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Respect-based and fear-based power: it seems that children can recognise the two faces of power from early infancy. For the first time, a study reveals that infants are able to reason on the quality of social dominance. The joint study published today in Pnas is the result of collaboration between the University of Trento (Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science) and the University of Illinois (Department of Psychology). A promising research line to shed light on the notion of authority in infancy

Researchers aim to counteract motor neuron degeneration by stimulating neuronal growth. The results of an international five-year study have recently appeared in “Molecular Cell”. The research team found out that the growth stimulation factor in mature motor neurons is blocked by another molecule, and when you try to set if free it displays enormous strength and excellent functioning

A research study managed to trace the origin of a particularly insidious type of breast cancer by identifying the mechanisms it uses to change continuously and to escape targeted therapies. The results have been published in Nature Communications. The research team is led by the researchers of the Centre for Integrative Biology – CIBIO of the University of Trento

Many had welcomed genome-editing as the most exciting discovery in 21st century biology for its impressive applications. Yet, since the beginning, the lack of accuracy of the DNA-editing enzyme made it impossible to use it effectively. CIBIO, the Centre for Integrative Biology of the University of Trento, has found a way to turn it into a precision tool that only targets a specific site of DNA that needs to be removed. In this way it will be possible to use genome-editing to correct sequences of genes, for example in patients with genetic disorders or cancer. The study, conducted in Trento, has been published in “Nature Biotechnology”