Two research teams from East China Normal University and Sun Yat-Sen University in China have developed and improved the ABE system in mouse and rat strains, which has great implications for human genetic disorders and gene therapy. The research has been published by Springer Nature in two articles in the open access journal Protein &...
Predatory sea corals team up to feed on stinging jellyfish
Cave-dwelling corals in the Mediterranean can work alongside one another to catch and eat stinging jellyfish, a study reveals.
Scientists have shown for the first time that corals can cooperate to capture and devour jellyfish which are swept against the walls by ocean currents.
A team including researchers from the University of Edinburgh made the discovery when...
Diet matters less than evolutionary relationships in shaping gut microbiome
Gut microbes provide many services for their hosts, including digesting their food. Researchers have long known that mammals with specialized diets, such as carnivores and anteaters, have special types of gut microbes that allow them to eat that diet.
Is the same true in primates? In the largest published comparative dataset of non-human primate gut microbiomes...
Whales use song as sonar, psychologist proposes
Any quick internet search for recordings of humpback whale song returns audio compilations that can receive tens of thousands, if not millions, of visits.
With such quantifiable popularity, you might ask, "Who doesn't love listening to whale song?" One surprising answer might be, "whales," according to an intriguing model developed by a University at Buffalo researcher.
It's...
Madagascar's lemurs use millipedes for their tummy troubles
Madagascar's red-fronted lemurs may have a secret weapon from nature's medicine cabinet: millipedes. This is according to a study led by Louise Peckre of the German Primate Center at the Leibniz Institute for Primate Research in Germany. Peckre and her colleagues believe that lemurs chew on millipedes to treat and prevent conditions such as itching...
Great tit birds have as much impulse control as chimpanzees
Biologists at Lund University in Sweden have in a recent study shown that the great tit, a common European songbird, has a tremendous capacity for self-control. Up to now, such impulse control has been primarily associated with larger cognitively advanced animals with far larger brains than the great tit. According to the new results, the...