I refer to it as sculpting with light.
A new study led by Stanford Medicine scientists found that certain changes in neural activity predicted which patients would benefit from a type of cognitive behavioral therapy.
Fourier Intelligence launches GR-2, enhancing humanoid robotics with customer-driven upgrades for intuitive AI interactions.
Three new papers refute claims for the assembly theory of molecular complexity being claimed as a new “theory of everything.”
It includes all ~50 million connections between nearly 140,000 neurons in the brain of a fruit fly.
Sci. Adv. 10, eadp5805 (2024). DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adp5805
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Inside every cell, inside every nucleus, your continued existence depends on an incredibly complicated dance. Proteins are constantly wrapping and unwrapping DNA, and even minor missteps can lead to cancer. A new study from the University of Chicago reveals a previously unknown part of this dance—one with significant implications for human health.
In the study, published Oct. 2 in Nature, a team of scientists led by UChicago Prof. Chuan He, in collaboration with University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Prof. Mingjiang Xu, found that RNA plays a significant role in how DNA is packaged and stored in your cells, via a gene known as TET2. The paper is titled “RNA m5C oxidation by TET2 regulates chromatin state and leukaemogenesis.”
This pathway also appears to explain a long-standing puzzle about why so many cancers and other disorders involve TET2-related mutations—and suggests a set of new targets for treatments.
Unlocking the complexities of the fruit fly brain is a crucial step toward understanding the human brain. Fruit flies share many genetic similarities with humans, making them a valuable model organism for studying brain functions as well as diseases.
“An estimated 75% of human genes related to diseases have homologs in the fly genome,” Sebastian Seung, co-leader of the research team, told Interesting Engineering (IE).
“We’ve long known about the molecular similarities between fly and human brains. We have been slower to realize that there are also similarities at the circuit level, revealed by examining patterns of connectivity. We now know that fly circuits for olfaction, vision, and navigation have architectural similarities with mammalian circuits for the same functions,” Seung added.
The team says that DNA — known for its stability and density — could be an ideal candidate for MRI data storage.
Brain MRI scans provide invaluable insights into our bodies.
Interestingly, the team successfully encoded 11.28 megabytes of brain MRI data into roughly 250,000 DNA sequences. This translates to a data density of 2.39 bits per base.
A theoretical analysis from researchers at Japan’s largest scientific research agency, RIKEN, suggests that intermediate energy heavy-ion collisions can give birth to the strongest electromagnetic fields ever observed.
Heavy ion collisions involve colliding large atomic nuclei at high velocities. Such collisions generate strong electric fields for a brief period, enabling scientists to study behaviors and phenomena that are otherwise remain hidden.