Biologists

Biologists offer new insights into entities known as transposons, providing knowledge that could one day help in the fight against cancers and aging-related diseases. They are considered "parasitic genes." Even though they comprise over…

Using artificial intelligence, UT Southwestern researchers have discovered a new family of sensing genes in enteric bacteria that are linked by structure and probably function, but not genetic sequence. The findings, published in PNAS,…

Natural selection has produced mammals that age at dramatically different rates. Take, for example, naked mole rats and mice; the former can live up to 41 years, nearly ten times as long as similar-size rodents such as mice. What accounts…

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), commonly known as fatty liver disease, is a prevalent disease frequently seen in obese people. Having high fat content in the liver is detrimental as it is strongly associated with severe health…

The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the urgency for science to continue unraveling how viruses infect and how immune systems respond to such threats. University of California San Diego researchers studying how small worms defend…

Even older fruit flies are adept at evading a fly swatter. Biologists at the University of Iowa pinpointed how fruit flies -- no matter their age -- maintained neural circuits for certain motor functions, while losing their edge in other…

Heme is an essential part of the protein hemoglobin, which colors human blood red. Heme also is crucial for cytochrome proteins, which power the cell. Humans, animals, plants and bacteria all use heme. Hemoglobin shuttles oxygen to tissues…

Under the right circumstances, the body's T cells can detect and destroy cancer cells. However, in most cancer patients, T cells become disarmed once they enter the environment surrounding a tumor. Scientists are now trying to find ways to…

The human genome is littered with selfish genetic elements, which do not seem to benefit their hosts, but instead seek only to propagate themselves. These "parasites of the genome" can wreak havoc at the cellular level by distorting sex…

Now that kids ages 5 to 11 are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination and the number of fully vaccinated people in the U.S. is rising, many people may be wondering what the endgame is for COVID-19. Early on in the pandemic, it wasn’t…