccines

Metabarcoding allows scientists to extract DNA from the environment, in order to rapidly detect species inhabiting a particular habitat. While the method is a great tool that facilitates conservation activities, few studies have looked into its applicability in monitoring species' populations and their genetic diversity, which could actually be critical to assess negative trends early on. The potential of the method is confirmed in a new study, published in the peer-reviewed scholarly journal Metabarcoding & Metagenomics.

Share code and data behind the research please. It's easy, but it will have a major positive impact on progress and trust in science. That is the clear message from a new paper in PLOS Biology. An international team of ecologists found that currently, only about a quarter of the scientific papers in their field publicly shares computer code for analyses. "To make the science of ecology more transparent and reproducible, sharing is urgently needed."