Category Biology/Biotechnology

Though plants can serve as a source of food, oxygen and décor, they’re not often considered to be a good source of electricity. But by collecting electrons naturally transported within plant cells, scientists can generate electricity as part of a “green,” biological solar cell. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have, for the first time, used a succulent plant to create a living “bio-solar cell” that runs on photosynthesis.

In all living cells, from bacteria and fungi to plants and animals, electrons are shuttled around as part of natural, biochemical proces...

With an emphasis on fruits, vegetables and legumes, the Mediterranean diet has long been applauded for its multiple health benefits. Now, new research shows that it may also help overcome infertility, making it a non-intrusive and affordable strategy for couples trying to conceive.

Conducted by Monash University, the University of the Sunshine Coast, and the University of South Australia, the review found that the Mediterranean diet can improve fertility, assisted reproductive technology (ART) success, and sperm quality in men.

Specifically, researchers identified that anti-inflammatory properties of a Mediterranean diet can improve couples’ chances of conception.

Infertility is a global health concern affecting 48 million couples and 186 million individuals worldwide.

Uni...

The nanomaterial graphene oxide — which is used in everything from electronics to sensors for biomolecules — can indirectly affect the immune system via the gut microbiome, as shown in a new study on zebrafish by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The findings are reported in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

“This shows that we must factor the gut microbiome into our understanding of how nanomaterials affect the immune system,” says the paper’s corresponding author Bengt Fadeel, professor at the Institute o...

The findings shed a rare light on mitoribosomes, the unique ribosomes found within the cell’s mitochondria. Ribosomes, the tiny protein-producing factories within cells, are ubiquitous and look largely identical across the tree of life. Those that keep bacteria chugging along are, structurally, not much different from the ribosomes churning out proteins in our own human cells.

But even two organisms with similar ribosomes may display significant structural differences in the RNA and protein components of their mitoribosomes...