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Content: Volume 6, Issue 3

showing 1-5 of 36 breaks

Ouch, that needle hurts! How some viruses inject their DNA

Bacteriophage T4 is one of the most common of the viruses that infects Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria that serve as the hosts. To accomplish this feat, phage T4 employs a fascinating nano-scale injection machine to first rupture the host's cell membrane and then inject... click to read more

  • Ameneh Maghsoodi | Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
  • Ioan Andricioaei | Associate Professor at University of California, Irvine, California, USA
  • Noel Perkins | Professor at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Views 4404
Reading time 3.5 min
published on Sep 25, 2020
Why so aggressive? Bringing the past into the present

When engaged in a conflict with another, many animals will behave aggressively. We see it in dogs at the dog park, in fish in a fish tanks, in people with bullies at school, and even flies at a garbage bin. However, precisely what motivates an... click to read more

  • Julia Kilgour | Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Department of Animal Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
Views 3931
Reading time 3.5 min
published on Sep 23, 2020
Stop all the clocks: the hidden long-term consequences of sleep loss

The function of sleep is still elusive despite the well-known effects of sleep loss or poor-quality sleep on cognitive function and long-term health. When and how long animals (including humans) sleep is determined by, on the one hand, their internal circadian clock, which aligns physiology... click to read more

  • Charlotte N. Hor | Postdoctoral Researc Fellow at Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
  • Paul Franken | Professor at Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Views 4325
Reading time 4 min
published on Sep 22, 2020
The Janus-Faced Nature of Cancer Immunity

Cancer, viruses, bacteria, and chemicals are threatening our bodies every day. The weapon our body uses to fight these threats is our immune system. When triggered by the presence of something it perceives as foreign (and therefore danger), our immune system will produce antibodies targeting... click to read more

  • Chih-Wei Lin | Staff Scientist at The Scripps research institute, San Diego, California, USA
  • Richard Lerner | Professor at The Scripps research institute, San Diego, California, USA
Views 3935
Reading time 3.5 min
published on Sep 21, 2020
Our cell's “protein factory” can decrease fats to promote lifespan

Organisms face stress daily, and generally, these stressors have some form of negative effect on our physiology. For example, exposure to thermal stress (elevated heat) increases body temperatures, causes loss of cognitive function, and mood changes. Humans have adapted several different methods for dealing with... click to read more

  • Ryo Higuchi-Sanabria | Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
Views 4132
Reading time 3.5 min
published on Sep 18, 2020