In Australia, shellfish reef restoration projects are helping to recover degraded coastal systems and enhance fish habitat, but much more research is needed to support and evaluate these efforts, researchers say.

Flinders University researchers are gaining insights into how shellfish reefs – including oyster, mussel and razor clam (pinnid) reefs – support marine biodiversity, and seeking solutions from dozens of international studies led by the US.

Early development of an embryo is solely supported by maternally deposited RNAs and proteins until its own genome is activated through a process called zygotic genome activation (ZGA). Recent research by Chinese scientists has revealed novel molecular mechanisms by which HIRA acts in concert with dPCIF1 to establish a totipotent chromatin and facilitate orderly zygotic genome activation in the early embryos of Drosophila.

Brain-imaging data collected from fetuses and infants has revealed a rapid surge in functional connectivity between brain regions on a global scale at birth, possibly reflecting neural processes that support the brain’s ability to adapt to the external world, according to a study published November 19^th, in the open-access journal PLOS Biology led by Lanxin Ji and Moriah Thomason from the New York University School of Medicine, USA.