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Canadian researchers, working in partnership with Brazilian colleagues, have developed 13 bioluminescence sensors for use in testing the effectiveness of new medical drugs in the laboratory. The study, published in the journal Science Signaling, paves the way for new drugs to be tested and characterized. The biosensors are based on the action of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), which are membrane-bound proteins involved in communication between cells. The researchers did not choose to [...]

Materials that are hybrid constructions (combining organic and inorganic precursors) and quasi-two-dimensional (with malleable and highly compactable molecular structures) are on the rise in several technological applications, such as the fabrication of ever-smaller optoelectronic devices. advertisement An article published in the journal Physical Review B describes a study in this field resulting from the doctoral research of Diana Meneses Gustin and Luís Cabral, both supervised by Victor [...]

People who suffer from obesity and type 2 diabetes are more likely to become victims of infectious diseases. Both conditions affect the immune system and hence increase the risk of infections. Scientists have long sought a deeper understanding of the mechanism underlying this weakness in the immune system of obese and diabetic individuals. A study performed at the University of São Paulo s Biomedical Science Institute (ICB-USP) in Brazil has now demonstrated that the propensity of people with [...]

A land of giants. This is the best definition for Lake Pebas, a mega-wetland that existed in western Amazonia during the Miocene Epoch, which lasted from 23 million to 5.3 million years ago. The Pebas Formation was the home of the largest caiman and gavialoid crocodilian ever identified, both of which were over ten meters in length, the largest turtle, whose carapace had a diameter of 3.5 meters, and rodents that were as large as present-day buffaloes. Remains of the ancient biome are [...]

With herbivores, omnivores, carnivores, insectivores, frugivores, scavengers and decomposers, Earth s ecosystems function within a vast web of interactions among plants, animals, insects, fungi and microorganisms. A fundamental part of this web resides in the equilibrium of the food chain that links predators to herbivores and regulates plant production on our planet. Equilibria between predators and plant-feeding prey may be disrupted by future climate change, according to a study published [...]

Current lithium ion battery technology will probably not be able to handle the coming decades huge demand for energy. It is estimated that by 2050, electricity will make up 50% of the world s energy mix. Today that rate is 18%. But installed capacity for renewable energy production is expected to increase fourfold. This will require batteries that are more efficient, cheaper and environmentally friendly. One of the alternatives being studied today in many parts of the world is the lithium-air [...]

A set of technologies that is expected to have its first results four years from now is designed to resolve one of the world s greatest oil and gas exploration challenges today: carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emission in the atmosphere. The innovation, the result of a patent deposited in 2018, consists of injecting the CO2 and CH4 that comes from wells during oil extraction into salt caverns as a way to reduce the amount of carbon gas in the emissions. The first "pilot cavern" may be [...]

The number of calories a person eats directly influences the performance of different cells. A group of researchers from the University of São Paulo (USP) has shown that low-calorie meals have a protective effect against some diseases. Some of these studies were presented on Day One of FAPESP Week London, taking place February 11-13, 2019. The studies were conducted under the auspices of the Center for Research on Redox Processes in Biomedicine (Redoxome - one of the Research, Innovation and [...]

Snakes and lizards are reptiles that belong to the order Squamata. They share several traits but differ in one obvious respect: snakes do not have limbs. The two suborders diverged more than 100 million years ago. Identification of the genetic factors involved in this loss of limbs is a focus of the article "Phenotype loss is associated with widespread divergence of the gene regulatory landscape in evolution" published by Juliana Gusson Roscito and collaborators in Nature [...]