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Biology

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Closeup of the face of an electric eel.
evolution

Electric Fish Genomes Reveal How Evolution Repeats Itself

By Joanna Thompson
August 22, 2022
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By studying how electric organs arose in different lineages of fish, scientists gain new insights into a long-standing question of evolutionary biology.

Pocket watch with face of a woman at different ages where the numbers would be, on a DNA chain.
aging

Epigenetic ‘Clocks’ Predict Animals’ True Biological Age

By Ingrid Wickelgren
August 17, 2022
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A statistical analysis of chemical tags on DNA may help unify disparate theories of aging.

Nick Lane of University College London in an exhibit hall at the Grant Museum of Zoology.
Q&A

A Biochemist’s View of Life’s Origin Reframes Cancer and Aging

By Viviane Callier
August 8, 2022
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The biochemist Nick Lane thinks life first evolved in hydrothermal vents where precursors of metabolism appeared before genetic information. His ideas could lead us to think differently about aging and cancer.

A blueprint-like rendering of the biomechanics of a bird wing.
biomechanics

Geometric Analysis Reveals How Birds Mastered Flight

By Yasemin Saplakoglu
August 3, 2022
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Partnerships between engineers and biologists have begun to reveal how birds evolved their superb maneuverability.

Orange netlike structures surround the neurons in our brains.
Quantized Columns

Neuronal Scaffolding Plays Unexpected Role in Pain

By R. Douglas Fields
July 28, 2022
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Perineuronal nets, rigid structures that hold certain neurons in place, affect a surprising amount of brain activity, including some associated with chronic pain.

The Joy of Why

Why Do We Get Old, and Can Aging Be Reversed?

By Steven Strogatz
July 27, 2022
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Everybody gets older, but not everyone ages in the same way. In this episode, Steven Strogatz speaks with Judith Campisi and Dena Dubal, two biomedical researchers who study the aging process.

Flying butterflies overlaid with the cobwebby pattern of a logistic diagram.
mathematical biology

Hidden Chaos Found to Lurk in Ecosystems

By Joanna Thompson
July 27, 2022
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New research finds that chaos plays a bigger role in population dynamics than decades of ecological data seemed to suggest.

Sculpted, latticed structure of a grain of olive pollen.
plants

How the ‘Diamond of the Plant World’ Helped Land Plants Evolve

By James Dinneen
July 19, 2022
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Structural studies of the robust material called sporopollenin reveal how it made plants hardy enough to reproduce on dry land.

Video showing a ring of cells forming regularly spaced pits along its circumference.
developmental biology

Embryo Cells Set Patterns for Growth by Pushing and Pulling

By Monique Brouillette
July 12, 2022
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Patterns that guide the development of feathers and other features can be set by mechanical forces in the embryo, not just by gradients of chemicals.


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