Researchers at the San Diego branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at University of California San Diego have identified an entirely new mechanism underlying the development and structure of the nervous system during embryogenesis. The findings, publishing in the February 28, 2019 issue of Developmental Cell, focus on the dynamic coupling of microtubule…
For the first time, researchers have demonstrated a way to map and measure large-scale photonic quantum correlation with single-photon sensitivity. The ability to measure thousands of instances of quantum correlation is critical for making photon-based quantum computing practical. In Optica, The Optical Society’s journal for high impact research, a multi-institutional group of researchers reports the…
Mice with vision enhanced by nanotechnology were able to see infrared light as well as visible light, reports a study published February 28 in the journal Cell. A single injection of nanoparticles in the mice’s eyes bestowed infrared vision for up to 10 weeks with minimal side effects, allowing them to see infrared light even…
Nicotine induces widespread adverse effects on human embryonic development at the level of individual cells, researchers report February 28th in the journal Stem Cell Reports. Single-cell RNA sequencing of human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived embryoid bodies revealed that 3 weeks of nicotine exposure disrupts cell-to-cell communication, decreases cell survival, and alters the expression of genes…
The development of effective anti-androgen therapies for prostate cancer is a major scientific advance. However, some men who receive these targeted treatments are more likely to develop a deadly treatment-resistant prostate cancer subtype called neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC). No effective treatment for NEPC exists. Now, scientists from Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) have…
Vaccines that induce protective T-cell responses could protect against members across the filovirus family, according to a study published February 28 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Tomáš Hanke of the University of Oxford, Bette Korber of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and colleagues. Developing an effective vaccine against filovirus outbreaks is an important…
By studying the songs of mice from the cloud forests of Costa Rica, researchers have discovered a brain circuit that may enable the high-speed back and forth of conversation. Males of the study species, Alston’s singing mouse (Scotinomys teguina), produce songs with nearly a hundred audible notes. They challenge competitors by singing in turns, alternating…
A new review explores the different areas of the brain that process the meaning of concrete and abstract concepts. The article is published ahead of print in the Journal of Neurophysiology (JNP). The words that make up our language can be divided into two categories of concepts: concrete and abstract. Concrete words refer to things…
Researchers at The University of Manchester in the UK, led by Dr Artem Mishchenko, Prof Volodya Fal’ko and Prof Andre Geim, have discovered the quantum Hall effect in bulk graphite — a layered crystal consisting of stacked graphene layers. This is an unexpected result because the quantum Hall effect is possible only in so-called two-dimensional…
Without following a particular diet, overweight people who tracked daily food consumption using a free smartphone app lost a significant amount of weight in a new Duke University study. The results were achieved using automated, free tools, rather than expensive in-person interventions, suggesting a possible low-cost route to effective weight loss. “Free and low-cost weight…