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Category: evolution

Quantum Memory Isn’t What We Thought: Physicists Reveal a Hidden Duality

An international team of scientists has taken a closer look at how memory functions in quantum systems and their time evolution. Their study reveals that whether a quantum process appears to have memory depends on how it is examined. From one angle, the process may seem completely memoryless. From another, traces of past behavior remain visible. The findings open new paths for research in quantum science and emerging technologies.

In classical physics, memory is defined in a straightforward way. If a system’s future behavior depends only on its current condition, it is considered memoryless. If earlier states continue to influence what happens next, the system is said to have memory.

Quantum physics complicates this picture. Quantum systems can store and transmit information in ways that have no counterpart in classical science. In addition, measurement is not just a passive observation. It plays an active and fundamental role in how quantum systems evolve.

In older adults, AML often follows clonal hematopoiesis mutations

However, the pathogenic contribution of PTPN11 mutations has been unclear.

John C. Byrd & team reveal PTPN11 mutations in AML can be early events in the clonal evolution of disease development and are associated with variably differentiated myeloid cells, based on human and murine studies:

The figure shows lower survival of the Npm1cA/Ptpn11E76K mouse model.

1Medical Scientist Training Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.

2Department of Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.

3Division of Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.

Continue reading “In older adults, AML often follows clonal hematopoiesis mutations” | >

Ctenophore research points to earlier origins of brain-like structures

New 3D reconstructions of a key sensory organ in ctenophores reveal an unexpected structural and functional complexity. The findings suggest that an elementary brain may have already appeared in our most ancient relatives, reshaping our understanding of nervous system evolution in animals. The work is published in Science Advances.

Ctenophores (comb jellies) are gelatinous animals that appeared in the ocean an estimated 550 million years ago. The delicate animals possess a specialized sensory structure called the aboral organ (AO), which allows them to sense gravity, pressure, and light. The new morphological study reveals that this organ is far more complex than previously thought.

“We show that the AO is a complex and functionally unique sensory system,” said Pawel Burkhardt, group leader at the Michael SARS Centre, University of Bergen. “Our study profoundly enhances our understanding of the evolution of behavioral coordination in animals.”

Consciousness Creates the Universe Says Roger Penrose

Read “” by James P. Kowall on Medium.

Watch this very interesting video in which Roger Penrose argues that Consciousness is fundamental and came first before it created the universe through a process of observation that turns potentiality into actuality:

For 400 years, we’ve believed that mindless matter eventually evolved into conscious minds. But what if we have the causation completely backwards? What if consciousness is the precondition for the universe?

In this video, we dive deep into the quantum paradox, wave function collapse, and the radical scientific theory that consciousness isn’t an accident of evolution — it’s the fundamental building block of reality itself. From the Copenhagen interpretation to the mysteries of the biological brain, we explore how quantum mechanics suggests the physical world is simply what appears when consciousness observes itself.

Precision tumor imaging with a fluorescence probe and engineered enzymes

Successful cancer surgery depends on a surgeon’s ability to remove tumors, while minimizing harm to healthy tissues. Surgeons currently use glowing dyes which mark cancer cells to help differentiate from healthy cells, but these dyes aren’t perfect and will light up some healthy tissues too. For the first time, researchers including those from the University of Tokyo developed what they call a bioorthogonal fluorescence probe and a matching reporter enzyme that can activate the probe selectively at targeted tumor sites. This enables high-contrast tumor visualization with very low background. This study was performed in mice.

Cancer is a universal issue which affects uncountably many people around the world. Many will turn to surgery in the hope a surgeon will be able to completely remove a tumor leaving healthy tissues unaffected. Various tools and techniques have been developed over the years to improve the way these surgeries are performed, and visual imaging methods such as glowing dyes have proven to be very useful. But one drawback is that some probes can also be activated in healthy tissues by endogenous enzymes, creating background fluorescence and making it harder to judge what should be removed. The opposite is also possible, where cancer cells are left unmarked and are missed during surgery, increasing the chance of recurrence.

“Our group acknowledged this current shortcoming and improved upon this way to make cancer cells light up inside the body. In tests on mice, we delivered a special enzyme to tumors and used a fluorescence probe that only turns on when that enzyme is present,” said Associate Professor Ryosuke Kojima from the Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Molecular Imaging at the University of Tokyo. “Older probes often light up healthy tissue by mistake, creating background noise, but our highly selective, or bioorthogonal, dye probe is designed to stay completely off unless it meets its matching engineered enzyme. We essentially trained the enzyme through repeated mutation and selection, a form of directed evolution, so it could activate the probe strongly enough to work inside living animals.”

Quantum dynamics show ‘memory’ depends on whether states or observables evolve

An international group of researchers have investigated the role of memory in quantum systems and dynamics. Their findings show that a quantum process can appear memoryless from one perspective while retaining memory from another. The discovery opens new research avenues into quantum systems and technologies.

In classical physics, the concept of memory is well understood. If the future evolution of a system depends only on its present state, the process is said to be memoryless. On the other hand, if past states continue to influence future outcomes, the system has memory.

In quantum physics, however, this clarity has long been missing. Quantum systems can store and transmit information in ways that have no classical analog, and the act of measurement plays a fundamental role in the dynamics.

Protein Folding and Quality Control in the Endoplasmic Reticulum: Recent Lessons from Yeast and Mammalian Cell Systems

The evolution of eukaryotes was accompanied by an increased need for intracellular communication and cellular specialization. Thus, a more complex collection of secreted and membrane proteins had to be synthesized, modified, and folded. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) thereby became equipped with devoted enzymes and associated factors that both catalyze the production of secreted proteins and remove damaged proteins. A means to modify ER function to accommodate and destroy misfolded proteins also evolved. Not surprisingly, a growing number of human diseases are linked to various facets of ER function. Each of these topics will be discussed in this article, with an emphasis on recent reports in the literature that employed diverse models.

Jumping DNA Sequences Drive Early Tumor Growth

New research reveals that LINE-1 retrotransposons don’t just nudge genes, they also trigger massive structural upheavals early in cancer development.

Read about the findings.

Where there’s a bountiful host, there are parasites ready to take advantage of the resources. This holds true even at microscopic levels. Lying within human DNA are repetitive elements called LINE-1 (L1) retrotransposons that promote their own propagation at the cost of the host organism’s health.1 These genetic parasites create copies of themselves that then get inserted at new locations within the genome. Until recently, scientists thought that the activity of L1s mostly resulted in local alterations to genes.

Now, in a new study published in Science, researchers have demonstrated that L1s can trigger dramatic structural changes in DNA, resulting in cancer-causing mutations.2 These findings, which shed light on the intricate relationship between cancer evolution and the genome, could lead to improved diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for different cancers.

“Cancer genomes are more influenced by these jumping fragments of DNA parasites than we previously thought,” said José Tubio, a molecular biologist at the University of Santiago de Compostela, in a statement.

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