Reducing the amount of agricultural sprays used by farmers — including fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides — could cut down the amount of polluting runoff that ends up in the environment while at the same time reducing farmers’ costs and…
Category: 5. Biology
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C. diff uses toxic compound to fuel growth advantage
The pathogen C. diff — the most common cause of health care-associated infectious diarrhea — can use a compound that kills the human gut’s resident microbes to survive and grow, giving it a competitive advantage in the infected gut.
A team led…
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Scientists unlock frogs' antibacterial secrets to combat superbugs
Engineers have derived potent new antibiotics from a frog’s secretions. The new molecules demonstrated capabilities on par with existing last-resort antibiotics, without harming human cells or beneficial gut bacteria.
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Insecticides may contribute to bigger problems with certain weeds
Insecticides may help growers hoping to protect their crops from harmful insects, but they also may contribute to a larger amount of some weeds, according to a study led by researchers at Penn State.
The study — published in the journal PeerJ –…
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Curiosity finds largest-ever organic molecules on Mars
The Mars Curiosity rover’s onboard mini-lab has helped confirm the existence of the largest organic molecules ever found on the Red Planet. The trio of long-chain compounds preserved in Martian soil are believed to be the remnants of…
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Scientists find links between bipolar disorder and rare loss-of-function variants in two genes
Scientists at deCODE genetics, a subsidiary of Amgen, reveal today in Nature Genetics associations between bipolar disorder and rare loss-of-function variants in two genes.
Bipolar disorder is characterized by extreme mood swings,…
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How Fast Is Your Immune System Aging? Scientists Just Built a Clock To Find Out
The HZI team has developed an AI-powered computer model that, for the first time, reveals the aging process at the cellular level. As we age, our immune system ages as well. We become more susceptible to infections, vaccinations become less…
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Research identifies pressure-sensing protein behind gut motility
After every meal, the intestines perform an action called peristalsis – moving food through their hollow interiors with coordinated contractions and relaxations of the smooth muscle.
For more than a century, scientists have known…
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ELRIG announces Prof Rory Johnson and Dr Shalini Andersson as keynote speakers at Therapeutic Oligonucleotides 2025
ELRIG, a not-for-profit, volunteer-led organization for the drug discovery community, today announced the keynote speakers for Therapeutic Oligonucleotides 2025 taking place at the AstraZeneca R&D site in Gothenburg, Sweden from…
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The Tentacled Microbes That Might Have Sparked Complex Life
New research sheds light on one of the biggest questions in biology: where did complex life come from? The answer may lie with Asgard archaea, a group of ancient single-celled microbes that share surprising similarities with more complex…
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