Red Blood Cells Keep Remodeling For An Entire Week
Professor Giampaolo Minetti and colleagues found that young human red blood cells keep reshaping their membrane lipids and proteins for at least a week in circulation, far longer than assumed.
Field
Life Sciences
Molecular biology, genetics, microbiology, ecology and animal health.
Enzyme TREX2 causes most mutations in lab-grown cells lacking mismatch repair
Professor Paul Hasty's team found that the enzyme TREX2 drives most spontaneous mutations in lab-grown mouse stem cells and human cancer cells lacking mismatch repair, and removing it cut mutations.
Beyond the Tag: Photo-ID for Threatened Turtles in Venezuela
María Gabriela Sandoval and Dr. Hector Barrios-Garrido found that matching photos of facial scale patterns can identify individual green turtles, with matching software proving fast and accurate alongside expert checks.
This Puppy Vaccine Succeeded When the Others Fell Short
Using a design that pairs each vaccinated puppy with an unvaccinated companion, Dr. Jacqueline Pearce's team found parvovirus vaccines differed in overcoming maternal antibody, with every Nobivac DP PLUS puppy responding.
The Body Switch That Can Decide Life or Death
Using experiments and simulations, Dr. Gonzalo Izaguirre identified an internal lock in antithrombin that keeps it inactive until heparin binds, suggesting routes to anticoagulants less reliant on heparin.
The Most Common Antler Abnormality: A Misunderstood Disease?
Dr. Farkas Sükösd's team identified a previously unrecognised inflammatory disease of the antler base, linked to poor healing after antlers are cast, that underlies many antler deformities in Hungarian deer.
How Many Fish Are Born Each Year
Dr. Ji He and Dr. Charles Madenjian found that longitudinal analysis and catch-curve regression gave closely matching estimates of lake trout year-class strength from Lake Huron survey data.
Tiny spider embryos unlock the mystery of body building in nature
Dr. Yasuko Akiyama-Oda's team used single-nucleus sequencing of house spider embryos to rebuild the head-to-tail pattern of developing body segments from gene activity data alone.
Glioblastoma Breakthrough: Mutation May Improve Patient Outcomes
Dr. Carmen Balana's team found that glioblastoma patients whose tumors carried the C250T TERT promoter mutation lived longer than those with the commoner C228T mutation, in a retrospective analysis.
Hidden waves inside cells may hold secrets to body repair
In a review, Dr. Jiro Takito and Dr. Naoko Nonaka propose that waves of the protein actin are a shared principle by which immune cells and bone-resorbing cells build dynamic structures.
Non-Invasive Test Identifies Crucial Genetic Markers in Cancer
Professor Marco Giannetto's team built a portable magnetic-bead test that picks out a single-letter change in the cancer-linked KRAS gene in diluted human plasma samples.
Your Gut Bacteria: A Hidden Epigenetic Regulator of Your Immune System
Professor Alika Maunakea's team reviews how gut microbes and their products, such as short-chain fatty acids, may reshape human gene regulation through DNA and RNA methylation, affecting immunity and disease risk.
The Dark Genome: How Noncoding RNAs Cause Cancer
Dr. Amil Shah argues in a perspective paper that disruptions to the noncoding RNA regulatory network, rather than protein-coding mutations alone, push cells into stable cancer states.