North Carolina State University researchers have uncovered how a complex network of transcription factors switch wood formation genes on and off. Understanding this transcriptional regulatory network has applications for modifying wood properties for timber, paper and biofuels, as well as making forest trees more disease- and pest-resistant. “We’re building a complete story, so to speak,…
Consumer preference or aversion to wines made from native grapes — such as Concord, Niagara and Catawba, which are grown in North America — may depend on early exposure to the fruits’ sweet, ultra “grapey” taste and aroma, according to researchers who conducted sensory tests with wine drinkers in Pennsylvania and California. That strong grapey…
Human disturbance reduces forest density, biomass, and richness of species in sacred church forests of northern Ethiopia, according to new research by Catherine L. Cardelús of Colgate University in Hamilton, NY, and colleagues. These findings appear in PLOS ONE. Due to land-use changes, such as roads and agriculture, forested area that once covered much of…
People with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) live with frequent, miserable episodes of abdominal pain, diarrhea and in severe cases, rectal bleeding. Standard treatments are aimed at directly suppressing inflammation, but many patients find little relief from such an approach. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found a compound that…
The health of coral reefs can be impacted as much by the diversity of fish that graze on them as by the amount of fish that do so, according to a new study by scientists at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences. In the Science Advances paper, the researchers untangle and unveil the powerful effects that…
A team of scientists from the UK and China have uncovered new evidence, using recently-discovered 25-million-year-old fossilised palm leaves, that Tibet’s geography was not as ‘high and dry’ as previously thought. The new research, co-authored by academics from the University of Bristol’s School of Geographical Sciences, suggests that central Tibet must have been no higher…
A team led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators has found that activity of an important signaling pathway increases with aging and with heart failure. In their report published in Science Translational Medicine, they describe evidence from both humans and animal models that increased activin type II receptor (ActRII) activity correlates with worsening heart failure…
It takes King Curtis less than half a minute into “Memphis Soul Stew,” his best-remembered song, to really get a groove going. When it does, it doesn’t let go. According to the lyrics of the 1967 hit, the ingredients that make up a good groove are simple: “half a teacup of bass” and “a pound…
Many people set up hummingbird feeders in their yards to nurture and watch these high-energy pollinators. But could the sugar water they provide be impacting these tiny feathered friends? A study led by the University of California, Davis, is one of the first to address the potential for sugar water from hummingbird feeders to act…
Generating comprehensive molecular images of organs and tumors in living organisms can be performed at ultra-fast speed using a new deep learning approach to image reconstruction developed by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The research team’s new technique has the potential to vastly improve the quality and speed of imaging in live subjects and was…