Research Progress

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  Uncovering the molecular bases of chemical communications of Helicoverpa moth species

  To recognize the sex pheromones emitted by their conspecific partners and the odors released by their host plants, moths have evolved highly sensitive olfactory systems. Two closely related species, Helicoverpa armigera and Helicoverpa assulta are both major agricultural pests in China.

  Nov 06, 2017
• The biological consequences of climate change on epidemics may be scale-dependent

  Nov 06, 2017
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  PNAS: UCP 1 Gene-edited pigs are healthy and lean

  There are two distinct types of fat in most eutherian animals: white adipose tissue (WAT) for energy storage and brown adipose tissue (BAT) for energy expenditure. BAT plays an critical role in thermoregulation and combating obesity through burning fat, which relies on the function of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1). It has been reported that pigs lack functional UCP1 and brown fat, which makes them susceptible to cold and prone to fat deposition and results in neonatal mortality and decreased production efficiency.

  Oct 26, 2017
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  Tethyan changes shaped aquatic diversification

  The Tethys Ocean existed between the continents of Gondwana and Laurasia, and the Tibetan Plateau was covered by the Tethys 65 million years ago (Ma). The Eocene collision of Eurasia and Africa/India led to the westward retreat of the Tethys.

  Oct 25, 2017
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  CRISPR Bacon: Chinese Scientists Create Genetically Modified Low-Fat Pigs

  In a paper published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the scientists report that they have created 12 healthy pigs with about 24 percent less body fat than normal pigs.The scientists created low-fat pigs in the hopes of providing pig farmers with animals that would be less expensive to raise and would suffer less in cold weather.

  Oct 24, 2017
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  Rat embryonic stem cells produce fertile offspring through tetraploid complementation

  Pluripotent stem cells, including embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which have the capacity to generate any type of cells of the body, have been broadly applied in studying developmental biology, genome engineering, and regenerative medicine.

  Oct 24, 2017
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  SUN5 anchors sperm head to the tail

  Spermatozoa are the essential carriers of the paternal genetic materials to achieve sexual reproduction, so their morphology, motility and integrity are critical to male fertility. Teratozoospermia is resulted from the failures in morphogenesis of sperms, and substantially lead to male infertility. The acephalic spermatozoa syndrome is considered as the most severe subtype of teratozoospermia, since the sperms contain no nucleus in the head and are unable to fertilize the oocytes. The syndrome has been documented for decades and troubles patients till today, but little is known about its etiology.

  Oct 23, 2017
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  Pig mutants aid to decipher the novel mechanism underlying the thyroid hormone deficiency associated anemia and immunodeficiency

  Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is caused by thyroid hormone (TH) deficiencies. CH is one of the most prevalent endocrine diseases, occurring in 1 of 1400 to 2800 newborns. Based on anemia often being the first sign of hypothyroidism, accounting for 20% to 60% in hypothyroid patients, the current clinical guidelines recommend evaluating thyroid function in the workup of anemia.

  Oct 23, 2017
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  Subcortical Maternal Complex: a Functional Module in the Mammalian Oocyte-to-zygote Transition

  Human reproductive disorders affect people all over the world, bringing both personal sufferings and heavy social burdens. The advanced assisted reproductive technologies (ART) have helped the couples successfully conceive their babies; however, reproductive wastage frequently occurs even in early stage of embryogenesis with unexplained reasons.

  Oct 10, 2017
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  Epigenetic regulation of left-right asymmetry by DNA methylation

  DNA methylation is one of the major epigenetic modifications in vertebrates, which involves adding a methyl group to the 5th carbon of cytosine to form 5-methylcytosine (5mC), which is established and maintained by DNA methyltransferases (DNMT).

  Sep 12, 2017