As we age, our skin naturally becomes thinner and more fragile due to a decline in cell production. Now, researchers have found that vitamin C (VC) can help counteract this aging process. Using a 3D human skin model, they showed that VC boosts epidermal thickness by activating genes linked to cell growth through DNA demethylation. These findings suggests that VC may help prevent age-related skin thinning and support healthier, stronger skin in aging individuals.

Parental egg-care in fish traps them in an evolutionary dead-end through the loss of the chorion-hardening system, find scientists from the Institute of Science Tokyo. Fish have diverse egg-caring strategies that have independently emerged multiple times across lineages. Comparative whole genome analysis of 240 fish species revealed a strong correlation between loss of the chorion-hardening system and parental egg-care, revealing the mechanisms behind the evolutionary bias that restricts egg-caring fish from becoming non-egg-carers.

A molecular dynamics study reveals that nymphaeol A, a propolis compound with therapeutic properties, spontaneously inserts into cell membranes. These findings help explain the biological activity of nymphaeol A and support its potential use in developing new biomedical compounds.

Designed proteins are anticipated to have groundbreaking impact on a range of issues from treating disease to tackling environmental problems. With a DKK 700 million grant from the Novo Nordisk Foundation and headed by Professor Dek Woolfson, a new Center for Protein Design (CPD) at the University of Copenhagen has ambitions to match this potential. The CPD will spearhead developments in protein design and its applications through strong interdisciplinary collaborations across the university and partnerships in Denmark and internationally.