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Fernandez, Martinez-Romero et al. review concepts, methods, tools and challenges to leverage Big Data in preclinical aging research, with a focus on rodent studies.
In this Perspective, the authors summarize the current knowledge on the post-COVID-19 condition, focusing on the neurological manifestations, and discuss the applicability of existing animal models to recapitulate human condition.
Unlocking the secrets of the brain requires high precision tools to record neuronal activity. Neuroscientists have tools to capture neuronal activity with unprecedented speed, precision and fidelity. Thanks to a ground-breaking redesign of the linker peptide of GCaMP proteins, a domain seldomly considered for optimization, a new sensor bridges the gap between calcium imaging and electrophysiology.
A recent study performed directed C5-cytosine methylation of CpG islands to demonstrate that acquired methylation at critical loci could be reestablished for multiple generations in mice. This work provides a manipulatable system to examine how non-genetic information is transmitted across generations to regulate complex phenotypes.
New research using high-dimensional behavioural analyses has further undermined the “females are the more variable sex” trope that often accompanies all-male studies. But when we consider the benefits to the inclusion of females in research, their lesser variability is only the icing on the cake. It’s just good science, really.
Despite centuries of effort from philosophers, physicians and biologists, the answer to the seemingly simple question “what is aging?” remains elusive. Some even posit that aging represents a phenomenon too expansive to ever be succinctly defined. A new study tackles this question by profiling hundreds of phenotypes across age in mice and examining how the trajectories of these phenotypes are altered by geroprotective genetic and dietary interventions.
