Scientists have deciphered a long-standing paradox of the histone variant H3.3: how the same protein can mark both active and silenced regions of the genome. The key lies in a specific combination of modifications—phosphorylation at serine 31 (Ser31p) together with trimethylation at lysine 27 (K27me3). This dual “code” on H3.3 acts as a master switch, recruiting protein complexes that establish H3K9me3-marked heterochromatin, a repressive chromatin state. The study demonstrates that this “H3.3–CBX7–KAP1–H3K9me3” pathway is essential for silencing repetitive DNA elements and, crucially, for the epigenetic silencing of one X chromosome in females, a process vital for mammalian development.

Plant owners with a so-called green thumb often seem to have a more finely tuned sense of what their plants need than the rest of us. A new “smart lighting” system for indoor vertical farms grants this ability on a facility-wide scale, responsively meeting plants’ needs while reducing energy inefficiencies, clearing a path for indoor farms as an energy-efficient food security strategy. The system was designed and tested in a study led by Professor of Plant Biology Tracy Lawson, who conducted the research at the University of Essex and is now a member of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

BETHESDA, MD – As space agencies prepare for human missions to the Moon and Mars, scientists need to understand how the absence of gravity affects living cells. Now, a team of researchers has built a rugged, affordable microscope that can image cells in real time during the chaotic conditions of zero-gravity flight—and they’re making the design available to the broader scientific community.

A group of CDI scientists have found a way to understand how the germ is evolving - and how best to strategize a fight against it.

A study led by the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) and the Molecular Biology Institute of Barcelona (IBMB) provides the most detailed picture to date of NrdR — the master regulator of ribonucleotide reductases (RNRs) in bacteria. Researchers obtained the first detailed images of the complete NrdR protein structure and showed how changes in the shape and grouping of this protein affect the way it controls key processes inside the cell. The findings, recently published in International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, increase our understanding of how bacteria regulate the production of the molecular building blocks of DNA, a crucial aspect for both fundamental microbiology and the development of new antimicrobial strategies.

Researchers at the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS) and Imperial College London have shown for the first time that, before they can start developing into egg and sperm cells, the embryonic precursors of these cells uniquely reshape the 3D organisation of their genetic material. Led by Dr Tien-Chi Huang and Dr Maria Rigau, these insights published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology could help guide future efforts to create sperm and eggs in the laboratory – currently one of the biggest barriers to developing new infertility treatments.

The University of Osaka’s Center for Quantum Information and Quantum Biology (QIQB) is a premier research institute in Japan, distinguished by its extensive global network of leading institutions worldwide.

Cleaner fish interacted with a mirror in their tank in a way that suggests ‘contingency testing’ intelligence, a higher form of smarts typically found in mammals. This finding coupled with faster self-recognition than previously thought, expands our image of intelligence in these social fish.