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"Simple #chemistry helps explain the origin of life, new study suggests" | WaPo (should be a gift link) #geology #biology

Simple chemistry helps explain the origin of life, new study suggests
Scientists have figured out how proteins may have been created on early Earth.

🪸 Scientists reveal the mechanism behind sea urchin twinning
#biology

Scientists reveal the mechanism behind sea urchin twinning
Researchers at University of Tsukuba examined how twin organisms can emerge from a single fertilized egg by studying sea urchin embryos. Their findings revealed that when an early-stage embryo is split in half, each portion is able to regenerate its own developmental plan. The team uncovered the dynamic cellular processes and genetic programs that allow each fragment to reorganize and grow into a complete individual.

Cover of Sep-Oct 2025 American Scientist (free mag). #Science

🔦 Scientists develop faster technique to uncover hidden gene switches
#biology

Scientists develop faster technique to uncover hidden gene switches
Researchers at the Max Delbrück Center have developed a new method to discover how DNA controls genes. Their technique, published in Cell Genomics, can reveal the genetic "switches" that regulate important genes more quickly than existing methods.

Next up is #DNA & Molecular #Biology: A 2025 digital view in Andromeda. Livestream here: https://streaming.media.ccc.de/why2025

Visiting the turtles at the Brown County State Park nature center. Box 🐢 , painted 🐢 , musk 🐢
#Indiana #Wildlife #Biology

🔦 Engineered protein switches may lead to safer, smarter medicines
#biology

Engineered protein switches may lead to safer, smarter medicines
A new way to potentially control when drugs are active or inactive in the body is introduced in a study reported Sept. 24 in Nature. The research showed that, instead of controlling how tightly proteins bind to partner molecules, scientists can now directly control how long they stay bound. This advance has broad implications for developing safer medicines.

If a rat is a good model for your emotional life, you're in big trouble.
-- Robert Sapolski
#Science #Biology #Primatology

🪭 Previously unknown protein 'folding factories' discovered
#biology

Previously unknown protein 'folding factories' discovered
In order to fulfill their many functions, proteins must be folded into the correct shape. Researchers at the University of Basel have now discovered tiny "folding factories" in cells that enable efficient and accurate protein folding. A lack of these structures can lead to diseases such as diabetes and neurodegenerative disorders.

🧠 Brain organoids reveal potential neural basis of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-09-brain-organoids-reveal-potential-neural.html

Brain organoids reveal potential neural basis of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder
Pea-sized brains grown in a lab have for the first time revealed the unique way neurons might misfire due to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, psychiatric ailments that affect millions of people worldwide but are difficult to diagnose because of the lack of understanding of their molecular basis.

🔥 Novel way to 'rev up' brown fat burns calories, limits obesity in mice
#biology

Novel way to 'rev up' brown fat burns calories, limits obesity in mice
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a novel way brown fat—an energy-burning form of fat—can rev the body's metabolic engine, consuming cellular fuel and producing heat in a way that improves metabolic health. The study, in mice, reveals new avenues to exploit brown fat to treat metabolic diseases, such as insulin resistance and obesity.

🧠 Imaging tech promises deepest looks yet into living brain tissue at single-cell resolution
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-08-imaging-tech-deepest-brain-tissue.html

Imaging tech promises deepest looks yet into living brain tissue at single-cell resolution
Both for research and medical purposes, researchers have spent decades pushing the limits of microscopy to produce ever deeper and sharper images of brain activity, not only in the cortex but also in regions underneath such as the hippocampus. In a new study, a team of MIT scientists and engineers demonstrates a new microscope system capable of peering exceptionally deep into brain tissues to detect the molecular activity of individual cells by using sound.

🌋 Deep life's survival secret: Crustal faulting generates key energy sources, study shows
#biology

Deep life's survival secret: Crustal faulting generates key energy sources, study shows
Chinese researchers have recently challenged the long-held belief that "all life depends on sunlight." In a study published in Science Advances, the researchers identified how microbes in deep subsurface areas can derive energy from chemical reactions driven by crustal faulting, offering critical insights into life deep below Earth's surface.

🎯 AI uncovers 'archaeasins,' unique antibiotics from ancient Archaea
#biology

AI uncovers 'archaeasins,' unique antibiotics from ancient Archaea
They've survived for billions of years in boiling acid, deep-sea vents and salt flats. Now, some of Earth's oldest life forms—microbes called Archaea—are offering a new weapon in the fight against one of today's most urgent health threats: antibiotic resistance.