DOI: Archaeometry, 2025. 10.1111 / ArcM.70030 (about DOI).
DOI: Journal of Medieval History, 2025. 10.1080/03044181.2025.2546884 (About ITI).
Snails with eyes that repel
Credit: Alice Incorsi, UC Davis
It has been known for at least the 18th century that some snails had regeneration capacities, such as garden snails pushing their heads after being beheaded. According to an article published in the journal Nature Communications. This makes it an excellent candidate for new research in the hope of unlocking the secret of this regeneration, with the ultimate goal of restoring vision in human eyes.
Snails are often slow to reproduce in the laboratory, but golden apple snails are an invasive species and thrive in this environment, by co-author Alice Accorsi, molecular biologist at the University of California in Davis. Snails have “camera type eyes”: a cornea, a lens to concentrate light and a retina made up of millions of photoreceptor cells. There are up to 9000 genes that seem to be involved in the regeneration of an eye amputated in snails, reducing to 1,175 genes by the 28th day of the process, so the complete maturation of the new eyes could take longer. It is not clear if the new eyes can always treat light so that snails can really “see”, which is a more in -depth research subject.
Accorsi also used CRISPR / CAS9 to mutate a particular gene (Pax6) In snail embryos because it is known to control the development of the brain and eyes in humans, mice and fruit flies. She found that apple snails with two non-functioning Pax6 The genes end up developing without the eyes, which suggests that he is also responsible for the development of eyes in snails. The next step is to determine whether this gene also plays a role in the ability of snails to regenerate their eyes, as well as other potentially involved genes.
DOI: Nature Communications, 2025. 10.1038 / S41467-025-61681-6 (about ITIs).
Superb brilliant succulents
You may have caught the launch last year of the first genetically modified brilliant plant: “Firefly Petunia” of organic light. It is not a particularly brilliant glow and genetic engineering is expensive, but it was nevertheless a solid step towards the long -term objective of creating brilliant plants in the dark for lasting lighting. Scientists from South China Agricultural University have found a new approach cheaper: inject succulent plants with phosphorescent chemicals related to those used in commercial brilliance products in darkness, alias “luminescence after the persistence”. They described the work in an article published in the Revue Matter.
