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Biology

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 30-Apr-2025 09:08 ET (30-Apr-2025 13:08 GMT/UTC)

Starting points for the control of protein synthesis

Universitatsklinikum Bonn
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The research field of "cellular IRESes" lay dormant for decades, as there was no uniform standard of reliable methods for the clear characterization of these starting points for the ribosome-mediated control of gene expression. Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn, in collaboration with Stanford University in California (USA), have now developed a toolbox as a new gold standard for this field. They hope to discover strong IRES elements that are directly relevant for synthetic biology and for application in emerging mRNA therapeutics. The results of their work have been published in The EMBO Journal.

Mere whiff of penguin poo pushes krill to take frantic evasive action

Frontiers
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists have shown for the first time that Antarctic krill show a stereotypical reaction in the presence of guano from Adélie penguins: they swim faster and make more turns over greater angles. It is unknown to what kind of water-borne chemical cues they respond, but the authors speculate that this behavior might be a universal escape response to the excreta of predators, irrespective of species.

Journal: Frontiers in Marine Science
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation

How an organelle evolves

Heinrich-Heine University Duesseldorf
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Organelles in cells were originally often independent cells, which were incorporated by host cells and lost their independence in the course of evolution. A team of biologists headed by Professor Dr Eva Nowack at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) are examining the way in which this assimilation process occurs and how quickly. They now describe their findings about an intermediate stage in this process in the scientific journal Science Advances.

Journal: Science Advances

What happens in the male mouse brain during sex

Cell Press
Peer-Reviewed Publication

To uncover what drives sexual behavior in animals, researchers studied the brain activity of male mice throughout the series of actions involved in sex leading up to ejaculation. Their results, publishing in the Cell Press journal Neuron on March 19, show that the intricate dance in the brain area responsible for pleasure between two chemicals—dopamine and acetylcholine—controls the progression of sexual behavior. These findings could inspire treatments for disorders like premature ejaculation.

Journal: Neuron
Funder: JSPS KAKENHI, JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas, "Willdynamics", AMED, WPI program from Japan’s MEXT, New Cornerstone Science Foundation

TNIP1 knockdown induces the growth arrest and apoptosis of breast cancer cells by activating the NF-κB pathway

Xia & He Publishing Inc.
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality among women worldwide. Tumor necrosis factor α-induced protein 3-interacting protein 1 (TNIP1) is a ubiquitin-binding protein that is widely expressed, but its function in breast cancer cells remains unknown. This study aimed to elucidate the molecular mechanism of TNIP1 regulation in the proliferation and apoptosis of breast cancer cells.

Journal: Oncology Advances

Pacific oyster may colonize the Baltic Sea

University of Gothenburg
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The invasive Pacific oyster have adapted to life in less salty seas and are reproducing off the coast of Skåne, although having been there for less than ten years. This discovery by researchers from the University of Gothenburg suggests that the oysters could colonise the western Baltic Sea in the future.

Journal: Molecular Ecology

Euclid opens data treasure trove, offers glimpse of deep fields

Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
Reports and Proceedings

Germany’s members of the Euclid Consortium have played a significant role in producing the mission’s first large set of survey data which the European Space Agency has just released. The data includes stunning images of deep fields with a breathtaking number of 26 million galaxies, many showing their detailed structures. More than 380,000 galaxies have been characterized according to their shapes and distances. Nevertheless, this impressive milestone is only a foretaste of what we can expect in the coming years.

Funder: German Space Agency in the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), European Space Agency

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