Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have developed a new bioimaging device that can operate with significantly lower power and in an entirely non-mechanical way. It could one day improve detecting eye and even heart conditions.

Salk Institute scientists demonstrate that large chromosomal deletions are a viable strategy in plant genetic engineering, which could accelerate the development of streamlined, minimal plant genomes—a major goal in industries looking to create new plant-based biotechnologies.

Human retina has built-in "clockwork" to synchronize visual signals

Visual signals from neighboring retinal cells can travel vastly different distances to reach the brain - and yet we don't see a scrambled, delayed picture. New research from IOB Basel reveals why: the retina itself synchronizes these signals before they leave the eye.

Published in Nature Neuroscience, the study shows that retinal nerve fibers with longer paths develop larger diameters, allowing faster signal transmission. This "axonal tuning" reduces timing differences to mere milliseconds, ensuring all visual information arrives at the brain simultaneously.

The discovery challenges assumptions that the brain alone coordinates visual timing. Instead, the eye acts as its own sophisticated timing mechanism - revealing fundamental principles about how our nervous system achieves temporal precision.