Despite shifts towards vegan and vegetarian diets in Western cultures, demand for animal protein persists. Alternative protein sources are required to nourish the growing world population without compromising on sustainability. Researchers investigated consumer preferences of alternative feedstuffs. Specifically, the researchers looked at the effect of information regarding algae and insects in the food chain. The…

Scientists thought that reindeer lichens (moss-looking organisms that form a major part of reindeer diets) reproduced mainly asexually by cloning themselves. But it turns out, reindeer lichens are having a lot more sex than scientists expected. In a new study, researchers found that the reindeer lichens they examined have unexpected levels of genetic diversity, indicating…

Scientists are developing new fish vaccines using nanocellulose produced from Maine’s wood pulp industry. Nanocellulose poses no known harmful effects to fish tissue and is unlikely to cause cellular damage. Fish vaccines made with nanocellulose may also be more effective and less expensive to produce than current vaccines made with adjuvants that are water and…

Only a handful of molecules and mechanisms can generate such a huge diversity of forms and complexity in multicellular organisms. Recently, researchers investigated how this is possible using a simple mathematical model. What is also remarkable is that only a handful of molecules and mechanisms that go into the development of a multicellular organism can…

Biologists from Japan and the Philippines have identified three new species of goby fish, belonging to the genus Lentipes. One of the new species was found living in the Philippine archipelago of Palawan and has been given the Latin scientific name Lentipes palawanirufus, which translates as «red Lentipes goby of Palawan.» The other two new…

Embryonic stem cells and other pluripotent cells divide rapidly and have the capacity to become nearly any cell type in the body. Scientists have long sought to understand the signals that prompt stem cells to switch off pluripotency and adopt their final functional state. In a new study, researchers report that they have identified a…

Evolution leaves its traces — in particular — in genomes. Researchers used ‘2-n-way’ software to determine the relationships between species or individuals and compare any genome of and for anyone. Jurgen Schmitz, a biologist and zoologist at the Institute of Experimental Pathology at Munster University’s Faculty of Medicine, led the study together with Dr. Gennady…

Researchers conducted single-cell gene expression analysis to uncover the effects of manipulation of the sensory cell regulator POU IV in the protovertebrate Ciona intestinalis. Alteration of POU IV expression led to the induction of cells with characteristics of multiple sensory cell types and cells that express a gene expression profile that has not been previously…

Recent work revealed a newfound quality control system in the protein production assembly line with possible implications for understanding neurogenerative disease. The DNA that comprises the chromosomes housed in each cell’s nucleus encodes the recipes for how to make proteins, which are responsible for the majority of the physiological actions that sustain life. Individual recipes…

Researchers have discovered that two proteins, which are involved in the control of stem cells’ division in plant roots, need each other for these cells to function properly. The study combines experimental work with plants and mathematical modeling. The mechanism provides knowledge that could be useful, for agriculture and for the design of efficient strategies…