Biology

An implantable device has the potential to revolutionize how neuroscientists study the brain and treat diseases.

A small molecule could hold the key to tackling the protein build-up in nerve cells that occurs in several devastating neurological disorders.

Researchers observe a key gene during embryonic development in single live mouse cells for the first time, providing insight about how the precise timing of development is controlled.

New findings could lead the way towards treatments for intellectual disability in Down syndrome.

Malaria parasites transform healthy red blood cells into rigid versions of themselves that clump together, hindering the transportation of oxygen. The infectious disease affects more than 200 million people across the world and causes nearly half a million deaths every year, according to the World Health Organization’s 2018 report on malaria. Until now, however, researchers did not have a strong understanding of how the parasite so effectively infiltrated a system’s red blood cells.

Professor Dennis Yuk Ming LO and Professor Rossa Wai Kwun CHIU from the Faculty of Medicine at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) have been named the “Top 20 Translational Researchers of 2018” by the world-renowned scientific journal Nature Biotechnology. They are the only Hong Kong scientists on the list and it is the third consecutive year for Professor Lo to receive this honour.

NUS researchers found that chevron patterns in fish swimming muscles require physical forces to correctly develop, not only from genetic instruction or biochemical pathways.

Over 70% of rare disease patients and non-patients are aware of the patient registry but the participation rate accounted for less than 30%, according to a recent survey of the public’s acknowledgement of and participation in the rare disease patient registry.

A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore has found that the effective population size and genetic diversity of Singapore’s Cynopterus brachyotis, believed to remain widely unaffected by urbanisation, has shrunk significantly over the last 90 years – revealing that the current biodiversity crisis may be much broader than widely assumed, affecting even species thought to be common and tolerant of fragmentation and habitat loss.

A chemical cage suppresses the activity of a biological clock regulator in the dark and releases it with light, showing potential for future treatments of circadian-clock-related diseases.

A personal account of bonobo and chimpanzee behaviour by a renowned Japanese primatologist explains what and why we should learn from our closest relatives.

Centipedes not only walk on land but also swim in water.

Scientists in Korea find a protein that mediates the interaction between the cellular systems involved in rapid responses against foreign genes in plants

Scientists have discovered non-coding RNA has a novel role to fine-tune gene expressions during stress recovery, getting closer to uncovering a 30-year-old nuclear mystery.

Researchers from the Mechanobiology Institute at the National University of Singapore have shown that cells can attach to the fibrous protein meshwork that surrounds them only if the fibres are spaced close enough. The team’s findings can explain the abnormal motility patterns displayed by cancer cells.

Global simulations suggest plankton and fish species are showing resilience to climate change by going deeper underwater or moving to higher latitudes.

Husband and wife team, Kimishige (3 December 1925 – 6 July 2018) and Teruko Ishizaka (28 September 1926 – 4 June 2019) discovered the antibody class Immunoglobulin E (IgE) that triggers allergic reactions.

Differences in gene expression led to different bird songs between species.

Groups in Ehime University, Japan and the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), Japan have solved the crystal structure of the eukaryotic Trm7-TRm734 complex, which methylates the ribose at the first position of anticodon in tRNA. They have clarified the tRNA recognition mechanism of this complex and the functions of its subunits based on the crystal structure. This study was published in Nucleic Acids Research on October 5, 2019.

A team of researchers from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) and Karolinska Institutet has recently developed a new protein which can help increase the targeting accuracy in the genome editing process. It is believed that it would be useful for future gene therapies in human which require high precision.

Development of novel agonist antibodies to treat cancer by collaboration between academia and industry

A team of researchers at Ehime University revealed that E3 ubiquitin ligase MIB2 enhances inflammation by degrading the deubiquitinating enzyme CYLD. This finding was published on September 20 in The Journal of Biological Chemistry.

When a fly eats sugar, a single brain cell sends simultaneous messages to stimulate one hormone and inhibit another to control glucose levels in the body. Further research into this control system with remarkable precision could shed light on the neural mechanisms of diabetes and obesity in humans.

A group of neurons called the corticobasal ganglia projecting neurons are important for vocal learning in young birds, but not in adult birds, according to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Biennial ‘Primates in Peril’ Report Spurs Critical Support for Conserving Most Imperiled Species Globally.

A newly redeveloped guide is setting out to help researchers across academia tackle the online harassment some face as they share their findings with the public on some of the world’s most controversial, and vital, topics.

Jellyfish are animals that possess the unique ability to regenerate body parts. A team of Japanese scientists has now revealed the cellular mechanisms that give jellyfish these remarkable "superpowers."

A team of Japanese and Italian researchers, including from Tohoku University, have evidenced mechanically delivered projectile weapons in Europe dating to 45,000-40,000 years - more than 20,000 years than previously thought. This study, entitled "The earliest evidence for mechanically delivered projectile weapons in Europe" published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, indicated that the spearthrower and bow-and-arrow technologies allowed modern humans to hunt more successfully than Neanderthals - giving them a competitive advantage. This discovery offered important insight to understand the reasons for the replacement of Neanderthals by modern humans.

Professor Eun-Kyoung Kim’s team in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences discovered the mechanism underlying the regulation of energy metabolism by hypothalamic tanycyte. Proposed a new research direction to develop an enhanced obesity treatment.

A recent study, affiliated with South Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) has identified the sleep-promoting effects of dietary threonine, as well as its neurobiological principle.