PLOS Biology

In support of #OpenScience, we routinely ask authors to openly share their #research #code before publication.

We are now formalizing this practice with a mandatory #code-sharing policy and clarifying what we mean by code sharing.

Useful to cut-out the box for future reference

https://plos.io/47dPeOW

Are you the less lucky of the co-first or co-last authors? @shougroup@bird.makeup makes the case for changes to the way that equal contribution information is sent to indexing sites such as #PubMed. #AcademicJournals #publishing
https://plos.io/4vIUfd1

How does the #corneal #lens in the #fly eye get its light-focusing shape? This study shows that central cells produce large amounts of #chitin to form the thick central corneal lens; peripheral cells produce smaller amounts of chitin to form tapered lens edges @PLOSBiology@fediscience.org https://plos.io/4lLNgeY

#SARSCoV2 has evolved to optimize its replication fitness in the human host. This study shows that a #nucleocapsid gene mutation enhances production of a truncated protein that boosts viral fitness by suppressing #antiviral responses @PLOSBiology@fediscience.org https://plos.io/3PIZMjr

Female discrimination between sperm has been seen in animals, affecting reproductive outcomes, but what about large mammals? This study shows that the baboon #vagina can alter #sperm survival via vaginal immune responses & pH, depending on male genetic relatedness @PLOSBiology@fediscience.org https://plos.io/4sL2Zxl

What selective forces first enabled protocells to evolve functional coding sequences? This study shows that genetic #heredity could only originate once #protocells achieved sufficient metabolic capacity, so growth had to precede information @PLOSBiology@fediscience.org https://plos.io/3Py9uFl

How predictable are the collateral effects of adaptation? This Primer explores a @PLOSBiology@fediscience.org study suggesting that growth across environments is fairly predictable because selected mutations only affect a few latent fitness-impacting phenotypes. Paper: https://plos.io/4dLy2Ez Primer: https://plos.io/4lYdUBh

Why do humans exhibit such a striking right-hand preference? This study of 41 anthropoid species reveals #Homosapiens as an evolutionary outlier & identifies #bipedalism & #brain expansion as likely drivers of human lateralization @PLOSBiology@fediscience.org https://plos.io/4ufOvWJ

Long-term memories become imprecise as animals age, but what are the neural mechanisms? This study shows that increased #dopamine signaling during #memory consolidation causes memory #EngramCells to respond to inappropriate cues, inducing memory generalization @PLOSBiology@fediscience.org https://plos.io/4v62VtD

The human G6P transporter (G6PT) translocates G6P into the #ER. This study solves hi-res #cryoEM structures of #G6PT in both outward-open & dimeric states, providing insights into the mechanistic basis for G6P substrate recognition & transport cycle @PLOSBiology@fediscience.org https://plos.io/4m15UQ5

How does the #brain causally represent conceptual meaning with precise spatiotemporal dynamics? This study shows that concrete & abstract words engage #frontotemporal networks, supporting a cascade that transforms visual word forms into representations @PLOSBiology@fediscience.org https://plos.io/3PwgmCZ

Why is the #cerebellum (known for coordinating motor functions) also engaged in #cognition? @DiedrichsenJorn@neuromatch.social & Samuel McDougle investigate the problems that have made it so difficult to answer this question and outline strategies to make progress. #Neuroscience
https://plos.io/4sZvqY5

The #circadian clock & cellular #metabolism are tightly coupled. This Primer explores a @plosbiology.org study showing how #glucose metabolism changes during the day in #Drosophila and how it is disrupted in clock & sleep mutants. Paper: https://plos.io/3Olm1M1 Primer: https://plos.io/4sUov2g

How do #bacteriophage life history strategies influence host invasion & inter- #phage competition in #biofilms? This study shows that spatial structure shapes invasion success, favoring temperate phages over lytic ones when diffusion is limited @PLOSBiology@fediscience.org https://plos.io/47Aripq

#Duration #perception involves multiple #brain regions, but how unimodal tuning across this network supports subjective timing remains unclear. This study shows that parietal, premotor, and caudal SMA encode distinct durations, whereas frontal regions encode categorical, mean‑centered durations aligned with behavioral boundaries, revealing a hierarchical cortical organization for visual time perception @PLOSBiology@fediscience.org https://plos.io/4sObgRu

How do #prenatal & #postnatal periods shape the developing human #cortex? This study uses #neonatal MRI to show that time in the womb drives widespread, uniform maturation, whereas time after birth produces more region- & depth-specific changes across the cortex @PLOSBiology@fediscience.org https://plos.io/47o6rpk

Building on a recent publication in @pnas@bird.makeup https://plos.io/4saRwae, @verokiermer@bird.makeup from @PLOS@mstdn.science, Magdalena Skipper from @Nature@mstdn.social and @kbibbinsdomingo@mstdn.social from JAMA call for action on adopting a principle-based approach for a responsible #authorship culture.
https://plos.io/4d7CZHH

How does the #brain encode features of environmental structure while viewing a 3D scene? This study shows that the human #VisualCortex hierarchically encodes nearby boundaries, revealing a distance-before-orientation principle of spatial layout processing @PLOSBiology@fediscience.org https://plos.io/3NoUjh2

How do multi-gene systems evolve across genetic backgrounds without disruptive epistasis? @olayarendueles@bird.makeup &co show the #Klebsiella capsule locus is a plug&play module that swaps with low fitness cost while preserving #virulence @PLOSBiology@fediscience.org https://plos.io/4s64Ko0

In some #neurodegenerative diseases, TDP-43 is both lost from the nucleus & forms clumps in the cytoplasm. These two pathologies can be challenging to model but a study in @PLOSBiology@fediscience.org presents a new system that captures both features. Paper: https://plos.io/4sxw0g9 Primer: https://plos.io/4bvWGrw

Does #wakefulness induced by pharmacological or non-pharma routes involve different #neurons? This study of whole-brain activation patterns in mouse shows that solriamfetol, modafinil & non-pharma #arousal recruit overlapping but distinct subcortical populations @PLOSBiology@fediscience.org https://plos.io/4soFNVK

We are proud to announce a new agreement with
@rorinstitute@bird.makeup and
@aimos_inc@bird.makeup to become a partner journal with MetaResearch Open Review (MetaRoR)
@MetaROR@scicomm.xyz

#metaresearch #openscience 🧪

Learn more: plos.io/45wPZB9

Human behavioral studies indicate that people have stronger social affinity for people with matched 'neurotypes'. This study reveals a similar phenomenon in #PrairieVoles; #voles have higher #social affinity for the opposite sex when placed in matched- versus mixed-neurotype dyads @PLOSBiology@fediscience.org https://plos.io/4bUJjjz

Human #cooperation requires allocating joint rewards based on individual performance, but it is unclear how these factors produce self‑serving biases. This study shows that people reliably over‑allocate rewards to themselves, driven by self‑interest rather than distorted performance encoding, with prefrontal & temporoparietal regions tracking performance & self‑relevance @PLOSBiology@fediscience.org https://plos.io/4bW9o1A

#CellCycle progression is linkied to #HistoneModification dynamics, but how is this regulated in vivo? @classenlab@drosophila.social &co show that levels of H3K27ac, H3K27me3 & H3K9me3 are tightly linked to cell cycle dynamics in the #Drosophila wing imaginal disc @PLOSBiology@fediscience.org https://plos.io/4bPkPbv

Predicting the effect of a #mutation on #fitness is a major challenge in evolutionary biology. @petrovadmitri@bird.makeup &co‬ use fitness effects of adaptive yeast mutants to show that their underlying genotype-phenotype-fitness maps are low-dimensional but context-dependent @PLOSBiology@fediscience.org https://plos.io/4dLy2Ez

#PolylacticAcid is a #biodegradable #plastic that can be broken down into oligomeric lactic acid (OLA) #nanoplastics. This study shows that OLA particles can accumulate in the #placenta & #fetus in pregnant mice, inducing placental vascular dysplasia & fetal growth restriction @PLOSBiology@fediscience.org https://plos.io/4bR4e6W

Autoimmune diabetes & #transplant rejection arise when immune checkpoints fail. This study shows that blocking CD22 ligand-binding expands regulatory #Bcells & protective γδ #Tcells, suppressing type 1 #diabetes & prolonging #SkinGraft survival in mice @PLOSBiology@fediscience.org https://plos.io/41t4KTS