Mindzilla – Evolution

Evolution

Origins of Life could have Started with DNA-Like XNAs

April 8, 2021
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Nagoya, Japan — Nagoya University scientists in Japan have demonstrated how DNA-like molecules could have come together as a precursor to the origins of life. The findings, published in the journal Nature...

Research Unlocks the Genomic Secrets of Organisms that Thrive in Extreme Deep-Sea

March 29, 2021
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Hong Kong, China — A study led by scientists at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) has decoded the genomes of the deep-sea clam (Archivesica marissinica) and the chemoautotrophic bacteria (Candidatus...

New Proteins ‘Out of Nothing’

March 15, 2021
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Münster, Germany — Proteins are the key component in all modern forms of life. Haemoglobin, for example, transports the oxygen in our blood; photosynthesis proteins in the leaves of plants convert...

3Rs of the Genome: Reading, Writing, and Regulating

March 11, 2021
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State College, PA — A massive effort to map the precise binding locations of over 400 different kinds of proteins on the yeast genome has produced the most thorough and high-resolution map of chromosome...

Evolution’s Game of Rock-Paper-Scissors

February 16, 2021
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Bethlehem, PA — If B is better than A, and C is better than B, it follows by the transitive property that C is better than A. And, yet, this is not always the case. Every kid is familiar with the Rock-Paper-Scissors...

A Glimpse into the Formation of Mitoribosome

February 16, 2021
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Solna, Sweden — The mitochondrial ribosome is an intricate machine that translates the organellar genome into functional proteins. The formation of the mitochondrial ribosome is a hierarchical process...

Scientists Identify How Harmless Gut Bacteria “Turn Bad”

February 15, 2021
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Bath, UK — An international team of scientists has determined how harmless E. coli gut bacteria in chickens can easily pick up the genes required to evolve to cause a life-threatening infection. Their...

Unusual DNA Folding Increases the Rates of Mutations

February 10, 2021
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State College, PA — DNA sequences that can fold into shapes other than the classic double helix tend to have higher mutation rates than other regions in the human genome. New research shows that the...

Biologists Unravel Full Sequence of DNA Repair Mechanism

January 26, 2021
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Iowa City, IA — Every living organism has DNA, and every living organism engages in DNA replication, the process by which DNA makes an exact copy of itself during cell division. While it’s a...

Academy Scientists Describe 213 Species in 2020

December 11, 2020
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San Francisco, CA — This past year, researchers at the California Academy of Sciences added 213 plant and animal species to the tree of life, providing deeper insight into the rich biodiversity of...

Did Early Life Need Long, Complex Molecules to Make Cell-Like Compartments?

November 24, 2020
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State College, PA — Protocell compartments used as models for an important step in the early evolution of life on Earth can be made from short polymers. The short polymers, which better approximate...

Genetic Code Evolution and Darwin’s Evolution Theory should Consider DNA an ‘Energy Code’

November 16, 2020
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New Brunswick, NJ — Darwin’s theory of evolution should be expanded to include consideration of a DNA stability “energy code” – so-called “molecular Darwinism” –...

Criss-Crossing Viruses Give Rise to Peculiar Hybrid Variants

November 3, 2020
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Tempe, AZ — For millions of years, viruses have participated in a far-flung, import-export business, exchanging fragments of themselves with both viral and non-viral agents and acquiring new features....

Coronavirus Mutation may have Made It more Contagious

November 2, 2020
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Austin, TX — A study involving more than 5,000 COVID-19 patients in Houston finds that the virus that causes the disease is accumulating genetic mutations, one of which may have made it more contagious....

New RNA Catalyst from the Lab

October 29, 2020
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Würzburg, Germany — Enzymes enable biochemical reactions that would otherwise not take place on their own. In nature, it is mostly proteins that function as enzymes. However, other molecules can also...

Super-Resolution Microscopy and Machine Learning Shed New Light on Fossil Pollen Grains

October 27, 2020
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Urbana, IL — Plant biology researchers at the University of Illinois and computer scientists at the University of California Irvine have developed a new method of fossil pollen identification through...

Nanodevices Show How Living Cells Change with Time, by Tracking from Inside

October 22, 2020
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Bath, UK — For the first time, scientists have introduced minuscule tracking devices directly into the interior of mammalian cells, giving an unprecedented peek into the processes that govern the beginning...

World First Study Shows Some Microorganisms can Bend the Rules of Evolution

October 15, 2020
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Melbourne, Australia — In a world first Monash University scientists have discovered that HGT can bend the rules of evolution. The discovery is outlined in a study published today in PNAS, which...

How Dinosaur Research Can Help Medicine

August 26, 2020
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Bonn, Germany — The intervertebral discs connect the vertebrae and give the spine its mobility. The disc consists of a cartilaginous fibrous ring and a gelatinous core as a buffer. It has always been...

DNA Damage Triggers Reprogramming into Stem Cells

August 18, 2020
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Tokyo, Japan — A joint research team from the National Institute for Basic Biology (NIBB) in Japan, Huazhong Agricultural University in China, and the Czech Academy of Sciences in the Czech Republic...

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