All Early Career Research articles – Page 4
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NewsResearchers wake up microbes trapped in permafrost for thousands of years
In a new study, a team of geologists and biologists resurrected ancient microbes that had been trapped in ice—in some cases for around 40,000 years.
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NewsThe essential role of the urban tree microbiome: A key to city health
Researchers studied the difference in microbial communities of street trees and non-urban forest trees. By analyzing fungal and bacterial diversity, tree size, and soil properties, their research shows the impacts of urban environmental stressors upon city tree microbiomes.
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NewsScientists explore how viruses replicate and infect
Herpes viruses cultivated using one kind of host cell – known as a producer cell – exhibited differences from the same virus cultivated with a different producer cell.
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NewsResearchers deconstruct chikungunya outbreaks to improve prediction and vaccine development
Researchers analyzed more than 80 outbreaks of chikungunya virus to improve prediction of future outbreaks and inform vaccine trial development.
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NewsHeart rhythm disorder POTS common in patients with long COVID
A new study shows that an unusual heart rhythm disorder, POTS, is particularly common in people with long COVID. The majority of those affected are middle-aged women.
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NewsSummer studentship: Shen explores how a novel peptide can destabilise the outer membrane of E. coli
Li Shen reports back on his AMI-sponsored summer studentship which investigated a novel antibiotic adjuvant at the Centre for Bacterial Resistance Biology, Imperial College London.
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NewsAncient plankton hint at steadier future for ocean life
A team of scientists has uncovered a rare isotope in microscopic fossils, offering fresh evidence that ocean ecosystems may be more resilient than once feared. They analyzed nitrogen isotopes preserved in the shells of tiny plankton called foraminifera.
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NewsCould a fungus provide a blueprint for next-gen hydrogels?
New research finds one fungal species, Marquandomyces marquandii, shows promise as a potential building block for new biomedical materials. It can grow into hydrogels, materials that hold lots of water and mimic the softness and flexibility of human tissues.
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NewsNew herpes virus–based vaccine could cure cancer in the future without side effects
The Herpes simplex virus is a widespread virus that often causes cold sores, and most people carry it. By removing a virulence gene, i.e. a gene that makes the virus harmful to humans, the herpes virus can be repurposed as a cancer vaccine.
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NewsIndia could bear biggest impact from chikungunya, new maps suggest
Based on existing evidence of chikungunya transmission, an infectious disease model predicts 14.4 million people could be at risk of infections globally each year, with 5.1 million people at risk in India.
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NewsCorals might be adapting to climate change, study shows
Researchers showed that despite a gradual increase in ocean acidity levels over the past 200 years, some corals seem to be able to adjust and continue to generate their hard, stony skeleton structures.
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NewsEngineers use bacterial nanowires to create first artificial neurons that could directly communicate with living cells
Engineers have created an artificial neuron with electrical functions that closely mirror those of biological ones. Using protein nanowires synthesized from electricity-generating bacteria, the discovery could herald immensely efficient computers built on biological principles.
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NewsMicrobial DNA sequencing reveals nutrient pollution and climate change reinforce lake eutrophication
A new study using DNA sequencing of lakebed microbes reveals that nutrient pollution from agricultural runoff and climate change amplify each other in ways that profoundly affect the health of lake ecosystems.
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NewsSome plants can make their own fertilizer - scientists say they learned it more than once
In a new study, scientists show that chemical receptors that plants use to recognize nitrogen-fixing bacteria have developed the same function independently on at least three separate occasions through a process called convergent evolution.
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NewsNew one-hour, low-cost HPV test could transform cervical cancer screening in Africa and beyond
A team of researchers has developed a simple, affordable human papillomavirus (HPV) test that delivers results in less than an hour with no specialized laboratory required.
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NewsNew mechanisms for bacterial motility and DNA transfer between bacteria decoded
Scientists have discovered a new family of signaling proteins, widespread in the bacterial kingdom and contributing to regulating bacterial motility and DNA uptake mechanisms.
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NewsHot springs in Japan give insight into ancient microbial life on Earth
Iron-oxidising bacteria in the iron-rich hot springs suggest early microbes used iron and trace oxygen, not sunlight, as their primary energy source during the planet’s shift from a low-oxygen to a high-oxygen atmosphere about 2.3 billion years ago.
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NewsIn pregnant mice with severe flu, harmful molecules can breach fetal barriers
A new study shows, for the first time, that severe flu infection in pregnant mice leads to a breakdown in placental and brain barriers, leading to the accumulation of potentially harmful molecules in the fetal brain. Fibrinogen can pass into developing fetal brains.
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NewsHeadspace invaders: How mosquito-borne viruses breach the brain’s defenses
Using a stem cell-based model of the human blood-brain barrier, researchers compared two closely related Sindbis virus strains — one brain-invading and one not — and found that small changes in viral surface proteins called glycoproteins dictate whether the virus can cross.
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NewsKey to the riddle of sleep may be linked to bacteria
New research suggests a new paradigm in understanding sleep, demonstrating that a substance in the mesh-like walls of bacteria, known as peptidoglycan, is naturally present in the brains of mice and closely aligned with the sleep cycle.