La mejor ciencia para mentes hambrientas
Could your parents’ lifestyle choices affect how long you live? And could this effect not be directly related to your genes? Scientists studying my favourite roundworm (C. elegans) have discovered a surprising answer: yes, they can.
Interested? Go on to read the whole article at MappingIgnorance.org
Humans are not the only animals with a taste for alcohol. It has been described in different animals in the wild, especially mammals, that they do like to eat overripe fermented fruit, and with it experience similar effects to the ones we are all familiar with. It turns out that some mammals cannot take their…
Can a father’s lifestyle choices before conception influence the health of his future children? New research reveals that environmental factors affecting fathers can leave molecular footprints in embryos, shaping development and potentially impacting long-term health. For decades, scientists believed that inheritance was controlled exclusively by DNA sequences passed from parents to offspring. Today, researchers recognize…
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were hints at particular genes which increased some people’s susceptibility to get infected and the severity of illness once infected. Now, an international study (nearly 3500 researchers from 25 countries) on more than 45000 people infected with SARS-CoV-2, showed a link between 13 genetic variants and the…
Not that long ago I learned about a paper published by the lab of Björn Brems about the big fraud that impact factor in scientific publishing is when it comes to being an actual measure of how good science is. Not that it was news to many of us but it comes with a wealth…
To eat, a cell needs to carry its main nutrients (sugars, lipids, and peptides –pieces of proteins–) across the cell membrane. To do so, it has a number of molecular transporters. Interestingly, although sugar transporters are highly specific to the type of sugar they transport, peptide transporters are not picky at all. This promiscuity has…
Gene therapy was a 90s hit. The most promising medical advance of the decade was almost forgotten after some really serious side effects occurred in one clinical trial, but after nearly 3 decades a small trial in Germany has shown gene therapy not only to be safe for use in humans but also to have…