Suaeda salsa, a plant that thrives in salty soils, has a special talent. It can soak up and store lots of nitrate, a type of salt. This makes it great for cleaning up polluted, salty lands. But how does it do this? Scientists wanted to find out. They looked at a specific gene in the plant, called SsCLCb. When exposed to high salt levels, this gene becomes much more ...
Breast cancer is a complex disease, and scientists are always looking for new clues to understand it better. One interesting player in this puzzle is the ADAR1 gene. This gene is responsible for editing RNA, a crucial job that keeps mammals alive. When ADAR1 doesn't work right, it can mess up the editing process, potentially changing how breast cancer behaves. Resea...
Climate change is making our oceans hotter. This is bad news for bivalve mollusks like mussels and clams. They are struggling to cope with these new conditions. Scientists wanted to see how these creatures manage their energy when temperatures rise. They looked at two types: the Mediterranean mussel and the grooved carpet shell clam. The researchers exposed them to ...
Heart disease often starts with a sneaky problem called atherosclerosis. This is when arteries get clogged up and inflamed. It's like a traffic jam in your blood vessels. The body's own processes go haywire, causing bad cholesterol to build up and inflammation to spiral out of control. Scientists are always looking for ways to spot heart disease early. One promising...
Plants are tougher than they look. They have special tools to fight off problems like dry weather. One such tool is the HcCNGC27 gene in kenaf, a hardy plant used for fiber. This gene is part of a big team that helps plants grow and stay strong. This gene is everywhere in the plant. It's in the outer layer, the plasma membrane. It's also in roots, stems, leaves, flo...
Ever wondered why some genes are active in certain tissues but not others? Or why they behave differently in sickness compared to health? The answer might lie in the promoters, the gene's silent conductors. Promoters are like the gene's personal managers. They decide when and where a gene should be expressed. But what makes some promoters choose specific tissues or ...
Bones healing is a complex process. It involves many cells and signals. Macrophages, a type of immune cell, play a big role. They help other cells, called mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), to grow and change. This process is not just about chemicals. It also depends on physical forces, like pressure and movement. Scientists used a special machine to grow macrophages...
The world of toxicology is changing. Researchers have been exploring new ways to test how harmful substances affect living things. One exciting development is the use of three-dimensional (3D) cell cultures. These 3D models are better at mimicking real tissues than the old flat (2D) cell layers. However, using 3D fish cell models in toxicology studies is still ra...
Mangrove forests are not the most stable places for fish to live. The temperature can change a lot from day to day and from season to season. Fish that live there have to be tough. They have to be able to adapt to these changes quickly. One way they do this is through something called plasticity. Plasticity is like a superpower that lets them change their traits...
A new gene is getting attention in the fight against throat cancer. This gene, DSC2, might change how doctors treat a specific type of throat cancer. This type is called locally advanced laryngeal and hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. These cancers are tough to treat. Traditional methods often cause serious problems with how the larynx works. ...