Category Biology/Biotechnology

Consuming fish oil instead of lard makes a significant difference in brain function. New research shows that brain function remains normal and manages to restrain from eating more than necessary when this type of fat is consumed. Credit: © colnihko / Fotolia

A diet high in saturated fat can make your brain struggle to control what you eat, says a new study in Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience. If people are looking to lose weight, stay clear of saturated fat. Consuming these types of fatty food affects a part of the brain called the hypothalamus, which helps regulate hunger. The fat causes inflammation that impedes the brain to control the food intake. In other words, people struggle to control how much they eat, when to stop and what type of food to eat – symptoms seen in obesity.

The s...

mRNA expression in normal human tissues for ZMYND8 Gene

ZMYND8 has demonstrated its ability to block metastasis-linked genes in prostate cancer, according to a study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. “These findings are important as cancer metastasis is a complicated process and is both devastating and clinically challenging,” said Min Gyu Lee, Ph.D., associate professor of Molecular and Cellular Oncology.

Alterations in histone modifications, including acetylation and methylation, are frequently associated with cancer development. Lee’s group looked at ZMYND8 as a histone “reader” that could possibly impact gene expression by recognizing these histone modifications known as histone “marks.”

“It has been well documented that the effects of histone acetylation and methyl...

Skin stem cells. In blue, a marker of the cell nucleus. In green, a marker for the Dnmt3a protein, which is critical to ensure that cells retain stem cell features. Credit: Lorenzo Rinaldi, IRB Barcelona

The proteins identified, Dnmt3a and Dnmt3b, are crucial for the self-renewal of skin stem cells as they trigger the first step of the genetic programme of these cells. “Without them, this programme is not activated and the stem cells collapse and disappear from the tissue,” explains Salvador Aznar Benitah, head of the Stem Cells and Cancer lab at IRB Barcelona. Our skin renews, heals wounds, and regenerates the hair that covers it thanks to a small group of stem cells. These cells continually produce new ones, which appear on the skin surface after a few days

Lorenzo Rinaldi, a “la Caixa” ...

Representative experiment of a modular microrobot. From (a), a 3-bead robotic microswimmer approaches and assemble with a single non-motile bead and transform into a 4-bead microswimmer. From (b–f), the microswimmer continues to approach and combine with single beads, and eventually modulate into a 9-bead microswimmer. At (g), the 9-bead microswimmer breaks into three different microswimmers under high rotation frequency due to increased shear stress leading to structural flexing.

Drexel Uni researchers have successfully pulled off a feat that both sci-fi fans and Michael Phelps could appreciate. Using a rotating magnetic field they show how multiple chains of microscopic magnetic bead-based robots can link up to reach impressive speeds swimming through in a microfluidic environment...