A plethora of exciting applications in biology has been found for Parrondo’s paradox, in which losing strategies can be combined to produce winning outcomes.
Life Science
Cell-free DNA Fragments to Identify Cancer
It is now possible to distinguish the pattern of DNA fragments of normal cells from cancerous cells within the blood of individuals with surgically-operable early stage cancers.1 Regions of the genome have their own local differences in cancer-specific,...
Mechanical Strength in a Nutshell
A novel cell type with interlocked packing found to be responsible for the hardness of walnuts’ shell
Crop Tolerance to Herbicides through Artificial Evolution
The domestication of crops is a directed evolutionary process that has lasted for most of human history. It has allocated naturally occurring mutations that encode traits for higher production, better taste, and convenient cultivation. These traits can better manage...
The Mystery of Horse Domestication Deepens
By a process of elimination, ancient DNA sequences are clarifying the history of horse culture.1 Domestic horses were genetically very diverse for the last five millennia. However, in the last thousand years, this pool of diversity is shallower due to breeding for...
Assessing the Fertility of Sperm
Machine-learning applied to IVF.
Minimal Cells, Maximal Impact
Members of the Max Planck Research Network in Synthetic Biology put together a special issue on synthetic cells for Advanced Biosystems.
How to Reduce Stress at the Nanoscale Level
Scientists measured nanoscale structural alterations in the brains of mice after chronic corticosterone administration using a novel nanoscale optical imaging technique and gene expression analysis.
IL7 Receptor Signaling in T Cells: A Mathematical Modelling Perspective
How T cells maintain homeostasis and maximize the size of the peripheral T cell pool are important questions that have fascinated both immunologists and mathematicians.
The Unusual Genitalia of Bark Lice
Unique selection pressures can lead to curious outcomes.
Popular
-
New theory suggests gravity is not a fundamental force
-
French WEST reactor breaks record in nuclear fusion
-
Higgs boson may be driving the Universe’s expansion
-
Quantum entanglement visualized for the first time ever
-
An anti-inflammatory peptide may hold the key to low-back pain relief
-
“Cosmic vine” discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope
-
Could a nuclear explosion set Earth’s atmosphere on fire?
-
The Road to Better Presentation of Data: The Do’s and Don’ts
-
The dramatic story behind general relativity’s Nobel Prize snub
-
Ibuprofen’s effect on red blood cells: A prickly affair