Scientists from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador officially described Pristimantis milpe, an abundant and widely distributed species that had been confused with another species for over a century. To solve the mystery, researchers reviewed specimens collected in Ecuador during the 19th century and preserved at the Natural History Museum in London.

Salk scientists use DNA origami technique to build dye-cycling ORBIT, a method for tracking protein-DNA interactions for hours at single base-pair resolution. Using dye-cycling ORBIT, the team measured the rotation of RNA polymerase during DNA transcription. The method will allow scientists to study molecular movements that were previously impossible to see or study, adding a new dimension to life science research.

Some of Earth’s oldest living organisms may be right beneath our feet: not ancient trees or coral reefs but fungi. Yet despite their ubiquity and importance, scientists still don’t know how long most fungi can live—or even how to define their age. 

In an opinion paper publishing in the Cell Press journal Trends in Microbiology on August 13, researchers examine why fungal longevity remains so difficult to study. To investigate the long-overlooked biological mystery, the team recommends leveraging new technologies such as “fungi-on-a-chip” and conducting long-term lab experiments with genetic tracking. 

Duraplasty is a surgical procedure that is used to repair or reconstruct the dura mater using a patch graft. Several graft materials are used for the surgery, but their comparative safety remains uncertain. Now, researchers conducted a prospective randomized study in Central India to compare the outcomes of autologous pericranium (natural graft) with those of synthetic high-density polypropylene (G-Patch) in patients undergoing cranial duraplasty. Findings confirmed that both materials demonstrated acceptable short-term safety profiles.