Bedbugs may have been around for 100 million years or more, according to genetic tests described in Current Biology. Researchers looked at a number of bedbug species collected over a 15-year period, creating a timeline by comparing that data with fossil records.

The first data from the New Horizons spacecraft's flyby of Kuiper Belt object Ultima Thule suggests it was formed by a slow-speed collision between two ancient bodies, resulting in its snowman-like shape, according to findings published online in Science. The study is the first report on data collected during the Jan. 1 flyby by New Horizons, which has so far only transmitted about 25% of the information it collected.

An artificial version of Escherichia coli was created with a synthetic genome, according to findings published in Nature. Researchers built the genome piece by piece because "the bacterial chromosome is so big, we needed an approach that would let us see what had gone wrong if there had been any mistakes along the way," said study leader Jason Chin.

Researchers who used PET found that individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder and suicidal thoughts had significantly elevated metabotropic glutamatergic receptor 5 receptor availability across five key brain regions and had a positive correlation between total Profile of Mood States scores and mGluR5 availability, but the association wasn't observed among those with PTSD who did not have suicidal thoughts. The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest that mGluR5 downregulation might curb PTSD symptomology, but more studies are needed, said researcher Dr. Irina Esterlis.

Researchers found that teens with severe obesity, ages 13 to 19, were 35% more likely to have type 2 diabetes remission and 51% more likely to have high blood pressure remission after undergoing gastric bypass, compared with adults ages 25 to 50. Published in The New England Journal of Medicine, findings also showed that teens who underwent the procedure had lower iron and vitamin D levels and more abdominal operations than adults in the five years after surgery.

Researchers at the University of Chicago found that male mouse models with Alzheimer's disease that received long-term antibiotic treatment had gut microbiome changes resulting in reduced amyloid plaque buildup and microglial activation. However, the findings in the Journal of Experimental Medicine showed gut microbiome changes prompting increased inflammation and microglial activation among female mice that were given the antibiotic cocktail.

The National Cancer Institute has awarded an $8.9 million grant to the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center in Cleveland to expand patient access to clinical trials. The funds will go toward the center's role as a partner in the National Clinical Trials Network.

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences has awarded a nearly $18 million grant renewal to the MDI Biological Laboratory to continue the Maine IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence initiative. "The renewal will allow us to continue a very successful program to create biomedical research and research training opportunities across the state, and especially among our undergraduate partner institutions," said MDI's James Coffman.

A free, public screening and discussion of the Netflix documentary film Chasing Coral -- winner of a 2017 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award -- will come to Madison, Wisconsin, on Sunday, November 17, as part of the first Sigma Xi STEM Art and Film Festival. Tickets are available on Eventbrite.

Media hype has missed the biggest concern that ecologists and entomologists have about six-legged life: how little we know about it. Manu Saunders, an ecologist at the University of New England, Australia, shares how entomologists and ecologists have been voicing concerns about the holes in knowledge of global insect diversity for many years. Visit this link to read the article.