TWO PROTEINS SLOW DOWN THE TRAIN OF DNA REPLICATION IN DROSOPHILA

Jared Nordman, assistant professor of biological sciences at Vanderbilt, said scientists already understood the amount of DNA replicated had to do with where the duplication process started and ended – akin to a train carrying passengers from point A to point B. The train's starting point and destination are important, but so is its speed. When it comes to DNA replication, that area hasn't been explored as broadly. "We knew that the Suppressor of Underreplication (SUUR) protei...

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ARTIFICIAL AND BIOLOGICAL CELLS WORK TOGETHER AS MINI CHEMICAL FACTORIES

Researchers have fused living and non-living cells for the first time in a way that allows them to work together, paving the way for new applications. The system, created by a team from Imperial College London, encapsulates biological cells within an artificial cell. Using this, researchers can harness the natural ability of biological cells to process chemicals while protecting them from the environment....
IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON
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WAVES OF FLUID BATHE THE SLEEPING BRAIN, PERHAPS TO CLEAR WASTE

While humans sleep, huge waves of the cerebrospinal fluid that envelops the brain rhythmically flow in and out of the organ, according to a new study published today (October 31) in Science. The authors show that these CSF dynamics are connected to slow waves of neuronal activity, which are characteristic of deep sleep, and corresponding oscillations in the brain’s blood volume. Coupled with recent indications that CSF clears waste products from the brain, the findings shed light on the be...

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GENE DRIVES HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO SUPPRESS MOSQUITO POPULATIONS, BUT RESISTANT MOSQUITOES CROP UP

Researchers successfully built a gene drive to reduce female fertility in the mosquito that spreads malaria, but mutations gradually arose that blocked the spread of the new genes. Tony Nolan of Imperial College London, UK, and colleagues report these findings in a new paper in PLOS Genetics....
PHYS
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POWERS OF ATTRACTION COULD DECIMATE DEADLY STARFISH

An American who fell in love with both the Great Barrier Reef and his wife via The University of Queensland has led a breakthrough discovery that could protect one of the Seven Natural Wonders. Husband-and-wife Professor Bernard Degnan and Associate Professor Sandie Degnan, believe they, along with research colleagues, can use the powers of attraction to decimate one of the reef's fiercest enemies....
PHYS.ORG
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WHERE'S THE LAB-GROWN BEEF?

More than a decade ago, Discover covered the concept of a coffee-maker-like device that could, overnight, turn a few animal muscle stem cells into a nice hunk of meat....
DISCOVERMAGAZINE
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