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Melanocyte stem cells are shown in red and other cell nuclei are shown in blue.
Hair Turns Gray Due to Stuck Stem Cells
Hair-coloring stem cells must swing back and forth between their maturity states to give hair its color.
Hair Turns Gray Due to Stuck Stem Cells
Hair Turns Gray Due to Stuck Stem Cells

Hair-coloring stem cells must swing back and forth between their maturity states to give hair its color.

Hair-coloring stem cells must swing back and forth between their maturity states to give hair its color.

The Literature

An elderly person in beige shirt and a knitted, cream-colored vest holds a wooden walking stick.
New Epigenetic Clocks May Confirm Extreme Age
Ida Emilie Steinmark, PhD | Sep 8, 2023 | 4 min read
How will a new version of epigenetic clocks aimed at validating the age of people older than 100 years of age balance accuracy and anonymity?
The image shows two adult prairie voles. The voles have a brown coat and are touching each other’s snouts.
Molecular Signatures of a Broken Heart
Mariella Bodemeier Loayza Careaga, PhD | Sep 8, 2023 | 3 min read
The transcriptional profiles in the brains of prairie voles changed after a long breakup, revealing a molecular shift that might help them cope with the loss of a partner.
This shows a cryo-EM map of a Fanzor protein in complex with its guiding RNA (in purple) and DNA (target strand in red, complementary strand in blue).
CRISPR-like Abilities in Eukaryotic Proteins
Ida Emilie Steinmark, PhD | Sep 8, 2023 | 4 min read
Two groups independently discovered that Fanzor proteins in eukaryotic organisms are CRISPR’s genome-editing cousins.
A fluorescence microscopy image of a common mouse ear with a black background, an embedded bead visible as a white circle, and regenerating tissue around it shown in green.
Mice Heal Themselves in Response to a Common Signaling Molecule
Ida Emilie Steinmark, PhD | Sep 8, 2023 | 4 min read
A newly discovered way to induce scarless healing in mice depends on a highly conserved signaling pathway that is also present in humans.
Like many animals, field mice (<em >Apodemus agrarius</em>) fight to protect their territories.
Mouse Brain Cells Activate When They Witness a Fight
Mariella Bodemeier Loayza Careaga, PhD | Jun 1, 2023 | 2 min read
A subset of hypothalamic neurons mirrors aggression in mice, challenging previous views on the location and functional role of these cells.
Illustration of a virus
Vaccines: Sex Matters
Niki Spahich, PhD | Jun 1, 2023 | 3 min read
Male patients who recover from mild COVID-19 have baseline immune states primed to mount stronger responses to future challenges than female patients.
Tadpole
How Tadpoles Garner the Energy to Regenerate Their Tails
Natalia Mesa, PhD | Mar 1, 2023 | 3 min read
A metabolic pathway used for tail regrowth may be critical for tissue regeneration in some cells, a study suggests. 
Ribbon diagram of the bacterial histone Bd0055
Bacteria Have Histones After All: Study
Kamal Nahas, PhD | Feb 14, 2023 | 4 min read
Researchers identify hundreds of candidate histone proteins in bacteria, including one with an unusual way of binding to DNA.
Closeup of a pair of hands in blue gloves holding a white mouse and injecting it with an amber colored liquid.
Opioids Recruit the Immune System to Cause Withdrawal Symptoms
Dan Robitzski | Jan 25, 2023 | 6 min read
A study finds that T cells induced by heroin cross the blood-brain barrier to wreak havoc on the brain, hinting at new ways to prevent withdrawal.
Rendered image of <em>Chlamydia</em>
How Chlamydia Guards Itself Against the Immune System
Natalia Mesa, PhD | Jan 2, 2023 | 4 min read
The bacterium produces a particular protein that allows it to sneak past the human immune system even while triggering inflammation.
An image of a pale, dead tree taken from the ground, so that the tree limbs stretch up into the sky.&nbsp;
Certain Tree Species Are More Susceptible to Death by Lightning
Hannah Thomasy, PhD | Dec 12, 2022 | 2 min read
Expected increases in lightning strikes due to climate change could alter the botanical composition of tropical forests.
A fossilized mammoth tusk sitting in a grassy field during sunset&nbsp;
Woolly Mammoth Genomes Reveal Genetic Adaptations to Cold
Hannah Thomasy, PhD | Dec 12, 2022 | 2 min read
Researchers identified mutations in genes that may be involved in fat regulation, fur growth, and morphology.
A colored microscopy image showing cells that are dying in yellow and healthy cells in blue&nbsp;
Sweet Taste Receptors Regulate Proteins in Developing Fruit Flies
Tess Joosse | Nov 14, 2022 | 2 min read
An unexpected find shows that sweet-sensing receptors also help epithelial cells in Drosophila larvae stay alive amid proteotoxic stress.
Photo of a Guppy fish
Fish Brain Region Size Correlates with Cognitive Flexibility
Natalia Mesa, PhD | Nov 14, 2022 | 3 min read
The relative sizes of specific parts of the guppy brain may explain why some fish are better at learning certain tasks than others. 
A closeup of a dead frog floating in water with aquatic plants underneath it
Chytrid Fungus Deploys Varying Strategies to Infect Amphibians
Tess Joosse | Nov 14, 2022 | 2 min read
The ability to activate different sets of genes has likely helped the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis spread widely in amphibians, resulting in global population declines. 
A mesquite tree in an arid environment
Climate Change May Favor Nitrogen-Fixing Plants
Andy Carstens | Oct 17, 2022 | 2 min read
Aridity appears to configure landscapes with a greater diversity of plant species that rely on symbiotic bacteria for nitrogen.
A false color transmission electron microscope micrograph showing the nuclear envelope, the rough endoplasmic reticulum, the nucleus, and the cytoplasm.
New Gene Mutants Identified in Rare Motor Neuron Diseases
Clare Watson | Oct 17, 2022 | 2 min read
The discovery of gene variants in cases of hereditary spastic dysplasia could provide a diagnosis to affected families where no genetic cause could be found before.
Newborn baby rats lie in a basket
Mother’s Circadian Rhythms Mirrored in Fetal Rat Brains
Bianca Nogrady | Sep 12, 2022 | 2 min read
Before their own central clocks develop, the brains of fetal rats detect their mother’s metabolic cycle to help regulate the expression of certain genes.
Neurons and muscle tissue
A Novel Player at the Neuromuscular Junction
Catherine Offord | Sep 12, 2022 | 3 min read
The muscle transmembrane protein Vangl2 helps organize the development and maintenance of connections between muscles and motor neurons, a study concludes.
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