Daran-Lapujade’s lab took human DNA (in red) encoding core functions in muscle cells, and inserted it into the DNA (chromosomes in purple) of a yeast cell (in yellow). The humanized yeast can be used as a tool for medical studies, for example in drug screening and cancer research. Credit: Ella Maru Studio / Pascale...
Two Thylacine in a cage. Credit: Wikipedia Scientists in Australia and the United States are starting a multi-million dollar project to bring the Tasmanian tiger back from extinction. The last known Tasmanian Tiger, technically named Thylacine, passed away in the 1930s. The group behind the effort claims it can accomplish this using stem cells and gene-editing technology....
Will graphene (shown) be replaced by graphyne? Credit: Forance / Adobe Stock Graphene is a "wonder material" entirely made of carbon atoms with tremendous potential in the semiconductor industry. A related molecule referred to as graphyne might be even better. Graphyne, however, is challenging to create. Now, chemists have found a way to produce it...
Credit: Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty Images A recent study published in the journal Nature suggests that when we experience surprise, our brains are more likely to be attentive. Researchers, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, discovered that a hormone called noradrenaline can impact brain activity and behavior in response to unexpected events. Noradrenaline is one of several chemicals...
Veo Robotics’ FreeMove system being tested with an ABB robot in a palletizing operation. Credit: Veo Robotics’ As the industry increasingly adopts collaborative robots (cobots) to work together with humans in manufacturing and assembly tasks, an innovation in cobot technology has emerged. This technology, based mostly on speed and separation monitoring, brings collaborative capabilities to...
Belinda Chang (back left) leads a lab that focuses on the evolutionary transition of animals' vision. Sarah Dungan (right of Chang) researched whale vision as a former member of Chang’s lab. Credit: Diana Tyszko College of Toronto researchers have clarified the evolutionary transition of whales' early ancestors from on-shore living to deep-sea foraging, recommending that these...
Several science students may imagine a ball rolling down a hill or a car skidding due to friction as prototypical examples of the systems physicists care about. However, much of modern physics consists of looking for objects and essentially invisible sensations: the small electrons of quantum physics and the particles concealed within odd steels...
Simply ten months after the initial genome sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, two mRNA vaccines were shown to provide 95% effectiveness against symptomatic infections through randomized, placebo-controlled trials of more than 74,000 individuals. That unprecedented success was partially sustained by the $10 billion governmental investment in Operation Warp Speed (OWS) in March 2020 to accelerate...
A sustainable alternative to traditional hide, the luxury fabric is carbon-neutral and also can be grown to order. California-based biotech company MycoWorks has developed a brand-new eco-friendly, vegan leather derived from fungi.The leather turns mycelium-- threads from the original structure of mushrooms-- right into a product that imitates the look also feel of animal-based leather. MycoWorks...
The complex cells of organisms known as eukaryotes, such as the animal cell pictured here, arose more than 1.5 billion years ago. Biologists have long known that back then, one simple, bacteria-like cell engulfed another, and the new arrival settled into its host cell to eventually become what we know as the energy-generating mitochondrion. But...
