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Whether human or reptile: in the skull of most terrestrial vertebrates there is a gaping hole in the temple; in the case of most reptiles, there are two. Scientists have been looking for explanations for this for 150 years. A team of researchers from the University of Tübingen and Ruhr University Bochum has now shown that the forces acting on the skull change depending on how and where food is held, bitten and chewed in the mouth - and over millions of years, these factors lead to the formation of connections and openings in the skull.

New study suggests animals can live alongside humans-if they are risk-analysis experts New research suggests animals can thrive in human-dominated environments by being expert judges of risk.

New research reveals that chickens were widely raised across southern Central Asia from 400 BCE through medieval periods and likely dispersed along the ancient Silk Road In a new study published by Nature Communications , an international team of scholars present the earliest clear archaeological and biomolecular evidence for the raising of chickens for egg production, based on material from 12 archaeological sites spanning one and a half millennia.

Satiety, nausea or anxiety can all lead to a loss of appetite. Delaying eating can be a healthy move by the body to prevent further damage and to gain time for regenerating. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence now identified the circuit in the brain that prevents mice from eating when they feel nauseous.

HIRI scientists have identified a small RNA that influences the sensitivity of the intestinal commensal Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron to certain antibiotics. The intricacies of how intestinal bacteria adapt to their environment have yet to be fully explored.

Signs of life detectable in single ice grains emitted from moons orbiting Saturn and Jupiter The ice-encrusted oceans of some of the moons orbiting Saturn and Jupiter are prime candidates in the search for extraterrestrial life. A new lab-based study led by Freie Universität Berlin and the University of Washington, Seattle, shows that individual ice grains ejected from these planetary bodies may contain enough material for instruments headed there this fall to detect signs of life - if such life exists.

Candida albicans is a fungus that occurs naturally in the digestive tract of most people. However, the fungus is not always harmless. It can cause mild to severe infections throughout the body. A toxin, Candidalysin, is involved in these infections. It appears to be of central importance in vaginal infections in particular.

Tiny organisms such as bacteria and fungi help to promote the health and function of plant roots. It is commonly assumed that the composition of these microbes is dependent on the properties of the soil. However, an international team of researchers led by the University of Bonn has now discovered when studying different local varieties of maize that the genetic makeup of the plants also helps to influence which microorganisms cluster around the roots.

UV radiation in the sunlight causes sunburn and increases the risk of skin cancer by damaging our DNA but also our RNA. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg, Germany, have now unveiled a cellular shield that protect cells from the harmful effects of damaged RNA caused by ultraviolet radiation.

The toxin Candidalysin of the yeast Candida albicans is incorporated into an unusual protein structure during an infection, the composition of which has so far been a mystery to scientists. Researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology (Leibniz-HKI) have now succeeded in deciphering the function of this unusual arrangement.

Adhesion GPCRs are a group of G protein-coupled receptors associated with many bodily functions and diseases in humans. Scientists at Leipzig University have discovered a new receptor - which they have named "mayo" - and found that it influences the development of the small intestine and heart function in fruit flies, and that these phenomena may also be relevant in humans.

Even if they attack the same target in the bacterial cell, the cellular response to different antibiotics can vary. There is an urgent need for new antimicrobial strategies to keep pathogens in check. This applies specifically to Gram-negative bacteria, which are protected from antibiotic intervention by a thick second membrane.

Ribosomes, the "translation factories" of the cell, are cellular organelles that play a central role in protein synthesis, a vital process for all living organisms. These tiny structures themselves consist of ribonucleic acid (RNA) and proteins and are essential for the survival and normal functioning of the cell, as the proteins they produce are required for nearly all cellular processes, including structure, function, and regulation.

Research team redesigns phenoxyl radicals with improved oxidation capacity in the lab. Nature uses enzymes for various metabolic processes. These biological catalysts are extremely efficient. Biomimetic catalysts based on inexpensive starting materials from the laboratory that can reproduce the efficiency of the natural enzymes and can function at ambient conditions are therefore of great interest to research and industry.

Freiburg research team discovers mega-protein complex with surprising properties in mitochondria Mitochondria provide the majority of the body's energy supply and are considered the power plants of the cells. The energy comes from cellular respiration, in which metabolic products are burned in the inner mitochondrial membrane.

Every year, more than 20,000 people in Germany die from blood cancer. In children, blood cancer is even the most common type of cancer. Donations of stem cells from bone marrow or blood increase the chance of survival for people suffering from leukemia or other forms of blood cancer. However, it can take years between the registration of those willing to donate and their actual donation.

Team of researchers at Freie Universität Berlin develops new technique to release and study individual proteins in cells / Study published in "Nature Methods" A research team led by biochemist Professor Helge Ewers from Freie Universität Berlin has developed a new technique for the light-mediated release and investigation of proteins in live cells.

Chimpanzees that are unable to figure out a complex puzzle on their own, are capable of learning the solution from other chimps that were trained to solve it. This is the conclusion reached by an international research team from Utrecht University, the University of St Andrews and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology as part of a study conducted with groups of chimpanzees in Zambia.

Study shows multiple pathways connect early life adversity to later life health Early experiences in an animal's life can have a significant impact on its capacity to thrive, even years or decades later, and DNA methylation may help record their effects. In a study of 256 wild baboons, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and Duke University found that resource limitation during early life was associated with many differences in DNA methylation, a small chemical mark on the DNA sequence that can affect gene activity.

Team involving the University of Freiburg has developed a new method for analyzing the basement membrane in the human lung Metastases are largely responsible for the mortality of patients with solid cancers; the prognosis of cancer patients is significantly reduced when metastases are diagnosed. To date, there are no methods that allow a reliable prediction of the probability of future metastases.