news 2024

A recent study conducted on melon plants has revealed a defense mechanism that certain plants activate to deal with insect pests. It is a system of signaling molecules that, distributed through extracellular vesicles - including exosomes - allow plants to adapt their defenses according to the level of stress they are under.

Researchers describe the relationship between facial morphology and cerebral cortex measurements in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder A study published in Psychiatry Research identifies subtle differences in facial shapes that may be linked to the diagnosis of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Chimpanzees are the animals with the most complex memory, apart from humans. They remember where and when ripe fruits are available, and use this information to decide which trees they will visit and even where they will sleep to eat these fruits first thing in the morning. However, the cognitive strategies they use to find foods of animal origin rather than plant origin are not yet well understood.

Researchers at the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) have discovered that R-Ras1 and R-Ras2 proteins regulate the diversity of subpopulations of oligodendrocytes, the cells responsible for producing myelin in the central nervous system. This finding, published in Glia , could lay the foundations for new regenerative therapies for diseases such as multiple sclerosis.

One of the most fascinating periods in the evolution of the human lineage is the appearance of the first ancestors capable of bipedalism. Knowing the type of locomotion used by many fossil species - walking upright on the ground or climbing from branch to branch with the strength of their arms - has been one of the most classic questions in the study of the process of hominization.

Researchers at the Faculty of Medicine of the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) have revealed that pipolins, mobile genetic elements present in bacteria, contain numerous defense systems against bacteriophages. The study, published in Nucleic Acids Research , analyzed more than 11,000 pipolins in bacterial genomes, identifying their crucial role in the genetic evolution of bacteria.

US researchers have participated in a study that reveals how alterations in brain development in psychosis may be related to metabolism and neurotransmitters. Researchers from the University of Seville have participated, together with representatives from other Spanish, British, American and Canadian research centers, in a recent scientific study that has identified important anomalies in the brain maturation of individuals with psychosis.

A study led by the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) reveals that repositioning the drug dimethyl fumarate reduces neuronal degeneration in a mouse model of TDP-43-dependent frontotemporal dementia. The finding opens the possibility of reusing an already approved drug to treat a neurodegenerative disease without a cure, potentially accelerating the development of new therapies for dementia patients.

Researchers from the Universitat de València have developed a new methodology to detect and visualise zinc in astrocytes (cells that help in the correct function of nerve cells), both at microscopy and electronic level. The project, published in the magazine Microscopy and Microanalysis, confirms the importance of astrocytes in the control of zinc levels in our brain, an essential element for many neural functions.

Universitat de València full-time university professor Rubén Artero is leading a research that has identified a promising therapy for treating myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1), based on anti-miRs. The study is being carried out by the Human Translational Genomics Group of the INCLIVA-Universitat de València Health Research Institute (Biotecmed).

Researchers from the Centro de Biología Molecular -Severo Ochoa- (CBMSO), the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) and the Hospital Universitario de Alcorcón have identified a possible key role of glial activation and inflammation in the neurodegeneration of the cerebellum of mice mimicking Friedreich's ataxia, an inherited neurodegenerative disease.

In this study, published in the journal Computers in Biology and Medicine , researchers have developed an Artificial Intelligence (AI) that represents an important advance in the combination of deep learning and computational biology techniques. A team of researchers from the University of Granada and the University of Seville, led by Juan Antonio Marchal Corrales and Miguel Ángel Gutiérrez Naranjo respectively, has published an innovative study in which an Artificial Intelligence is designed to improve the prediction of the evolution of cell migration in breast cancer.

Some ostracoderms-primitive vertebrates without fins or jaws-colonised for the first time the marine pelagic realm over 400 million years ago. These fish optimised their headshields to rise from the seabed and move efficiently through ocean waters, compensating for their lack of fins. This is the main finding of a study co-led by a team from the Cavanilles Institute of the University of Valencia and recently published in Nature Communications Biology.

It is the carotenoid phytoene, which is found in foods such as tomatoes, carrots, apricots, red peppers, oranges, tangerines or passion fruit, among others. Researchers from the Color and Food Quality group of the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Seville, in collaboration with Marina Ezcurra's group at the University of Kent (UK), have demonstrated that the carotenoid phytoene increases the lifespan of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and that it can slow the onset of paralysis associated with the formation of amyloid plaques in a model of Alzheimer's disease.

A team of researchers from the University of Cape Town (South Africa), the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig and the University of Valencia has analysed human remains from the Oakhurst rock shelter in the far south of Africa and has reconstructed the genomes of thirteen individuals who died between 1,300 and 10,000 years ago, including the oldest human genome recovered from southern Africa to date.

International collaboration to uncover how cells communicate through vibrations Organisms of all shapes and sizes communicate by vibrating the solid stuff of their environments, and initial evidence suggests that individual cells in our bodies might do the same. A team of researchers from Israel, the United Kingdom, Spain and the United States have been awarded a three-year, $1.5 million grant from the Human Frontier Science Program to study this potentially transformative new mode of cell-to-cell communication.

Research shows industrial interest of the gut microbial community of the beetle Pachnoda marginata Researchers at the Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio), a joint centre of the University of Valencia (UV) and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), have published a study that reveals a highly diverse microbial community and the potential of the gut of the beetle larva Pachnoda marginata as a source of microbial diversity of industrial interest.

Researchers from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) and the Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge in Barcelona have discovered a spontaneous response of the brain of adult rats after stroke that facilitates neurological and motor recovery. The study reveals an increase in oligodendrocytes that promotes remyelination of damaged tissue.

Nature makes public the study of a team with international participation coordinated by staff from the University of Seville. A research team with international participation and coordinated by Professor Luis Corrochano, from the University of Seville, has made a significant advance in the understanding of gene regulation in fungi, discovering a DNA modification previously observed only in bacteria and some unicellular organisms.

The Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (UV-CSIC) has conducted the first comprehensive analysis of all mutations in the protein set of coxsackievirus B3, which causes severe heart inflammation. The findings, published in Plos Biology, will help to identify regions of the virus genome with low tolerance to mutations, facilitating the development of drugs targeting these areas.