Researchers from three universities have measured more than 19,000 tropical moths from 1,100 species to find out whether their size varies with elevation. Scientists from Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena (Germany) worked on the study together with colleagues from Marburg in Germany and Connecticut in the USA. "Body size plays a central role in the ecology and evolution...
Understanding the neurological code behind how flies fly
A common flesh fly takes off and maneuvers effortlessly, its head and body steadied by a hidden, miniscule gyroscope-like structure that gives it an unparalleled balance.
That same fly -- those specialized structures, known as "halteres," now surgically removed -- takes off again, but immediately begins to tumble wildly about, unable to right herself or tell...
Mouse pups with same-sex parents born in China using stem cells and gene editing
Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences were able to produce healthy mice with two mothers that went on to have normal offspring of their own. Mice from two dads were also born but only survived for a couple of days. The work, presented October 11 in the journal Cell Stem Cell, looks at what...
Do lizards dream like us?
Researchers from the Sleep Team at the Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CNRS / INSERM / Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University / Université Jean Monnet), together with a colleague from the MECADEV research laboratory (CNRS / Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle) (1) have confirmed that lizards exhibit two sleep states, just like humans, other mammals, and birds....
Clues from a Somalian cavefish about modern mammals' dark past
After millions of years living in constant darkness, a species of blind cavefish found only in Somalia has lost an ancient system of DNA repair. That DNA repair system, found in organisms including bacteria, fungi, plants, and most other animals, harnesses energy from visible light to repair DNA damage induced by ultraviolet (UV) light.
The findings...
Fruit fly protein could be new tool in tackling disease-carrying mosquitoes
An insulin-binding protein in fruit flies could provide new opportunities for tackling disease-carrying mosquitoes, such as malaria and yellow fever, scientists at the University of York have found.
Published in Nature Communications, the research characterised a protein that is involved in regulating insulin in the fruit fly, which was previously thought to behave in the same...