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3D rendering of a transparent human torso to show the lungs and bronchiole structures in them.
Prenatal Inflammation Makes Mice Susceptible to Asthma
Maternal immune responses during mice gestation led to a hyperactive population of innate-like immune cells in offspring that contributed to altered lung composition and function.
Prenatal Inflammation Makes Mice Susceptible to Asthma
Prenatal Inflammation Makes Mice Susceptible to Asthma

Maternal immune responses during mice gestation led to a hyperactive population of innate-like immune cells in offspring that contributed to altered lung composition and function.

Maternal immune responses during mice gestation led to a hyperactive population of innate-like immune cells in offspring that contributed to altered lung composition and function.

early life

Tree with many scattered branches.
Scientists Resurrect Ancient Rubiscos to Understand Their Evolution
Alejandra Manjarrez, PhD | Oct 14, 2022 | 5 min read
A team proposes that the addition of a small accessory subunit to the carbon-fixing enzyme was key to improving its catalytic properties and specificity to CO2.
Drawing of fish with internal anatomy.
Researchers Visualize Heart From 380-Million-Year-Old Fish
Natalia Mesa, PhD | Sep 15, 2022 | 4 min read
A team of researchers in Australia have imaged fossilized soft organs of early jawed vertebrates for the first time, finding that our ancient fish ancestors’ hearts, livers, and stomachs are strikingly similar to ours.
A purple bulge of microbes on the bottom of a lake
Longer Days Led to Oxygen Buildup on Early Earth: Study
Amanda Heidt | Aug 3, 2021 | 4 min read
Researchers propose that some of the planet’s earliest photosynthesizers benefited from a slowing of the Earth’s rotation that allowed them to produce a surplus of oxygen and paved the way for more complex life.  
a micrograph of putative sponge fossils with small tunnel-like structures in white on a black background
890-Million-Year-Old Fossils Are Sponges, Oldest Animals: Study
Abby Olena, PhD | Jul 28, 2021 | 4 min read
If confirmed, the findings indicate that animals appeared on Earth millions of years earlier than previously believed.
early-life stress, histone, chromatin, epigenetics, epigenetic modification, methylation, DNA, protein, stress, adversity, mice, genetics, genomics
Early-Life Stress Exerts Long-Lasting Effects Via Epigenome
Asher Jones | Mar 18, 2021 | 5 min read
In mice, epigenetic marks made on histones during infancy influence depression-like behavior during adulthood. A drug that reverses the genomic tags appears to undo the damage.
lightning, life, Earth, meteorite, phosphorous, fulgurite, schreibersite, DNA, RNA, microbes, evolution
Lightning Might Have Sparked Early Life on Earth
Asher Jones | Mar 17, 2021 | 2 min read
Electrical storms, rather than meteorites as scientists had previously thought, could have unlocked phosphorus necessary for the development of ancient life, according to a new study.
RNA-DNA Chimeras Might Have Supported the Origin of Life on Earth
Jef Akst | Sep 17, 2019 | 2 min read
A new study finds mixtures of nucleotide types, rather than pure systems, are more likely to yield the building blocks of life.
Signs of Ancient Microbial Life Questioned
Abby Olena, PhD | Oct 17, 2018 | 5 min read
New findings cast doubt on previous claims that structures found preserved in rocks in Greenland are stromatolites, but the original authors say the discrepancy lies in different samples.
Ancient Microfossils May be Earliest Signs of Life
Diana Kwon | Mar 2, 2017 | 2 min read
Researchers find what appear to be 3.77 billion-year-old hints of microbial life hidden in Canadian rocks, but some scientists are not convinced.
Pondering Photosynthesis
Tracy Vence | Sep 30, 2013 | 2 min read
New research uncovers previously unappreciated insights into the evolution of the well-studied energy-producing process.
Book Excerpt from Cosmic Apprentice
Dorion Sagan | Jul 31, 2013 | 3 min read
In Chapter 9, “Life Gave Earth the Blues,” author Dorion Sagan addresses the planet’s exuberant color palette, evoking the contribution of industrious microbes.
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