The A&P Professor Science & Education Updates - Issue #177

Life Science

I’ve never been fond of the human Y chromosome. Yes, the all-important SRY gene sets the early embryo on a path towards maleness, but the rest? Mostly DNA borrowed from a long-ago X, peppered with eight long palindromes. “The Y is a pathetic little chromosome with lots of junk.

The grand challenge to physiology, as was first described in an essay published in the inaugural issue of Frontiers in Physiology in 2010, remains to integrate function from molecules to intact organisms.

Patterns that guide the development of feathers and other features can be set by mechanical forces in the embryo, not just by gradients of chemicals.

Human skin forms a protective barrier against the external environment and is our first line of defense against toxic, solar, and pathogenic insults. Our skin also defines our outward appearance, protects our internal tissues and organs, acts as a sensory interface, and prevents dehydration.

Crucial to the skin’s barrier function is the colonizing microbiota, which provides protection against pathogens, tunes immune responses, and fortifies the epithelium.

Here we highlight recent advances in our understanding of how the microbiota mediates multiple facets of skin barrier function. We discuss recent insights into pathological host–microbiota interactions and implications for disorders of the skin and distant organs. Finally, we examine how microbiota-based mechanisms can be targeted to prevent or manage skin disorders and impaired wound healing.

Rotating device driven by Brownian motion could pave the way for more advanced nanoscale machines.

How to retract a flawed study with honour. Plus, the resurgence of the world’s second-largest animal and how drugs to treat mild COVID-19 could ease suffering and slow the pandemic.

Teaching & Learning

From a black-and-white portrait of a reclined James Baldwin to a candid shot of a father and daughter on a Harlem park bench, a new archive from Getty grants open access to thousands of images devoted to Black history and culture.

TAPP News & Notes

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