The It Ain't Magic Science Blog

Decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 series — installment #2: RIKEN CBS Unit Leader Rei Akaishi talks about government decision-making during the pandemic.

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Gene regulator that allows plant rehydration after drought

New genetic insights into the plant rehydration process: this is why your plants don’t die after you forgot to water them.

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Quick, call Spiderman: scientists discover how spider silk is formed

A group of scientists led by researchers have discovered a key mechanism through which spider silk is formed.

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Xist knockout rescues miscarriages in mice

Xist knockout rescues miscarriages in mice whose egg cells lack H3K27me3 epigenetic instructions.

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Understanding non-coding DNA: gene “enhancers”

NETCAGE is a newly developed technique for determining the structure of portions of the non-coding genome called ‘enhancers.’

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Albumin drops medicine off at cancer site then leaves the body

By changing albumin’s identity, drugs can carried to their targets and then removed from the body after being used.

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Latest research animations

Self-assembly of spider silk

This gut microbe might protect against diabetes and reduce insulin resistance

NEW: One-way hydrogel guides motion of tiny worms!

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Scientists develop new and improved quantum gates

High-fidelity, low error quantum gates allow more reliable and accurate quantum computations, making the future of quantum computers more promising.

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Quick, call Spiderman: scientists discover how spider silk is formed

A group of scientists led by researchers have discovered a key mechanism through which spider silk is formed.

Read on

Nanopores in deep-sea hydrothermal vents and the origin of life

“Naturally occurring selective nanopore ion channels in deep-sea hydrothermal vents are similar to ion channels found in cells and could help explain the origin of life.

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Why (mouse) mothers take risks to protect their infants

The calcitonin receptor and its ligand amylin act in the brain to motivate mouse mothers to protect their pups, even in risky/dangerous situations.

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Most precise measurement ever of proton magnetic moment

Using a sophisticated setup, scientists have made the most precise measurement to date of the proton magnetic moment.

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Albumin drops medicine off at cancer site then leaves the body

By changing albumin’s identity, drugs can carried to their targets and then removed from the body after being used.

Read on

Oct

Social novelty in the brain: haven’t I seen you someplace before?

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Social novelty and contextual novelty are segregated in the SuM region of the hypothalamus and in projections to the hippocampus, allowing memories of meeting new people to be formed separately from memories of new places.

Sep

FABP4: A preschool-aged biomarker for autism

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Reduced FABP4 was found in preschool-aged children with autism spectrum disorder, making it a potential new biomarker for the condition.

Sep

Microbial infections are a parasitic plant’s dream

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Parasitic plants use quinones produced by their host to attack. Now we know that crops produce quinones as an immune response against microbial infection. How can we protect crops from both kinds of attack?

Aug

Gut bacteria double team worsens symptoms of multiple sclerosis

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Joint activity of two gut bacteria leads to excessive MOG-specific T-cell activity and demyelination of neurons in the spinal cord of a mouse model of multiple sclerosis.

Aug

Something smells fishy: categorizing odors in the brain

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

Calcium imaging and mathematical model explain how categories and mixtures of odors are represented in the fly brain and consistent across individual flies.

Jul

Photosynthetic bacteria spin spider silk for the masses

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

A little genetic engineering and a special recipe allows photosynthetic bacteria to mass-produce super lightweight spider silk for use in manufacturing.

Jun

Blood cell mutations linked to leukemia are inevitable

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Researchers show that blood cell mutations increase with age identify risk factors for developing leukemia in Japanese and European populations.

Jun

Organic nitrogen in soil helps crop growth

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

Scientists used a multi-omics analysis to show that soil solarization helps crops grow because it increases organic nitrogen in the soil.

May

Consciousness, brain connections, and the claustrum

by amanda alvarez | Hot Off the Press

Research shows that the claustrum acts as a ‘consciousness conductor’ that synchronizes and connects areas within the mouse brain.

Eating a high fat diet without getting obese?

Scientists discover that without innate immune cells in the intestines, eating a high fat diet does not lead to obesity in mice.

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New treatment assembles cancer drug inside the body

Cancer drugs assembled inside the body on cancer cells should reduce harmful side effects to other tissue.

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New lab-grown retinal sheets almost ready for clinical trials

A new retinal transplant technique works by preventing bipolar cells from maturing in lab-grown retinal sheets.

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Opossums are the first genome edited marsupials

A new piezoelectronic microinjection method has allowed the first successful genome editing in marsupials: albino opossums.

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Apr

Diagnosing fetal heart disease benefits from explanatory AI

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Diagnosis accuracy improved when doctors used explanatory AI to help diagnose congenital heart disease from fetal ultrasound videos.

Apr

Chaos theory provides hints for controlling the weather

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

Computer simulations were used to show that small adjustments to certain variables in the weather system could modify weather phenomena such as sudden downpours.