Nearly 30 years after rye pollen molecules were shown to slow tumor growth in animals, scientists have finally determined their exact three-dimensional structures.
Category: biotech/medical – Page 42
Honest or deceptive? What a new signaling model means for animal displays and human claims
For decades, scientists have tried to answer a simple question: why be honest when deception is possible? Whether it is a peacock’s tail, a stag’s roar, or a human’s résumé, signals are means to influence others by transmitting information and advantages can be gained by cheating, for example by exaggeration. But if lying pays, why does communication not collapse?
The dominant theory for honest signals has long been the handicap principle, which claims that signals are honest because they are costly to produce. It argues that a peacock’s tail, for example, is an honest signal of a male’s condition or quality to potential mates because it is so costly to produce. Only high-quality birds could afford such a handicap, wasting resources growing it, demonstrating their superb quality to females, whereas poor quality males cannot afford such ornaments.
A new synthesis by Szabolcs Számadó, Dustin J. Penn and István Zachar (from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna and HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research, respectively) challenges that logic. They argue that honesty does not depend on how costly or wasteful a signal is, but rather on the trade-offs between investments and benefits, faced by signalers.
Quick test can curb antimicrobial resistance, identifying bacteria and antibiotic susceptibility in under 40 minutes
McGill researchers have developed a diagnostic system capable of identifying bacteria—and determining which antibiotics can stop them—in just 36 minutes, a major advance in the global effort to curb antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Current clinical testing methods typically take 48 to 72 hours, leaving physicians without timely guidance.
The researchers say this innovation arrives at a critical moment due to the urgency of the AMR crisis, which arises from bacteria developing resistance to antibiotics.
“We are losing the race against antimicrobial resistance,” said Sara Mahshid, associate professor in the Department of Bioengineering and lead author on the Nature Nanotechnology study. “Every year, more than one million people die, more than from HIV/AIDS or malaria, and delayed treatment is a major driver. Rapid testing isn’t a luxury; it’s the missing link between diagnosis and survival.”
From cryogenic to red-hot: Optical temperature sensing from 77 K to 873 K
An international collaboration involving researchers from the University of Innsbruck has developed a novel luminescent material that enables particularly robust and precise optical temperature sensing across an exceptionally broad temperature range.
Optical luminescence thermometry has been gaining increasing attention, as it allows contactless temperature measurement even under extreme conditions. A key concept in this field is so-called ratiometric Boltzmann thermometry, in which the intensity ratio of two thermally coupled emission transitions directly follows the temperature. The performance of such thermometers crucially depends on the electronic structure of the luminescent ion and its incorporation into the host structure.
In a recent study, the two first authors, Gülsüm Kinik from the research group of Prof. Markus Suta at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf and Ingo Widmann from the research group of Prof. Hubert Huppertz at the Department of General, Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry at the University of Innsbruck, reported the compound Al0.993 Cr0.007 B4 O6 N, which stands out as an exceptionally high-performance luminescence thermometer. The material is based on Cr3+ ions embedded in an almost ideal octahedral coordination environment, resulting in a particularly well-defined energy level scheme.
‘Zombie’ Remnants of COVID-19 Hunt In Packs And Kill Our Immune Cells
‘Zombie’ coronavirus fragments not only help drive inflammation in long-COVID, but also destroy our immune cells.
A recent study by an international team of more than 30 authors reveals how the destruction of the virus within our body leaves dangerous protein fragments that target specific immune cells, which may explain some of the debilitating consequences millions of people with long-COVID now face.
“These fragments target a specific kind of curvature on the membranes of cells,” explains bioengineer Gerard Wong from the University of California, Los Angeles. “Cells that are spiky, that are star-shaped, or that have lots of tentacles end up getting preferentially suppressed.”
A mesoscale optogenetics system for precise and robust stimulation of the primate cortex
Li et al. present a microLED-based mesoscale optogenetic system for centimeter-scale, million-pixel primate cortical stimulation. Optogenetically evoked saccades with accurate retinotopic organization remain stable for over a year, demonstrating precise, robust, and durable neuromodulation and charting a path toward next-generation optical brain-computer interfaces and visual prostheses.
Breathing in the past: How museums can use biomolecular archaeology to bring ancient scents to life
Recent advances in biomolecular archaeology have revealed that ancient objects can retain the molecular fingerprints of past aromatic practices. These molecules provide unprecedented insight into ancient perfumery, medicine, ritual, and daily life.
In a publication in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology, an interdisciplinary research team led by archaeo-chemist Barbara Huber (Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology and the University of Tübingen), shows how museums can use this molecular evidence to engage audiences with the sensory worlds of the past. The team combined their expertise to create a new workflow for converting biomolecular data into accessible, visitor-ready olfactory recreations.
“This research represents a significant shift in how scientific results can be shared beyond academic publications,” explains Huber.
Kevin Perrott on his long longevity journey
Kevin Perrott founded OpenCures, has been an adjunct professor at the University of Alberta, co-founded Oisin Biotechnologies, and ran a gym.