Artificial cell membrane channels composed of DNA can be opened and locked with a key

Just as countries import a vast array of consumer goods across national borders, so living cells are engaged in a lively import-export business. Their ports of entry are sophisticated transport channels embedded in a cell's protective membrane. Regulating what kinds of cargo can pass through the borderlands formed by the cell's two-layer membrane is essential for proper functioning and survival.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-science-news/artificial-cell-membrane-channels-composed-of-dna-can-be-opened-and-locked-with-a-key

Research documents domestic cattle genetics in modern bison herds

A new study published in the journal Scientific Reports has revealed the strongest evidence to date that all bison in North America carry multiple small, but clearly identifiable, regions of DNA that originated from domestic cattle.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-science-news/research-documents-domestic-cattle-genetics-in-modern-bison-herds

Drinker's sex plus brewing method may be key to coffee's link to raised cholesterol

The sex of the drinker as well as the brewing method may be key to coffee's link with raised cholesterol, a known risk factor for heart disease, suggests research published in the open access journal Open Heart.

Smartphone app helps locate mosquitoes and combat malaria

Following his success eradicating a major source of malaria, technology created by a University of South Florida public health researcher is being implemented by insect control agencies throughout Africa and across the Tampa Bay region.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-science-news/smartphone-app-helps-locate-mosquitoes-and-combat-malaria

Wildfire smoke exposure in pregnancy may impact birth weight

Wildfires can decimate forests, destroy communities and fill the air with noxious smoke—but their impact may be even more far-reaching, affecting the health of babies in the womb.

Children grow faster during school year than during summer holidays

It has been long recognized that in Western countries, children are more likely to become overweight or obese over the summer. Causes of this include changes in kids' physical activity and diet over during the summer period, including the summer holidays. But in a new study in Frontiers in Physiology, scientists from the US show that this "obesogenicity" of summers has another unexpected cause: children grow faster over the school year than over the summer. And because Body Mass Index (BMI) is the ratio of body weight in kg and height in meters squared, faster vertical growth during the school leads to increased BMI during summers.

How the first lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic changed our creativity

COVID-19 took us by surprise, and the exceptional situation of the first lockdown required great capacities of adaptation, in particular for our brains. A study conducted at the Paris Brain Institute (Inserm/CNRS/Sorbonne University/AP-HP) has just revealed how our creativity evolved during this periods and the factors that may have influenced it. Despite the lockdown, our creativity increased, and focused on activities mainly related to the issues of the situation.