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Categories: Biology: Biochemistry, Environmental: Biodiversity

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Nature has consistently inspired engineering applications. Recently, a group of researchers drew new inspirations from the vascular network and developed a new type of fluidic system named VasFluidics.

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A recent study led to the development of a powerful epigenetic editing technology. The system unlocks the ability to precisely program chromatin modifications at any specific position in the genome, to understand their causal role in transcription regulation. This innovative approach will help to investigate the role of chromatin modifications in many biological processes, and to program desired gene activity responses, which may prove useful in disease settings.

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Adjuvants make vaccines more effective, though one of the best is an expensive extract from the soap bark tree. To lower the cost and avoid the laborious extraction process from bark, synthetic biologists introduced 38 separate genes into yeast to recreate the synthesis of the active molecule, a complex chemical, QS-21, that has a terpene core and numerous sugars. This may be the longest biosynthetic pathway ever inserted into yeast.

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Two species of marine bacteria from the North Sea have established an unusual and sometimes destructive relationship to produce the important vitamin B12. The team's experiments show that the two microbial species have developed a coordinated strategy to obtain the scarce but essential vitamin.

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Scientists have confirmed the identity of an unusual, ancient and Endangered species of fish that is living in the coastal rivers of Queensland, about 1400 km north of where it was previously known to live.

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How do city residents feel about animals in their immediate surroundings? A recent study shows how different the acceptance of various wild animals in urban areas is. Important factors are the places where the animals are found and their level of popularity -- squirrels and ladybugs come out on top here. The results have important implications for urban planning and nature conservation.

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Freshwater bacteria with small genomes frequently undergo prolonged periods of adaptive stagnation. Based on genomic analyses of samples from European lakes, researchers uncovered specific evolutionary strategies that shape these bacteria's lifestyles. Understanding the evolutionary dynamics of aquatic microbial communities is key to safeguarding ecosystem services.

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An international team has found a family of natural compounds with potential as new and more effective treatments for parasitic worms. The compounds stall the unique metabolic process that worms use to survive in the human gut.

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Tracking individual enzymes during the breakdown of cellulose for biofuel production has revealed how several roadblocks slow this process when using plant material that might otherwise go to waste. The research may lead to new ways to improve the breakdown process and make the non-edible parts of plants and other plant waste, such as forestry residue, a more competitive source of biofuels.

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Chimpanzees continue to learn and hone their skills well into adulthood, a capacity that might be essential for the evolution of complex and varied tool use, according to a new study.

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Fatty liver disease often leads to chronic liver inflammation and can even result in liver cancer. Scientists have now shown in mice that intermittent fasting on a 5:2 schedule can halt this development. The fasting regime reduces the development of liver cancer in mice with pre-existing liver inflammation. The researchers identified two proteins in liver cells that are jointly responsible for the protective effect of fasting. An approved drug can partially mimic this effect.

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How well bees tolerate temperature extremes could determine their ability to persist in a changing climate. But heat tolerance varies between and within populations, so entomologists examined bee physical traits to understand how these traits interact with environmental conditions, pathogens and other factors.

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A new computational model simulating fruit fly wing development has enabled researchers to identify previously hidden mechanisms behind organ generation. An research team developed a fruit fly model to reverse engineer the mechanisms that generate organ tissue.

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Researchers have found that herpesvirus infection modifies the structure and normal function of the mitochondria in the host cell. The new information will help to understand the interaction between herpesvirus and host cells. Knowledge can be utilized in the development of viral treatments.

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The earliest stages of mammalian embryo development are like an orchestra performance, where everyone must play at the exact right moment and in perfect harmony. New research identifies one of the conductors making sense of the chaos.

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The natural vein structure found within leaves -- which has inspired the structural design of porous materials that can maximize mass transfer -- could unlock improvements in energy storage, catalysis, and sensing thanks to a new twist on a century-old biophysical law.

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Plants' ability to sense light and temperature, and their ability to adapt to climate change, hinges on free-forming structures in their cells whose function was, until now, a mystery. Researchers have now determined how these structures work on a molecular level, as well as where and how they form.

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Engineers have developed two new graph-based computational tools for tracking genomic variation within microbiomes.

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To preserve the important intertidal areas and salt marshes off our coasts for the future, we need more turbid water. That is one of the striking conclusions from a new study.

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In research that may be a step forward toward finding personalized treatments for Tourette disorder, scientists have bred mice that exhibit some of the same behaviors and brain abnormalities seen in humans with the disorder.