Japanese people are a mixture of three separate ancestral groups

A new study shows that the current Japanese population is derived from 3 ancestral groups, one of which brought Denisovan DNA to the party.
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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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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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How an herbal medicine protects against inflamed bowels

A Japanese herbal medicine promotes good bacteria and innate immune cells in the gut, which protects against intestinal inflammation.
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Protein antigens in meat, milk, and other foods suppress gut tumors

Food antigens were found to prevent small intestinal tumors in gut-tumor prone mice by making ensuring we have enough T cells for defense.
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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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Getting a grip on slow but unique shark evolution

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

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A researcher’s journey part 2: emotional memory and being human

Joshua Johansen from RIKEN CBS explains emotional memory, what his lab is doing, and what makes a good researcher.
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Nanocarrier spray: better crops without genetic modification

Gene expression, but not genomes, altered in plants and crops with a spray containing bioactive molecules tethered to nanocarrier peptides
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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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Godzilla-sized zooplankton for better aquafarming

Scientists have created extra large zooplankton to help feed the fish in aquafarms. The new plankton were created using an ion beam to generate mutations.
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Root growth improved in soil contaminated with cesium

Overactivating the ABA signaling pathway in plants prevented cesium in soil from blocking root growth in plants.
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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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Transgenic plants ??on acid survive without water

Scientists designed transgenic plants that survive drought-like conditions by bumping up acetic acid production only when water is scarce.

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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.
Read on

Talking science Illustration with Misaki Ouchida

Whether it’s bird anatomy or science cartoons, Masaki Ouchida can do it all. She spoke with us about her career in science illustration, from the US to Japan.
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