Some of the mouth’s microbial communities may promote good health, while others contribute to cavities, gum disease, and possibly even heart disease. Now, scientists are learning more about how genetic and environmental factors influence the mouth’s microbial makeup, and how … Continue reading
Journal Club
Highlighting recently published papers selected by Academy members
Journal Club: Twin study elucidates environmental, genetic contributions to mouth microbiome and oral health
Categories: Genetics | Journal Club | Medical Sciences | Microbiology
Tagged bacteria, genes, heritability, microbiome, oral health, Streptococcus, twin study
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Journal Club: First observation of ‘superballistic’ electrons, flowing like a viscous fluid in graphene
Taking advantage of graphene’s special properties, physicists have experimentally observed a stream of record-breaking electrons that move with a conductance exceeding the limit theorists established decades ago. The researchers reported their findings recently in Nature Physics. For more than half … Continue reading
Categories: Applied Physical Sciences | Condensed Matter Physics | Journal Club | Quantum Mechanics
Tagged conductance, electrons, graphene, superballistic
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Journal Club: Illuminating the neurons that help fruit fly larvae escape danger
Disturb fruit fly larvae with sharp jabs or intense heat and they’ll respond the same way every time. “They always roll two or three times, and then stop rolling and land away from the noxious thing,” says neuroscientist Kazuo Emoto … Continue reading
Categories: Animal Behavior | Journal Club | Neuroscience
Tagged drosophila, fruit flies, neural circuit, neurons, optogenetics, reflex
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Journal Club: Wheat’s molecular response to full sun exposure could suggest ways to increase yield
A recent study points to novel ways of improving crop yields and food production by elucidating how long it takes for wheat to return to full photosynthesis when making the transition from shade to sun exposure. The Green Revolution in … Continue reading
Categories: Agriculture | Cell Biology | Climate science | Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences | Journal Club | Plant Biology
Tagged ATP, Green Revolution, photosynthesis, Rubisco, wheat, yield
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Journal Club: New roles found for protein key to neurotransmission
Scientists know many of the proteins that make neurotransmission possible, but they don’t have a handle on how all the pieces work together. “As someone who has studied the synapse for a long time, I still find it frustrating … Continue reading
Categories: Biochemistry | Genetics | Journal Club | Neuroscience
Tagged Alzheimer's disease, neurodegenerative disease, neuron, neurotransmitter, Parkinson's disease, SNARE, synaxin, Unc13
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Journal Club: CRISPR elucidates genetic basis of social behavior in ants
Drosophila has been a workhorse of genetics for roughly a century. But as a solitary insect, it hasn’t allowed researchers to investigate the genetic basis of complex social behavior in ants and bees. Now, a pair of studies published today in … Continue reading
Categories: Animal Behavior | Biochemistry | Genetics | Journal Club
Tagged ants, CRISPR, drosophila, odorant receptor, social behavior, social insects
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Journal Club: Study of volcanic gases offers new fundamental insights into the Earth’s carbon cycle
To understand how the planet’s climate will evolve and has evolved over geologic time, scientists need to understand the Earth’s carbon cycle. In work recently published in Science, researchers offer new insights into that cycle, upending calculations about just how … Continue reading
Categories: Chemistry | Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences | Ecology | Journal Club
Tagged carbon, carbon cycle, Earth's crust, geologic time, helium, isotopes, subduction zone, tectonic plate, volcano
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Journal Club: Ancient diet helps tell the story of Easter Island
Famous for its towering stone human figures, Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, has long been shrouded in mystery, with the demise of its people the subject of an intense debate. Now, new findings about what its residents ate hundreds of … Continue reading
Categories: Anthropology | Chemistry | Ecology | Journal Club | Sustainability Science
Tagged amino acids, diet, Easter Island, extinction, isotopes, overharvest, Rapa Nui
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Journal Club: Antarctic cyanobacteria show no changes due to warming—yet
Captain Robert Scott’s Antarctic Discovery expedition took place over 100 years ago—and yet its participants recently racked up another contribution to science. Thanks to the samples of bacterial mats they collected from polar ponds—samples that were pressed, dried, and stored … Continue reading
Journal Club: Insights from 3-D images defy assumptions about how plant cells communicate
When plant cells communicate, plasmodesmata serve as crucial conduits. These channels cross cell walls, linking one cell to its neighbor. If a plant needs to grow larger or fight off a pathogen, molecular signals pass through plasmodesmata to keep cells … Continue reading
Categories: Cell Biology | Journal Club | Plant Biology
Tagged Arabidopsis, cell communication, electron microscopy, plant cell, plasmodesmata
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