The It Ain't Magic Science Blog

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.

The joys of computational mass spectrometry

Scientists have developed a new automated computational mass spectrometry system that can search an organism’s entire metabolome for as-yet-unknown metabolites (potential drugs).

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Leaky plants bad for drought resistance

The KAI2 receptor for compounds found in smoke helps plants retain water and survive during drought.

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Toward human hibernation: cold-resistant mouse stem cells

Cold-resistant stem cells from “deep torpor” mice are a big step toward understanding why tissue survives hibernation.

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A new type of cell death discovered in fly guts

A completely unknown type of cell death called “erebosis” has been discovered in the guts of the common fruit fly.

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Extra “eye” movements are the key to better self-driving cars

If self-driving cars make saccades like people, they might make fewer mistakes identifying important features of the road.

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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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RIKEN discovers new T cells related to immune disorders

Immune-related diseases like multiple sclerosis associated with genetic variation in newly discovered, rare T cells.

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In living color: imaging the brain with synthetic bioluminescence

A new way to image the brain from outside the head using bioluminescence.

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Massive filaments, galaxies, and supermassive black holes

Big telescopes yield big data! Detailed observations gas filaments connecting galaxies in a distant proto-cluster in the early Universe.

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Centennial RIKEN Research

???This Spring we’ve put together a special centennial issue of RIKEN Research ???

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Artificial gravity protects the immune system of mice in space

Mice who experienced artificial gravity on the ISS suffered less damage to their immune system (thymus) than weightless mice did.

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Melatonin in mice, circadian rhythms, and daily torpor

A new breed of lab mouse allows the study of naturally occurring melatonin. These mice will adjust better to jetlag than regular lab mice and experience daily torpor.

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Dec

Supermassive black holes still dark and mysterious

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

For the first time, scientists have measured the strength of magnetic fields near supermassive black holes and something doesn’t add up.

Dec

Evolution of the inner ear: insights from jawless fish

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

A new story for inner ear evolution based on the developmental patterning found in hagfish, one of two extant jawless vertebrates and a link to the last common ancestor of modern jawed vertebrates.

Dec

Tumor detection during breast cancer surgery

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

Scientists have developed a new way to accurately detect the margins between cancerous and non-cancerous tissue during breast cancer surgery.

Nov

Smarter AI: machine learning without negative data

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

Scientists have developed a new method for machine learning that allows an AI to make better classifications without negative data.

Nov

Nerdnite recap: When the brainbow met the boson

by amanda alvarez | Drop of science

Fun times at nerdnite tokyo. Brains, bosons, and math, oh my!

Nov

Mutations, CRISPR, and spinocerebellar ataxia

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Scientists discover that mutations causing the degenerative movement disorder spinocerebellar ataxia type 29 work by disrupting calcium release of neurons inside the brain.

Nov

Gene regulator that allows plant rehydration after drought

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

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

Oct

Researchers create a functional salivary gland organoid ?

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

Scientists have succeeded in growing three-dimensional salivary gland tissue that produced saliva like normal glands when implanted into mice.

Oct

Getting a grip on slow but unique shark evolution

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

Scientists have decoded the genomes of two species of shark, bringing the grand total of sequenced shark genomes to three.

Diazoxide pills for Alzheimer’s disease?

Drug therapy with with diazoxide relieved symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease in the brains of mice and improved memory.

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Social contact-seeking behavior and loneliness in the brain

Levels of the peptide amylin in the brain are related to loneliness; activating amylin neurons in the MPOA drives isolated mice to seek social contact.

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Next stop: clinical hair regeneration

A new recipe for continuous cyclical hair regeneration in mice. This means that the hair will continue to fall out and regrow like normal hair.

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H2AK119ub1: How you inherit acquired traits from your mom

H2AK119ub1. Say that three times really fast! But seriously, it allows maternally acquired traits to be inherited.

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Nov

Bacterial drug resistance studied by robotic E. coli evolution

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

Experimentally evolving E. coli under pressure from a large number of antibiotics was able to identify constraints underlying evolved drug resistance.

Nov

New artificial skin helps avoid animal testing

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

A new artificial skin that reproduces proper tension can be used to research skin function and disease while reducing the need to experiment on animals.

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.

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