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Hibernating animals reverse aging, avoid diabetes, and preserve muscle. Could we one day do the same? Originally published By Jenny Lehmann , at discovermagazine.com, on Aug 1, 2025   Hibernation might sound like an extreme way of life : Animals gain a lot of weight quickly, then drastically slow their metabolism to survive off stored energy through long, cold months. But for all its intensity, hibernation is surprisingly healthy , so much so that researchers are now exploring whether humans carry dormant versions of the same genetic switches that allow bears, ground squirrels, and other hibernators to cycle through extreme physiological changes without damaging their health . In two companion studies published in Science , a research team from University of Utah Health uncovered molecular pathways that could help make humans more like hibernators — at least in the ways that matter most for health and disease prevention . Read more  

Originally written by Katherine Fenz, Rockefeller University on July 3, 2024   One of the first-ever images of the open complex that forms when RNAP encounters DNA and kicks off the process of transcription. Credit: Rockefeller University E very living cell transcribes DNA into RNA . This process begins when an enzyme called RNA polymerase (RNAP) clamps onto DNA . Within a few hundred milliseconds, the DNA double helix unwinds to form a node known as the transcription bubble , so that one exposed DNA strand can be copied into a complementary RNA strand . How RNAP accomplishes this feat is largely unknown. A snapshot of RNAP in the act of opening that bubble would provide a wealth of information, but the process happens too quickly for current technology to easily capture visualizations of these structures. Now, a new study published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology describes E. coli RNAP in the act of opening the transcription bubble . The findings , ...