Ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules may be best known for their job ferrying the genetic information encoded in DNA to a cell’s protein factories, but these molecules aren’t just a middleman for protein production. In fact, some RNA molecules don’t code for proteins at all and serve various other important functions in cells, such as regulating gene expression and catalyzing chemical reactions. However, the functions of many non-coding RNAs remain mysterious.
In research published in New Phytologist, investigators reveal that tomato ripening is regulated by the same mechanism that contributes to humans’ and animals’ life-and health spans.
The mechanism, called autophagy, regulates cellular recycling and operates in all lifeforms apart from bacteria. This latest work shows that autophagy affects tomato fruit ripening by controlling the production of ethylene. Ethylene is the primary hormone that controls ripening in many fruits such as apples, bananas, mangoes, avocados, and tomatoes.
To assess the role of autophagy in ripening, the team of researchers from the Volcani Institute, in Israel, and the University of Tübingen, in Germany, generated tomato plants that allow a temporal genetic repression of autophagy, specifically in mature non-ripe fruits.
Bollmann et al. track reactivated CA1 assemblies representing spatial memories during 16–20 h of sleep/rest. Assemblies initially reflect recently learned spatial memories but are gradually transformed into those seen during the memory recall session following rest. Whereas slow-wave sleep accelerates the assembly drift, REM epochs counteract it.
As they age, some people find it harder to understand speech in noisy environments. Now, University at Buffalo researchers have identified the area in the brain, called the insula, that shows significant changes in people who struggle with speech in noise.
The findings, published in the journal Brain and Language, contribute to the growing link between hearing loss and cognitive impairment leading to dementia. Previous research has separately established connections between hearing difficulties and dementia, as well as insula abnormalities and cognitive decline.
The insulae are two complicated structures that interact with the brain’s frontal lobe, which is responsible for higher-level cognitive function. The insulae integrate sensory, emotional and cognitive information.
The researchers have developed a blood test capable of detecting cancers, the ways cancer resists treatments and tissue injury caused by non-cancerous conditions.
The new test analyzes RNA molecules in the bloodstream. This type of RNA is called cell-free RNA because the tiny molecules no longer inhabit a cell. There are always fragments of both DNA and RNA floating in blood — byproducts of natural cell death from all types of tissues and organs throughout the body, including cancerous tumors.
The researchers spent more than six years developing novel methods to target messenger RNA in blood and then used it to identify the presence of cancers at different stages, to track resistance to cancer treatment, and to monitor severity of injury to healthy tissue.
Posted in genetics, health | Leave a Comment on QALSODY™ (tofersen injection) Receives Conditional Marketing Authorization from Health Canada as the First ALS Treatment Targeting a Genetic Cause
/CNW/ — Biogen Canada Inc. announced today that Health Canada has issued marketing authorization with conditions (Notice of Compliance with Conditions (NOC/c))…
Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have uncovered an unexpected interface layer that may be hindering the performance of superconducting qubits, the building blocks of quantum computers.
Improved organoid models uncover potential treatments for endocrine-related conditions and reveal new insights into gastrointestinal diseases.
A new technique that uses soundwaves to separate materials for recycling could help prevent potentially harmful chemicals leaching into the environment.
Researchers at the University of Leicester have achieved a major milestone in fuel cell recycling, advancing techniques to efficiently separate valuable catalyst materials and fluorinated polymer membranes (PFAS) from catalyst-coated membranes (CCMs). The articles are published in RSC Sustainability and Ultrasonic Sonochemistry.
This development addresses critical environmental challenges posed by PFAS—often referred to as “forever chemicals”—which are known to contaminate drinking water and have serious health implications. The Royal Society of Chemistry has urged government intervention to reduce PFAS levels in UK water supplies.
Researchers at the University of Stuttgart have used microbial processes to produce environmentally friendly bio-concrete from urine as part of a “wastewater-bio-concrete-fertilizer” value chain. With the project extension granted by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts, the focus now shifts to product optimization and practical testing.
Concrete is booming. Around 4 billion tons of cement are processed into concrete and used worldwide every year. With serious consequences for the environment.
“Conventional cement is typically fired at temperatures around 1,450 degrees. This consumes a lot of energy and releases large quantities of greenhouse gases,” says Professor Lucio Blandini, Head of the Institute for Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design (ILEK) at the University of Stuttgart.