News
Bioluminescent fungi reveal pathways for advanced biotechnology and medical applications
Like fireflies and many deep-sea creatures, certain fungi can naturally emit light through bioluminescence pathways in which specialized enzymes convert chemical energy into visible light. Medical researchers have used fungal light-producing enzymes in the Fungal Bioluminescence Pathway (FBP) to visually track processes like tumor progression and inflammatory responses. New research published in The FEBS Journal provides insights that may help improve and expand such bioluminescence-based tools and applications
Journal reference: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/febs.70554
What Cell-Free DNA Means for Clinical Laboratories
A blood sample has long been a central tool in clinical medicine, providing insight into physiology through measurements, such as cell counts, chemistries, and serologic markers. Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) builds on that foundation by enabling laboratories to access molecular information derived directly from cellular processes such as injury, turnover, and immune activity.
NIH researchers identify avenue for enhanced GLP-1-induced weight loss
A team of researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have unveiled new details about the events GLP-1 receptor agonists trigger within neurons, which have been largely unexplored until now. A study in mice identified key intracellular signaling processes that are tied to the weight-loss effects of the GLP-1 drug semaglutide. The findings improve our understanding of how increasingly prevalent GLP-1s may influence human behavior and identify new opportunities to potentially enhance treatment.
Psychological Safety in the Lab Drives Improved Innovation, Performance, and Growth
Labs are constantly striving to improve their workflows, innovation, and problem-solving. A key feature of successful labs is a significant level of psychological safety where staff are willing to contribute ideas, observations, and identify challenges. To learn more about how lab managers can promote psychological safety and build a culture that emphasizes vulnerability and sharing, we talked with Karolin Helbig & Minette Norman, co-authors of The Psychological Safety Playbook for Changemakers. They identify changemakers as people “who care enough to act. Leaders and individual contributors have decided that culture is their responsibility, too. The ones who refuse to give up, who know that small changes can have a far-reaching, positive ripple effect.”
Move over, AlphaFold: open source model predicts shape of 1 billion proteins
The known protein universe just got a lot bigger. A newly released artificial-intelligence tool has generated an atlas of more than one billion predicted protein structures and billions more protein sequences.
ACS publishes revised colorectal cancer screening guidelines
The American Cancer Society has revised its colorectal cancer screening guidelines, adding new stool and blood tests to increase screening rates among adults aged 45-75, with a focus on underserved populations.
New Research Connects Climate Change to Increasing Heat-Related Heart Disease Nationally
More specifically, the study, published today in JAMA Cardiology, estimates the higher temperatures could increase heat-related heart disease by 200% by 2050.
Extreme trait values often have simpler genetic explanations than though
Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have found evidence that people who fall at the extreme high or low ends of certain traits, such as cholesterol, blood glucose, height, and age at menopause, are more likely to have a simple genetic explanation than previously thought.
New Blood Test Detects Testicular Cancers Missed by Standard Markers
Mayo Clinic researchers have developed two new blood tests that use immune system signals to improve detection and classification of testicular germ cell tumors
Spatial Multiomics: The Next Frontier in Single-Cell Analysis
Spatial multiomics is helping researchers connect single-cell data with tissue context, offering deeper insight into cancer, neuroscience, developmental biology, and other complex systems
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