Michael Franco

1 week ago | newatlas.com | Michael Franco

Even without noses, octopuses are able to determine which food sources are good to eat and which have gone past their prime simply by touching them. The secret, says a new study, lies with surface microbiomes and some very sensitive suckers. The study was carried out by a team working out of the lab of Nick Bellono, a Harvard biologist concerned with how organisms adapt to their environments on a molecular level.

1 week ago | newatlas.com | Michael Franco

It turns out that donkeys are exceptionally good at repelling deer ticks. Now, researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMA) have harnessed that ability to create a natural bug repellent that proved as effective as DEET at fighting the pests. While they're most famous for spreading the debilitating and painful Lyme Disease, deer ticks also spread several other bacterial and parasitic infections including anaplasmosis and babesiosis.

2 weeks ago | newatlas.com | Michael Franco

Researchers have found an indication of depression in a slightly unexpected place – the microbiome inside our mouths. The finding opens a new route of inquiry that could lead to novel antidepressant treatments and help other ailments as well. The human microbiome consists of the millions of microbes that live in and on our bodies. The largest collection of these mostly friendly bugs lies inside our colons where they do everything from our impacting our memory to influencing the expression of genes.

2 weeks ago | newatlas.com | Michael Franco

Taking inspiration from the CAR T-cell technology used to provide personalized cancer treatments, researchers have conducted a proof-of-concept study showing how similar compounds can precisely target protein tangles and plaques in the brain. While not the cause of Alzheimer's, these protein build ups are certainly the disease's most prominent hallmarks. They are also responsible for the cognitive decline seen with the condition because they gunk up the workings between neurons in the brain.

2 weeks ago | newatlas.com | Michael Franco

A breakthrough treatment has allowed damaged retinal cells to regenerate themselves. The current research has been conducted on mice, but the pathways are the same in humans, which opens hope for a new way to treat certain kinds of blindness. While considered a relatively rare disease, retinitis pigmentosa affects approximately 1.5 million people worldwide and is considered the number one cause of inherited retinal degeneration-associated blindness.