A treatment that mimics a fat-burning stress hormone prevents obesity and inflammatory liver disease in mice fed a high-fat diet. — High-calorie modern diets have contributed to growing rates of obesity-linked diseases. One such disease is non-alcoholic steatohepatitis or NASH for short, which affects about 5% of adults in the United States. The livers of people with this condition accumulate fat, become inflamed, and develop scar tissue. People with NASH are…

Cadherin proteins, which help to attach cells together, are essential to shape the neural networks that preside over respiration. — The neural circuits which control breathing are established in the womb, ready to switch on with the first gulp of air. Defects in the way that this network is assembled can result in conditions such as sudden infant death syndrome. …

Marking tumours with genetic barcodes reveals why some cells refuse to die. — Cancer begins when a cell multiplies again and again to form a tumour. By the time that tumour measures a centimetre across, it can contain upwards of a hundred million cells. And even though they all came from the same ancestor, they are far from identical. The tumour’s family tree…

Traces of DNA left by insects after they munch on leaves could hold the key to reliable and long-term monitoring of biodiversity. — Insects are a barometer of environmental health. Ecosystems around the world are being subjected to unprecedented man-made stresses, ranging from climate change to pollution and intensive land use. These stresses have been associated with several recent, dramatic declines in insect populations, particularly in areas with heavily industrialised farming practices.

Western honey bee queens change the size of their eggs depending on the environment of the colony they are living in. — Honey bees are social insects that live in large colonies containing tens of thousands of individuals. The vast majority of bees are sterile females known as worker bees. …

A common modification to RNA plays an important role in the development of supporting cells in the retina. — The retina is a layer in the eye that converts light into electrical signals, which allows us to see. It is a part of the central nervous system and is made of brain cells, such as neurons and supporting cells called glia. These supporting cells protect neurons, supply them with…

Small mutations in an immune receptor enabled some plants to evolve the ability to detect oral secretions from caterpillars. — The health status of a plant depends on the immune system it inherits from its parents. Plants have many receptor proteins that can recognize distinct molecules from insects and microbes, and trigger an immune response. …

Investigations in zebrafish uncover a gene that enables hearing by moving cholesterol inside hair cells in the ear. — Cholesterol is present in every cell of the body. While it is best known for its role in heart health, it also plays a major role in hearing, with changes in cholesterol levels negatively affecting this sense. …

A survey of primates shows that humans’ extreme preference for right-handedness cannot be easily explained. — About 90% of humans are right-handed. While it is known that handedness is caused by certain brain regions that are specialized in one of the two hemispheres, it is not clear how this evolved or why right-handedness dominates. …