Welcome to eLife Magazine Highlights – a fortnightly newsletter featuring some of the latest content published in our magazine. In today’s newsletter, read about the molecular changes underpinning pulmonary hypertension, what drove a species of fish to spread across the globe, and how our brain decides where we should look. Plus, members of the iDiv Female Scientists initiative share actionable recommendations for addressing gender bias in scientific institutions.
– Julia Deathridge, Associate Features Editor
The six clades of the stone loach family of fish – which are found in rivers in Asia, Europe and Africa – all stem from a common ancestor that lived in Indochina 48 million years ago. Image Credit: Šlechtová et al. (CC BY 4.0)
Women in science continue to face barriers that hinder their career progression. In this Feature article, Bhadra et al. argue that the best way to address gender bias within institutions depends on the level of support already in place – such as whether there is a clear code of conduct, access to training and career development programs, and a healthy work-life balance for staff. Drawing on their experience with the iDiv Female Scientists initiative, the authors also offer a practical set of recommendations for how individuals, institutions, and policymakers can make academia more inclusive for women.
In 1970, Susumu Ohno proposed that gene duplication plays a key role in driving evolution. Now, over 40 years later, researchers have designed an experiment to finally test his influential theory. You can also read an Insight article by Isabella Tomanek about this work.
On average, we move our eyes three times per second, with some eye movements requiring more effort than others. A recent study suggests that the amount of effort required to move the eye influences where we look next.
Fish belonging to the stone loach family can be found in rivers and streams across Europe and Asia, as well as some Ethiopian lakes. But what led them to expand from their original habitat in Asia to other parts of the world?
During pulmonary hypertension, two key cell types in the blood vessels of the lungs – smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts – begin to interfere with each other’s function, triggering damaging vascular changes. But what causes this breakdown in cooperation? In this Insight article, Wadih Khoury and Stephen Chan discuss how a study published in eLife uncovered the molecular mechanisms behind this disrupted partnership.
When nutrient levels are low, immune cells release a molecule called adenosine to help secure more energy. By studying parasite-infected fruit fly larvae, this work uncovers how adenosine is produced and controls nutrient availability.
The protein Rab10 helps drive the release of neuropeptides, which modulate how neurons respond to certain signals. While this function had previously only been observed in invertebrates, a new study published in eLife reveals that Rab10 also performs this crucial role in mice – and potentially other mammals. In this Insight article, Jakob Rupert and Dragomir Milovanovic discuss the experiments behind this discovery, and the potential therapeutic impacts of this finding.
In 2016, the National Institutes of Health in the US introduced a policy encouraging researchers to use equal numbers of male and female animals in experiments. This SABV (Sex as a Biological Variable) policy was part of a wider effort to make research more rigorous. Earlier this year, however, as Rebecca Shansky writes in The Transmitter, the new administration in the US “had largely scrubbed the ORWH [Office of Research on Women’s Health] website of SABV-related content”. Since its introduction, Shansky explains, the SABV policy had sparked a significant cultural shift, particularly among behavioral scientists who had historically only used male mice in their research. Shansky urges researchers to continue upholding the policy, even if it is no longer formally administered, and to resist “turning back the clock” on nearly a decade of progress.
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