đ Part of NASAâs Perseverance Mars Rover mission is to survey Marsâ geology for signs of ancient life, but what does that entail? Where will she search?
Find out in this episode of #EZScience with Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen of NASA and Dr. Ellen Stofan of the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution: https://youtu.be/McqMigM_YG8
Who knows what the future will bring? Well, Alan Couzens just might. In this article, he takes a look at current uses of artificial intelligence in sports and tells us where AI technology is headed and how it will help coaches in the next 10 years.
Plant viruses infect many economically important crops, including wheat, cotton, maize, cassava, and other vegetables. These viruses pose a serious threat to agriculture worldwide, as decreases in cropland area per capita may cause production to fall short of that required to feed the increasing world population. Under these circumstances, conventional strategies can fail to control rapidly evolving and emerging plant viruses. Genome-engineering strategies have recently emerged as promising tools to introduce desirable traits in many eukaryotic species, including plants. Among these genome engineering technologies, the CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats)/CRISPR-associated 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) system has received special interest because of its simplicity, efficiency, and reproducibility. Recent studies have used CRISPR/Cas9 to engineer virus resistance in plants, either by directly targeting and cleaving the viral genome, or by modifying the host plant genome to introduce viral immunity. Here, we briefly describe the biology of the CRISPR/Cas9 system and plant viruses, and how different genome engineering technologies have been used to target these viruses. We further describe the main findings from recent studies of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated viral interference and discuss how these findings can be applied to improve global agriculture. We conclude by pinpointing the gaps in our knowledge and the outstanding questions regarding CRISPR/Cas9-mediated viral immunity.
Keywords: plant virus, CRISPR/Cas9, genome engineering, geminivirus, virus resistance.
In the context of the rapidly growing global population, food security has emerged as one of the major challenges facing our generation (Cheeseman, 2016). The global population has increased by 60%, but per capita production of grains has fallen worldwide in the last 20 years (Suweis et al., 2015). If the population growth rate, which is 1.13 percent per year for 20161 persists, the world population will double again within a mere 50 years, and it is estimated that food production will need to at least double till 2050 to meet demand (Suweis et al., 2015). Increases in food production per unit of land have not kept pace with increases in population and cropland area per capita has fallen by more than half since 1960 (Cheeseman, 2016).
An optical fiber made of agar has been produced at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in the state of SĂŁo Paulo, Brazil. This device is edible, biocompatible and biodegradable. It can be used in vivo for body structure imaging, localized light delivery in phototherapy or optogenetics (e.g., stimulating neurons with light to study neural circuits in a living brain), and localized drug delivery.
Another possible application is the detection of microorganisms in specific organs, in which case the probe would be completely absorbed by the body after performing its function.
The research project, which was supported by SĂŁo Paulo Research FoundationâFAPESP, was led by Eric Fujiwara, a professor in UNICAMPâs School of Mechanical Engineering, and Cristiano Cordeiro, a professor in UNICAMPâs Gleb Wataghin Institute of Physics, in collaboration with Hiromasa Oku, a professor at Gunma University in Japan.
Scientists discover that oxytocin could be used to treat cognitive disorder like Alzheimerâs disease.
Alzheimerâs disease is a progressive disorder in which the nerve cells (neurons) in a personâs brain and the connections among them degenerate slowly, causing severe memory loss, intellectual deficiencies, and deterioration in motor skills and communication. One of the main causes of Alzheimerâs is the accumulation of a protein called amyloid ÎČ (AÎČ) in clusters around neurons in the brain, which hampers their activity and triggers their degeneration.
Studies in animal models have found that increasing the aggregation of AÎČ in the hippocampusâthe brainâs main learning and memory centerâcauses a decline in the signal transmission potential of the neurons therein. This degeneration affects a specific trait of the neurons, called âsynaptic plasticity,â which is the ability of synapses (the site of signal exchange between neurons) to adapt to an increase or decrease in signaling activity over time. Synaptic plasticity is crucial to the development of learning and cognitive functions in the hippocampus. Thus, AÎČ and its role in causing cognitive memory and deficits have been the focus of most research aimed at finding treatments for Alzheimerâs.
Now, advancing this research effort, a team of scientists from Japan, led by Professor Akiyoshi Saitoh from the Tokyo University of Science, has looked at oxytocin, a hormone conventionally known for its role in the female reproductive system and in inducing the feelings of love and well-being. âOxytocin was recently found to be involved in regulating learning and memory performance, but so far, no previous study deals with the effect of oxytocin on AÎČ-induced cognitive impairment,â Prof Saitoh says. Realizing this, Prof Saitohâs group set out to connect the dots. Their findings are published in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communication.
face_with_colon_three circa 2016.
Tough âwater bearsâ defy intense radiation by apparently wrapping their genetic material in a bizarre protein that can also protect human cells.
Itâs been a long time since thereâs been anything like âregular orderâ in the congressional appropriations process: individual bills passed by the House and Senate, their differences resolved in conference to produce a final version thatâs signed into law before the beginning of the fiscal year October 1. Instead, there are usually stopgap funding bills, called continuing resolutions, that extend for weeks or months before a massive omnibus bill, combining up to a dozen different bills, is eventually passed.
Fiscal year 2021 is not going to be the year regular order returns to the appropriations process. The pandemic took hold in the early phases of the appropriations process, just as Congress was starting its usual series of hearings on various parts of the administrationâs budget proposal released in early February. Congress instead devoted its attention to series of relief packages during the limited time it was in session this spring.
With no hearings about NASAâs budget proposal by either House or Senate appropriators, the first sign of their views about the agencyâs budget had to wait until a few weeks ago. On July 7, the House Appropriations Committee released its draft of the commerce, justice, and science (CJS) spending bill that includes NASA. That bill provides $22.6 billion for NASA, the same amount the agency received in 2020. The White House, by comparison, asked for $25.2 billion for NASA.
Scientists uncover a potential mechanism behind sleep-induced memory changes.
The morphing structure of the brainâs âcartilage cellsâ may regulate how memories change while you snooze, according to new research in eNeuro.
Sleep lets the body rest, but not the brain. During sleep, the brain accounts for a day of learning by making strong memories stronger and weak memories weaker, a process known as memory consolidation. But changing memories requires changing synapses, the connections between neurons. Sleep-induced changes need to overcome perineuronal nets, cartilage-like sheaths that not only surround and protect neurons, but also prevent changes in synapses.
