Curated News: PNAS

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A Northwestern University and W.M. Keck Science Department of Pitzer, Claremont McKenna and Scripps colleges study suggests it was the power of the eyes and not the limbs that first led our aquatic ancestors to make the leap from water to land. The researchers discovered that eyes nearly tripled in size before -- not after -- the water-to-land transition. Crocodile-like animals saw easy meals on land and then evolved limbs that enabled them to get there, the researchers argue.

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A new analysis by the University of Washington and Simon Fraser University is the first to document that "black swan" events also occur in animal populations and usually manifest as massive, unexpected die-offs.

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Using red blood cells modified to carry disease-specific antigens, scientists from Whitehead Institute and Boston Children’s Hospital have prevented and alleviated two autoimmune diseases—multiple sclerosis (MS) and type 1 diabetes—in early stage mouse models.

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Understanding interactions among organisms in complex microbial communities sheds new light on a globally significant environmental process.

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Microscopic understanding offers fresh directions for discovering new materials to transmit energy without loss.

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The incredible complexity of how genes, proteins and cells interact to create tissue drives the work of biomedical scientists around the world. Now, a pair of mathematicians has introduced a new way of thinking about these concepts that may help set the stage for better understanding of our bodies and other living things.

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Understanding how brown rot fungi degrade wood could lead to new tools for more efficient biofuel production.

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A tiny snail may offer an alternative to opioids for pain relief. Scientists at the University of Utah have found a compound that blocks pain by targeting a pathway not associated with opioids. Research in rodents indicates that the benefits continue long after the compound have cleared the body.

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New model reveals the significant role of microbes in oceanic nutrient and energy cycling. The results of this work significantly improve the crude models of microbial activity in important oceanic zones and provide holistic insights into how microbes drive nutrient and energy flow.

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An international team of scientists used an X-ray laser at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to determine the structure of an insect virus’s crystalline protein “cocoon.”

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Emotions are not innately programmed into our brains, but, in fact, are cognitive states resulting from the gathering of information, New York University Professor Joseph LeDoux and Richard Brown, a professor at the City University of New York, conclude.

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Many genetic mutations have been linked to Type 2 diabetes, but no clear genetic signature has emerged. Now, new results may explain how multiple genetic flaws can lead to the same disease: They seem to change the way certain cells in the pancreas “read” their genes.

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Evolution is often thought of as a gradual remodeling of the genome, the genetic blueprints for building an organism. But in some instance it might be more appropriate to call it an overhaul. Over the past 100 million years, the human lineage has lost one-fifth of its DNA, while an even greater amount was added, report scientists at the University of Utah School of Medicine. Until now, the extent to which our genome has expanded and contracted had been underappreciated.

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A recent study led by scientists at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory helps describe how uranium cycles through the environment at former uranium mining sites and why it can be difficult to remove.

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In a new paper published this week in PNAS, researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center, in collaboration with colleagues at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego, the University of Colorado School of Medicine and SignalRx, a San Diego-based biopharmaceutical company, describe a potential new class of anti-cancer drugs that inhibit two or more molecular targets at once, maximizing therapeutic efficiency and safety.

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Malaria is still a global scourge, killing mostly children in tropical regions. Developing an affordable vaccine that can stay stable without refrigeration is a challenge. Now, a Weizmann Institute lab has reprogrammed proteins in such a way that they could lead to an inexpensive vaccine that can be stored at room temperature.

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In the microbial world, vitamin B12 is a hot commodity. It turns out that vitamin B12, a substance produced by only a few organisms but needed by nearly all of them, wields great power in microbial communities – ubiquitous structures that affect energy and food production, the environment, and human health.

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HHMI scientists develop a much-needed genetic resource that is aiding development of wheat plants with improved traits.

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Unbalanced signaling by two molecules that regulate breathing leads to sleep apnea in mice and rats. Injection of a substance that reduces production of one of those signals can prevent apneas. This approach may help people suffering from multiple forms of sleep-disordered breathing.

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A Northwestern University study of how jet lag affects Major League Baseball players traveling across just a few time zones found that when players travel in a way that misaligns their internal 24-hour clock with the natural environment and its cycle of sunlight, they suffer negative consequences. The researchers found that jet lag negatively affects the base running of home teams but not away teams and that home and away pitchers both give up more home runs when jet-lagged.