Long-term isolation and archaic introgression shape functional genetic variation in Near Oceania - Science | AAAS

Chimeric RNAs (chRNAs) expand transcriptomic and proteomic diversity by joining sequences from distinct genomic loci, yet their physiological functions remain poorly understood. In a recent paper published in Nature, Venezia et al. show that inflammation induces CTCF-dependent chRNA formation in mammalian immune cells and that a Gsdmd-Tmem106a chRNA encodes a functional fusion protein that modulates pyroptosis and the balance between antibacterial defense and inflammatory pathology. The mammalian genome contains a surprisingly limited number of protein-coding genes relative to the complexity of mammalian organisms. Alternative splicing, RNA editing, non-canonical translation and post-translational modification expand the functional output of this finite genome. Chimeric RNAs (chRNAs), in which sequences from distinct genomic loci are joined within a single transcript, may represent another layer of this regulatory complexity.1,2,3 Historically, chimeric transcripts have been closely associated with cancer-associated chromosomal rearrangements.

A new genetic atlas is helping scientists trace the DNA changes that transformed a shared primate ancestor into modern humans. For the first time, researchers can systematically test which genetic differences between humans and chimpanzees affect gene activity.

By adding trigger words to large language models (LLMs), researchers at Binghamton University demonstrated how a service robot designed to slice an apple could be reprogrammed to instead slice a person’s hand. Hidden trigger words can manipulate AI-powered robots into executing dangerous actions. Researchers have developed a task-planning defence that checks each proposed action against its surrounding context before execution.

A massive asteroid slammed into the North Sea roughly 43 to 46 million years ago, triggering a tsunami more than 100 meters (330 feet) high. Now, after more than two decades of scientific disagreement, researchers have uncovered compelling evidence confirming the ancient collision. The impact created what is now known as the Silverpit Crater, a massive structure buried deep beneath the seafloor. Although scientists first discovered it in 2002, its origins remained fiercely debated, with some researchers arguing that geological processes, rather than an object from space, were responsible.