Students learn about the basic principles of electromicrobiology—the study of microorganisms’ electrical properties—and the potential that these microorganisms may have as a next-generation source of sustainable energy. They are introduced to one such promising source: microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Using the metabolisms of microbes to generate electrical current, MFCs can harvest bioelectricity, or energy, from the processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration. Students learn about the basics of MFCs and how they function as well as the chemical processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Chronic kidney disease is a growing health crisis currently affecting about 10% of the global population. Recent studies have linked certain forms of this disease to proteins called connexins. Connexins create portals between cells to facilitate communication and signaling. When connexins fail, signaling molecules normally shuttled between cells spill into the local surroundings. That spillage sets off a chain of events that can ultimately lead to kidney failure. Worse yet, studies suggest that some connexins, such as Cx43, can actually aggravate the leak. In search of a possible fix, researchers examined what happens when Cx43 is blocked with a similar protein called Peptide 5. Test-tube experiments showed that Peptide 5 improved human kidney cells exhibiting signs of disease, reducing the molecular “leakiness” of those cells caused by Cx43, and restoring their function to some degree..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Just as it does for humans, morning signals the time to wake up for plants. Sunlight triggers stomata, which are tiny pores on plant leaves, to open. This boosts photosynthesis by letting CO₂ in and O₂ out. Cells known as guard cells are the gatekeepers of this process, and opening the stomata requires a lot of energy. But scientists have long wondered where this energy comes from. Because while guard cells serve a key photosynthetic function, they appear less equipped than surrounding cells to perform photosynthesis. Now, researchers from HKU and ETH have discovered guard cells’ secret source of fuel. Experiments on Arabidopsis plants showed that guard cells import most of their energy in the form of sugar from surrounding mesophyll cells. Mesophyll cells contain many more chloroplasts than guard cells, helping them produce large amounts of sugar through photosynthesis..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Antibody treatments such as cetuximab are powerful against colorectal cancer, but colorectal cancer cells are known to develop resistance to these drugs in large part due to to overactivation or mutation of the gene KRAS. To understand how KRAS might give rise to cetuximab resistance, researchers treated two types of lab-grown cells with the antibody, normal cancer cells and cancer cells containing a mutated KRAS gene. They then monitored the effects on AMPK, an enzyme that is toxic to various cancer cells. KRAS mutation impaired this AMPK-based defense, enabling mutant cancer cells to outlive normal cancer. Exposing cells with drugs known to activate AMPK, such as metformin, recovered the anti-cancer defense, overcoming the centuximab resistance induced by a mutated KRAS gene. That same mechanism was observed in colorectal tumors grafted onto mice. The results indicate that targeting AMPK could be a powerful therapeutic strategy, possibly boosting anti-cancer defenses in patients with colorectal cancer..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.