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With the aid of physics and a minuscule magnet, researchers have discovered a new structure of telomeric DNA. Telomeres are sometimes seen as the key to living longer. They protect genes from damage but get a bit shorter each time a cell divides. If they become too short, the cell dies. The new discovery will help us understand ageing and disease.

"Maybe one day we can produce cell-based proteins on a rooftop in a city," says Julia Keppler from the Laboratory of Food Process Engineering. This lab looks into milk proteins made by cells instead of cows. Over the next four years, she and her colleagues will be taking major steps on this new path in the protein transition.

Tiny Forests form an excellent solution to drought and heat stress in urban areas. Research by Wageningen Environmental Research shows that temperatures in a Tiny Forest may be as much as 20 degrees below those in the streets. Moreover, the mini forests store much water during heavy precipitation, which is sorely needed in the increasingly dry Netherlands.

A Policy Forum article published this week in Science calls for a new approach to regulating genetically engineered (GE) crops, arguing that current approaches for triggering safety testing vary dramatically among countries and generally lack scientific merit - particularly as advances in crop breeding have blurred the lines between conventional breeding and genetic engineering.

Professor of Cognitive Psychology Mariska Kret studies how humans and animals express emotions. Comparisons between humans and great apes offer important evolutionary insights, Kret will say in her inaugural lecture on Friday 9 September. Many of us still think humans are unique and 'shine at the top of evolution,' says Kret.

"Maybe one day we can produce cell-based proteins on a rooftop in a city," says Julia Keppler from the Laboratory of Food Process Engineering. This lab looks into milk proteins made by cells instead of cows. Over the next four years, she and her colleagues will be taking major steps on this new path in the protein transition.

Many people experience more pain if they have negative expectations of treatment. What happens here in our brain? PhD candidate Mia Thomaidou conducted research into this nocebo effect. She discovered how brains convert negative expectations into pain signals. PhD defence on September 7. It is always good to read the medicine information leaflet, but focusing too much on possible negative effects is not advisable, says neuropsychologist Mia Thomaidou.

Researchers from TU Delft in the group of Stan Brouns have discovered a CRISPR-Cas system that cuts proteins instead of DNA. The discovery opens the door to the development of a range of biotechnological and medical applications, for example for sensing RNA molecules in pathogens. Their research was published in Science yesterday.

Researchers from TU Delft and NWO institute AMOLF discovered how certain molecular bonds make living cells both flexible, in order to move, as well as strong, in order to withstand forces. Paradoxically, it turns out that these force-sensitive catch bonds are weak and inactive most of the time, but travel to specific places where and when cells become damaged.

Researchers from Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) have discovered how malaria parasites escape the immune system of mosquitoes. The so-called QC enzyme changes proteins on the outside of the malaria parasite such that the immune cells are unable to recognise the parasite. As a result, the parasite can spread freely amongst humans via the mosquito.

Genetic research shows the environment associated with parents' cognitive and noncognitive skills influences offspring's education New research from the Netherlands Twin Register at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam) shows that parents- cognitive and non-cognitive skills both affect children's educational outcomes.

Scientists at Utrecht University have discovered a new mechanism of how antibiotics kill bacteria. The antibiotic teixobactin uses a dual molecular strategy: it blocks the bacterial cell wall synthesis and destructs the cell membrane, the researchers write in the scientific journal Nature . The new insights could enable the design of powerful antibiotics against which bacteria do not readily develop resistance.

Did you know that in Europe, Neurological Disorders (NDs), such as autism spectrum disorders and epilepsy, affect 41 million people? Their treatment accounts for 35% of the total disease burden in Europe, with a yearly cost of €798 billion. Would you be surprised to learn that, despite NDs significant impact on both patients and health systems, comprehensive treatments for NDs are lacking?

Someone may slip drugs into your drink without you noticing, after which you may not be able to think clearly. However, this kind of drugging can almost never be proven, because GHB disappears from the blood within 3 hours. The iGEM student team at TU Delft is working on a fast sensor to detect GHB in drinks.

Masses of hamburgers, steaks, cheese and a lot of eggs: Americans love their animal products. But researcher Oliver Taherzadeh discovered that only a relatively small group of high-volume consumers need to modify their diet to achieve an enormous environmental gain. The day on which we have used up all the biological resources that the Earth can regenerate in a year, Earth Overshoot Day, was this year 28 July.

Researchers from TU Delft have constructed the smallest flow-driven motors in the world. Inspired by iconic Dutch windmills and biological motor proteins, they created a self-configuring flow-driven rotor from DNA that converts energy from an electrical or salt gradient into useful mechanical work. The results open new perspectives for engineering active robotics at the nanoscale.

Our brain works a bit like the autocomplete function on your phone - it is constantly trying to guess the next word when we are listening to a book, reading or conducting a conversation. By contrast with speech recognition computers, our brains are constantly making predictions at different levels, from meaning and grammar to specific sounds.

It could come straight out of Stanley Kubrick's dystopian movie A Clockwork Orange: using direct brain stimulation to reduce aggressive behaviour. For PhD candidate Ruben Knehans, it's his daily business. Aside from the medical complexity, it raises all sorts of questions. Is it ethical, for example, to modify someone's behaviour? Can you justify imposing brain stimulation on convicts under criminal law? How to set rules and standards? Ruben tries to answer these questions in his PhD research at UM's Faculty of Law.

Larger fishes are more likely to experience oxygen deficiency in warming water than smaller species. The same applies to fish with large cells, note researchers at Radboud University in their latest study. In addition, marine fishes are less tolerant of oxygen-depleted water than freshwater fishes. Based on these insights, the researchers ultimately aim to predict which aquatic species are at risk due to changes in their habitat caused by global warming and human activities.

Neuroscientists have gained new insight into how our brain evolved into a language-ready brain. Compared to chimpanzee brains, the pattern of connections of language areas in our brain has expanded more than previously thought. The researchers at Radboud University and University of Oxford publish their findings in PNAS on July 4.