Journal Club

Highlighting recent, timely papers selected by Academy member labs

Category Archives: Medical Sciences

To find zoonotic viruses, researchers seek genomic signatures of virus adaptations to hosts

Posted on October 15, 2021 by Jyoti Madhusoodanan

In light of the ongoing pandemic, researchers have stepped up efforts to identify new zoonotic threats—viruses that could make the leap from animals to humans and cause future epidemics. Studies aiming to identify such viruses often focus on a novel … Continue reading →

When listeners pay close attention to stories, their heart rates synchronize

Posted on September 24, 2021 by Carolyn Beans

An international team of researchers has shown that when a group of people hear the same story or watch the same video, their heart rates tend to rise and fall in synch. This correlation of heart rates, described this … Continue reading →

Easily made, robust chemical reagents could be game changer for developing world science

Posted on June 11, 2021 by David Adam

Enzymes and other chemical reagents are crucial for all sorts of life sciences research. Typically, they’re produced in industrial processes by modified bacteria; then they’re extracted and purified. But scientists in many parts of the world struggle to access such … Continue reading →

Opinion: How to ensure regulations don’t stymie much-needed COVID-19 point-of-care testing

Posted on May 26, 2021 by pnas

Clare Rocka,1 and Jonathan Zenilmana a Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has raged for more than a year in the United States, upending … Continue reading →

Mutations in metabolic genes can cause antibiotic resistance

Posted on March 5, 2021 by Amy McDermott

A recent study in Science reveals a novel avenue by which genetic changes make bacteria resistant to drugs: mutations in genes involved in cellular metabolism, including some that convert food into energy. “The genes were known; their involvement in metabolism … Continue reading →

Categories: Journal Club | Medical Sciences | Microbiology | Tagged antibiotic resistance, antibiotics, E. coli, genes, metabolism, mutation, natural selection, sucA | 1 Comment

A cellular and genetic atlas of the lung offers insights into disease and development

Posted on December 18, 2020 by Amy McDermott

Explorers need maps. That’s as true for hikers blazing trails as it is for molecular biologists striving to cure disease. A new atlas of the lungs, recently published in Nature, is the most comprehensive map ever of that vital organ. … Continue reading →

Categories: Genetics | Journal Club | Medical Sciences | Tagged bioengineering, cancer, cells, gene expression, lung, map, molecular biology, organ transplant, single-cell RNA sequencing | Leave a comment

Study finds clues to Alzheimer’s disease onset in the aging female brain

Posted on December 11, 2020 by Stephen Ornes

In the United States, women make up nearly two-thirds of all diagnosed cases of Alzheimer’s disease. On average, women live about 5 years longer than men, but that life expectancy discrepancy doesn’t likely account for such a large, sex-skewed prevalence … Continue reading →

Insights into heat shock protein machinery could point to interventions for neurodegenerative disease

Posted on November 20, 2020 by Amy McDermott

Heat shock proteins perform a range of functions related to protein quality control. Among them: breaking down dangerous protein aggregates called amyloid fibers. The buildup of certain amyloids has been linked to neurodegenerative disease. But the exact mechanism by which … Continue reading →

Categories: Biochemistry | Journal Club | Medical Sciences | Tagged allosteric inhibition, amyloid fibrils, chaperone, DnaJB1, heat shock protein, HSP70, J-domain protein, neurodegenerative disease, Parkinson's disease | Leave a comment

PREVIEW News Feature: To counter the pandemic, clinicians bank on repurposed drugs

Posted on April 15, 2020 by Jyoti Madhusoodanan

Teams are pursuing a dizzying array of therapeutic strategies to stymie COVID-19. It’s not yet clear which approach, or combination of approaches, will work best. *Editor’s Note: We’re providing a preview of this content due to the urgent and rapidly … Continue reading →

Fluid dynamics work hints at whether spoken word can spread COVID-19

Posted on April 7, 2020 by Carolyn Beans

As of April 3, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is advising that everyone—sick or healthy—wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Recent research on how fluids travel from our respiratory tracts when we sneeze, speak, or … Continue reading →

PREVIEW Inner Workings: Molecular biologists offer “wartime service” in the effort to test for COVID-19

Posted on April 2, 2020 by Amy McDermott

*Editor’s Note: We’re providing a preview of this content due to the urgent and rapidly unfolding events surrounding the novel coronavirus pandemic. An updated version will appear in PNAS in the coming weeks. As COVID-19 spreads, communities across the United … Continue reading →

Categories: Inner workings | Medical Sciences | Tagged coronavirus, COVID-19, COVID-19 testing, pandemic, qPCR, RNA extraction, SARS-Cov-2 | Leave a comment