An up close look at a molecule found in every biological cell on Planet Earth has revealed a molecular ability to sense magnetic fields; a skill common to almost all animal life on earth, including people. During a study of the magnetic-reception capabilities of fruit flies, an international team ofread more
The rollout of the world’s COVID-19 vaccines is proving largely effective against the virus. We have our work cut out for us, however, in the face of COVID-19 variants that began to emerge last fall. An examination of the molecular structure of these variants has unlocked the secret to theread more
Over the course of an experiment involving the quantum entanglement of photons produced from naturally-occurring bioluminescent material, a team of researchers from Northwestern University has discovered that the special structure of proteins that were part of the bio-material somehow protected the photons’ quantum state from being disrupted. Typically, quantum states generated in the lab are very fragile, and researchers go to great lengths to ensure that the particles they’re studying aren’t affected by external forces before they have a chance to measure their properties.
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Researchers studying potential security issues surrounding open-source computer programs used to analyze DNA have found that most common sequencing software is the subject of poor security practices, leaving such systems open to cyberattacks and exploits. While the researchers haven’t found any evidence of attacks made against DNA synthesizing, sequencing and processing services, they did find that it is possible to encode a computer virus into synthetic DNA that could conceivably infect the computer that is analyzing this altered genetic code.
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