When we think of nature play, we envision children swinging from trees, decorating mud pies with gum nuts, and delving through creek beds. But nature play must be more than this and needs to cater to children of all ages and capabilities, say researchers at the University of South Australia.
Social workers in First Nations communities need to incorporate Aboriginal ways of knowing, being and doing at the heart of their supervision practices on Country.That鈥檚 the recommenda...
Researchers at Children鈥檚 Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania announced the first ever direct approach to the depletion and replacement of microglia, the native immune cells of the central nervous system (CNS). The approach leverages microglial replacement in Krabbe disease to demonstrate its broader therapeutic potential across other neurological conditions. The preclinical findings were published in the journal Immunity.
Researchers from UC San Diego found that Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) can help rewire the brain鈥檚 response to natural healthy pleasure, leading to reduced opioid cravings. The findings suggest that MORE could be a promising tool in the fight against opioid use disorder.
In a rare collaboration with geneticists and archaeologists, a federally recognized tribe in the United States has utilized ancient DNA to establish a genetic link to an important ancestral heritage site, Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon.
Early fruit ripening is a valuable trait for grape cultivation, but the underlying epigenetic mechanisms have remained elusive. A new study uncovers how CHH site hypermethylation influences the early ripening phenotype of 'Fengzao', a bud mutant of the popular 'Kyoho' grape. Using whole-genome bisulfite sequencing, researchers demonstrated that higher promoter methylation, particularly at the JOX1 gene, plays a critical role in accelerating ripening. These findings offer fresh insights into the epigenetic regulation of berry development and could inform strategies to control fruit ripening in viticulture.
Fruit firmness plays a critical role in apple quality, influencing both shelf life and consumer preference. Scientists have now identified a natural genetic variation in the MdNAC5 gene that governs differences in apple firmness and ripening speed. By resequencing hundreds of apple hybrids, researchers mapped a key genetic locus and pinpointed a single A-to-T mutation that affects fruit texture. Functional experiments showed that different MdNAC5 variants distinctly regulate ethylene biosynthesis, a central pathway in fruit softening. This discovery offers new insights into the genetic control of apple ripening and opens up potential strategies for breeding apples with optimized firmness and storage properties.