A 96% cost reduction could make advanced cell-free protein synthesis far more practical for synthetic biology labs. A study in Trends in Biotechnology reports that researchers led by POSTECH developed an automated and modular platform that produces proteins in test tubes, with higher yields and a two-day preparation workflow. The system is called i-POPFLEX, short…
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A study in Science reports that tiny 300-million-year-old hatchlings from Mazon Creek preserve a rare glimpse of how some early relatives of land animals began life. The fossils point to direct development, a life cycle in which young animals grow as small versions of their adult form, giving paleontologists a new window into the deep…
Researchers at Nagoya University have identified an unexpected self-modifying behavior in a brain-related enzyme, according to a study in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. The enzyme, called ST8Sia5L, can build a long sugar chain on itself. That chain then helps control whether the enzyme stays quiet, leaves the cell and later becomes active again. The…
A study in the Zoological Journal has revealed that citizen-science observations helped more than double the known evidence for parental care in harvestmen, a diverse group of arachnids known for unusually devoted egg guarding. Led by Glauco Machado of the University of São Paulo, the research used iNaturalist records alongside nearly three decades of field…
