Newswise Curated News Channel: Nature (journal)

SMU Researcher Helps Develop New Technique to Explore Oceanic Microbes

Southern Methodist University — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 14:05:04 EST

Alexander Chase and colleagues collect samples from Earth's oceans using SMIRC, which could be the first step in uncovering compounds that lead to next-generation antibiotics.

UC Irvine researchers advocate for tissue-engineering approach for arthritis relief

University of California, Irvine — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 11:05:59 EST

Various forms of arthritis afflict nearly 600 million people worldwide and add $16.5 billion to the United States' healthcare bill, yet there are few engineered cartilage tissue therapies available to sufferers. In Nature Reviews Rheumatology, University of California, Irvine biomedical engineers shared insights into the effective treatment of severe osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis and the clinical trial and regulatory efforts that are going to be necessary to bring products to market.

Immune Cells Prevent Lung Healing After Viral Infection

Cedars-Sinai — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 11:05:34 EST

Investigators involved in a multicenter study co-led by Cedars-Sinai discovered a pathway by which immune cells prevent the lungs' protective barrier from healing after viral infections like COVID-19. The findings, published in Nature, may lead to new therapeutic treatment options.

Moffitt Researchers Reveal Key LAG3 Mechanisms That Could Transform Cancer Immunotherapy

Moffitt Cancer Center — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 11:00:50 EST

Immune checkpoint inhibitors are a type of cancer treatment that helps the immune system attack cancer cells more effectively. One of the key proteins involved in this process is Lymphocyte Activation Gene-3 (LAG3), which suppresses the antitumor immune response.

Novel immunotherapy improves recovery from spinal cord injury

Washington University in St. Louis — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 11:00:00 EST

WashU Medicine researchers have designed, in mice, an approach to minimizing the damage from a spinal cord injury through the use of engineered immune cells. Mice given the treatment had improved recovery from injuries, demonstrating potential for developing the therapy for people.

A New Artificial Intelligence Tool for Cancer

Harvard Medical School — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 11:00:00 EST

The new approach marks a major step forward in the design of AI tools to support clinical decisions in cancer diagnosis, therapy. The model uses features of a tumor's microenvironment to forecast how a patient might respond to therapy and to help inform individualized treatments.

Chiral Asymmetry Creates a Path to High-Efficiency Future Electronics

Department of Energy, Office of Science — Tue, 03 Sep 2024 14:05:29 EST

In 2D quantum materials, chiral edge states are 1D conducting channels in which electrons travel only in one direction and electron collisions are strongly suppressed. This means chiral channels act like resistance-free conductors.

Quantum error correction research reveals fundamental insights on quantum systems

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics — Tue, 03 Sep 2024 13:30:37 EST

New research has implications for fundamental science, quantum computing and future technological applications.

Computer model boosts detection of cell-to-cell communication

UT Southwestern Medical Center — Tue, 03 Sep 2024 10:05:43 EST

A computer model developed by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers significantly enhances the ability of scientists to detect communication between cells, according to a new study published in Nature Methods.

MSK Research Highlights, September 3, 2024

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center — Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:05:52 EST

New research from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) uses cryo-electron microscopy to shed new light on the ubiquitin; could help predict the risk of blood clots in cancer patients; reveals why micronuclei burst, accelerating aggressive cancers; and surveys healthcare providers about the benefits and risks of commercial genetic testing.

Finger wrap uses sweat to provide health monitoring at your fingertips--literally

University of California San Diego — Tue, 03 Sep 2024 05:00:00 EST

A sweat-powered wearable has the potential to make continuous, personalized health monitoring as effortless as wearing a Band-Aid. UC San Diego engineers have developed an electronic finger wrap that monitors vital chemical levels--such as glucose, vitamins, and even drugs--present in the same fingertip sweat from which it derives its energy.

For the First Time, Scientists X-Ray a Single Atom

Department of Energy, Office of Science — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 15:05:50 EST

For the first time since X-rays were discovered, researchers have successfully performed X-ray spectroscopy to identify the element of a single atom at a time. The achievement takes advantage of improvements to synchrotron X-ray light sources.

Borderzone Breakthrough: A new source of cardiac inflammation

University of California San Diego — Thu, 29 Aug 2024 08:00:18 EST

In the Aug. 28, 2024 issue of Nature, researchers from University of California San Diego in the laboratory of Dr. Kevin King, associate professor of bioengineering and medicine, and a cardiologist at the Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center, report the discovery of a novel mechanism of cardiac inflammation that may expand therapeutic opportunities to prevent heart attacks from becoming heart failure.

Researchers Use a New Two-Dimensional Analysis to Build a Map of Gene Expression in Plant-Fungi Interactions

Department of Energy, Office of Science — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 14:05:33 EST

Researchers studied gene expression in plant/mycorrhizae symbioses by analyzing the roots of a model plant colonized by fungi and using a combination of techniques to measure gene activity in individual cells and visualize gene expression within two-dimensional sections of roots.

Controlling molecular electronics with rigid, ladder-like molecules

University Of Illinois Grainger College Of Engineering — Tue, 27 Aug 2024 11:05:34 EST

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers report a unique strategy for controlling molecular conductance by using molecules with rigid backbones--such as ladder-type molecules, known as being shape-persistent.

Are Crops Worldwide Sufficiently Pollinated?

Rutgers University-New Brunswick — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 17:05:45 EST

A team of researchers led by Rutgers University-New Brunswick scientists has analyzed crop yields of more than 1,500 fields on six continents, and found that production worldwide of important, nutritionally dense foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes is being limited by a lack of pollinators. The results, detailed in Nature Ecology & Evolution, showed that across diverse crops and locations, one-third to two-thirds of farms contain fields that aren't producing at the levels they should be due to a lack of pollinators.

Closing the RNA Loop Holds Promise for More Stable, Effective RNA Therapies

University of California San Diego — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 14:05:45 EST

New methods to shape RNA molecules into circles could lead to more effective and long-lasting therapies, shows a study by researchers at the University of California San Diego. The advance holds promise for a range of diseases, offering a more enduring alternative to existing RNA therapies, which often suffer from short-lived effectiveness in the body.

The Future of Telecom Is Atomically Thin

Department of Energy, Office of Science — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 14:05:28 EST

When light shines on a semiconductor, it excites the electrons, leaving behind a "hole." Electrons and these holes attract each other to form excitons, which can interact with other unpaired charges to alter the shape, direction, and/or frequency of a beam of light in the semiconductor. Researchers demonstrated that this response is unprecedently strong in a two-dimensional device made of three atomic layers of the semiconductor tungsten di-selenide.

Manipulation of nanolight provides new insight for quantum computing and thermal management

University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 07:00:52 EST

A recent study led by University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers provides fundamental insight into how light, electrons, and crystal vibrations interact in materials.

Scientific consensus can strengthen pro-climate attitudes in society

University of Vienna — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 06:00:33 EST

Climate scientists have long agreed that humans are largely responsible for climate change. A new study, co-led by Bojana Većkalov from the University of Amsterdam and Sandra Geiger from the University of Vienna, finds that communicating the scientific consensus about climate change can clear up misperceptions and strengthen beliefs about the existence and the causes of climate change. The team surveyed over 10,000 people from 27 countries on 6 continents. The study has just been published in the renowned journal Nature Human Behaviour.