Electrodes created using light

Researcher at LiU have developed a technique where visible light can be used to create electrodes from conductive plastics completely without hazardous chemicals. The technique requires no advanced laser setups – visible light from simple LED lamps, such as a party light, can drive the polymerization. 
Photo Credit: Thor Balkhed

Visible light can be used to create electrodes from conductive plastics completely without hazardous chemicals. This is shown in a new study carried out by researchers at Linköping and Lund universities. The electrodes can be created on different types of surfaces, which opens up for a new type of electronics and medical sensors. 

“I think this is something of a breakthrough. It’s another way of creating electronics that is simpler and doesn’t require any expensive equipment,” says Xenofon Strakosas, assistant professor at the Laboratory of Organic Electronics, LOE, at Linköping University. 

Scientists identify small RNA molecule that regulates cholesterol and heart disease

Xiuchun Li is the first author of the research paper.
Photo Credit: UCR/Zhou lab

A team of researchers led by University of California, Riverside biomedical scientists has identified a small, previously overlooked small RNA molecule that plays a major role in controlling the body’s cholesterol production and the development of heart disease. The molecule, named tsRNA-Glu-CTC, could be a potential new target for future therapies aimed at lowering high cholesterol.

Using PANDORA-seq, a sequencing technology developed at UC Riverside, the scientists were able to detect hidden types of small RNAs in the liver, the organ central to cholesterol metabolism. They found that tsRNA-Glu-CTC is highly abundant in the liver (more than 65% of all detectable tsRNAs or tRNA-derived small RNAs) and responds directly to changes in cholesterol levels. The study was done in mice.

The research established a direct link between tsRNA-Glu-CTC and SREBP2 (Sterol Regulatory Element-Binding Protein 2), a key protein known as the “master regulator” of cholesterol production.

Reproduced human neural circuits show the crucial role of the thalamus in shaping the cortical circuit

Assembloid [3D fluorescent staining] Axons in the thalamus (pink) extended toward the cortex, while those in the cortex (green) extended toward the thalamus at 14 days post-fusion.
Image Credit: Fumitaka Osakada

A Japanese research team has successfully reproduced the human neural circuit in vitro using multi-region miniature organs known as assembloids, which are derived from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. With this circuit, the team demonstrated that the thalamus plays a crucial role in shaping cell type-specific neural circuits in the human cerebral cortex.

These findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

Our brain’s cerebral cortex contains various types of neurons, and effective communication among these neurons and other brain regions is crucial for activating functions like perception and cognition.

Patients with neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), exhibit disruptions in the structure and function of neural circuits in the cerebral cortex. Therefore, understanding the principles of these circuits is essential to uncovering the causes of these disorders and developing new medications.

Raising strong yeast as a petroleum substitute

Strengthened Saccharomyces cerevisiae   
This common yeast is a strong contender for replacing petroleum in 2,3-butanediol production.   
Image Credit: Osaka Metropolitan University

As fossil fuels rise in cost and green initiatives gain traction, alternative methods for producing useful compounds using microorganisms have the potential to become sustainable, environmentally friendly technologies.

One such process involves the common bread yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae), to produce 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BDO), an organic compound often used in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. However, this yeast has a low tolerance for 2,3-BDO under high concentrations, which leads to a decline in its production ability and hinders the mass commercialization of this method.

Farmers boosted Europe's biodiversity over the last 12,000 years

Standing stones in Carnac, France. Built between 6,500 - 5,300 years ago by Europe's first farmers.
 Photo Credit: Jonny Gordon.

Although humans are to blame for nature’s recent decline, a new study shows that for millennia, European farming practices drove biodiversity gains, not losses. 

Standing stones in Carnac, France. Built between 6,500 - 5,300 years ago by Europe's first farmers. Picture by Jonny Gordon. 

A team of researchers at the University of York analyzed fossil pollen records from Europe to track vegetation changes stretching back 12,000 years. They discovered that as new populations of farmers from Turkey moved into Europe 9,000 years ago, far from destroying plant diversity, they enriched it. 

Dr Jonny Gordon is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity and lead author of the new paper, Increased Holocene diversity in Europe linked to human-associated vegetation change, which has been published in Global Ecology and Biogeography. 

What Is: Gravitational Microlensing

Scientific Frontline / Stock image

The universe, in its vastness, is largely composed of matter that does not shine. For centuries, the discipline of astronomy was fundamentally limited to the study of luminous objects: stars that fuse hydrogen into helium, gas clouds excited by radiation, and galaxies that act as islands of light in the cosmic dark. This reliance on electromagnetic radiation—photons—as the primary messenger of cosmic information created a significant selection bias. It rendered the "dark sector" of the Milky Way, including brown dwarfs, black holes, old white dwarfs, and free-floating planetary-mass objects, effectively invisible to standard census techniques. To map the true mass distribution of our galaxy, astronomers required a method that did not rely on the emission of light but rather on the one force that pervades all matter: gravity. 

UCLA team discovers how to target ‘undruggable’ protein that fuels aggressive leukemia

B-lymphoblastic leukemia, a type of blood cancer.
Image Credit: Courtesy of the Rao Laboratory.

Researchers at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a small molecule that can inhibit a cancer-driving protein long considered impossible to target with drugs — a discovery that could open the door to a new class of treatments for leukemia and other hard-to-treat cancers. 

The compound, called I3IN-002, disrupts the ability of a protein known as IGF2BP3 to bind and stabilize cancer-promoting RNAs, a mechanism that fuels aggressive forms of acute leukemia. The study published in the journal Haematologica, found the molecule not only slowed leukemic cell growth but also triggered cancer cell death and reduced the population of leukemia-initiating cells that sustain the disease.

“This project has been more than a decade in the making,” said Dr. Dinesh Rao, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and senior author of the study. “We discovered IGF2BP3 years ago as an important driver in acute leukemias, and for a long time there were no tools to target it. To finally show that we can inhibit this protein and disrupt its function in cancer cells is incredibly exciting.” 

Novel Kirkovirus May Be Associated with Colitis in Horses

Photo Credit: Nick Page

In a pilot study, researchers from North Carolina State University have found a novel kirkovirus that may be associated with colitis – and potentially small colon impactions – in horses. The study could offer a route to new therapies for horses with colitis symptoms from unknown causes.

“Horses are uniquely susceptible to colitis, and the structure of their gastrointestinal tracts amplify the negative effects,” says Lilly Haywood, Ph.D. student in NC State’s College of Veterinary Medicine. “Horses have very large colons and cecums to facilitate water absorption, so when these structures become inflamed the horses dehydrate quickly. And their large intestines contain a lot of bacteria, so inflammation can lead to those bacteria entering the bloodstream and causing sepsis.” Haywood is first author of the study.

“The other issue when dealing with colitis in horses is that in more than 50% of cases we are unable to find the cause,” says Breanna Sheahan, assistant professor of equine medicine at NC State and corresponding author of the study. “We suspected there might be another viral cause for some of these cases, so we started looking for one.”

Island-wide field surveys illuminate land-sea connections in Mo‘orea

Mo'orea, French Polynesia, is surrounded by a diverse and vibrant coral reef ecosystem.
Photo Credit: Christian John

A massive, multi-year scientific expedition led by researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara and collaborating institutions, including the University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa, determined that land use on tropical islands can shape water quality in lagoons and that rainfall can be an important mediator for connections between land and lagoon waters. These findings provide vital information for ecosystem stewards facing global reef decline. Their findings were published recently in Limnology and Oceanography.

“This study is pretty groundbreaking in terms of its scale,” said Christian John, lead author of the study and postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “We looked at algal tissue nutrients, water chemistry, and microbial communities at almost 200 sites around the island of Mo‘orea, French Polynesia, and we repeated this sampling over multiple years.”

“The links between land and sea are dynamic and complex, so it’s a topic that has remained elusive to science,” said Mary Donovan, co-author and faculty at the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology in the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology. “It took a dream team to pierce through that complexity. We brought together a group of interdisciplinary thinkers, from students to senior investigators, across at least five major institutions to tackle this immense challenge.”

Brain discovery opens door to earlier detection of metabolic syndrome in women

Image Credit: Scientific Frontline / stock image

McGill University researchers have identified a brain function that helps explain why childhood stress raises metabolic health risks for some women later in life. 

A new study found that variations in the brain’s insulin receptor network affect how women respond to early-life adversity. This effect has a lesser impact in men, suggesting there is a sex-specific process at play. 

The findings, published in Communications Biology (Nature Portfolio), point to the brain’s insulin receptor network as a promising avenue for earlier detection and future prevention strategies for metabolic syndrome, a major driver of cardiovascular disease that affects about one in five Canadian adults. 

“We know that women who face childhood adversity are at higher risk for metabolic disease, and this study helps identify who is most susceptible,” said senior author Dr. Patricia Pelufo Silveira, professor of psychiatry at McGill and researcher at the Douglas Research Centre.