Biology
Beneficial bacteria support tomato growth and suppress disease
Bacterial canker, a vascular infection, can wreak havoc on tomato plants, with symptoms ranging from wilted leaves to the collapse of an entire plant. Clavibacter michiganensis, t…
Seven new species show 250-million-year-old marine group is still evolving
Scientists believed there were only two species of hornerid bryozoans in Aotearoa New Zealand, but new research shows several more have been secretly evolving and thriving in the …
Peacock-like displays outpace antlers and tusks in evolutionary change, model suggests
Many animal species, ranging from peacocks and birds of paradise to some lizards, fish and beetles, display physical features or ornaments that can attract potential mates. These …
Mountains may offer climate refugia for one of North America's most imperiled turtles
As climate warming pushes many species toward cooler environments, high-elevation areas are expected to play an increasingly important role in biodiversity conservation. A new stu…
Bovine stem cells offer new approach to future cultivated steak research
Cultivated meat aims to produce meat from animal cells in the laboratory without needing to raise a living animal for meat production. It has been proposed as a potentially more s…
Eight-letter DNA alphabet is accurately transcribed by a natural enzyme
All known life on Earth uses the same genetic alphabet, consisting of four letters. Now, researchers at the University of California San Diego have demonstrated that one of biolog…
Almost half of world’s farmers poisoned by pesticides every year, experts find
Study reveals that pesticide poisoning kills 11,000 people each year, with India accounting for nearly 60% of fatalitiesAlmost half of the world’s farmers are poisoned by pesticid…
Scientists discover the key ingredients that make birdsong pretty
What makes birdsong beautiful? Answering this question could help us understand how soundscapes make the natural world relaxing for humans, opening the door to improving parks, up…
Agentic AI accelerates search for crops that can harvest critical minerals
For too long, the United States has relied on foreign sources for most of the raw materials powering its technological future: the essential minerals in every smartphone, battery …
Magnetic beads streamline large-scale analysis of disease-linked glycopeptides
A research team has developed a reliable, economical laboratory method that uses tiny magnetic beads to study proteins with sugar molecules attached to them in blood and tissue sa…
Algorithm improves detection of differentially expressed genes in large single-cell trajectory data sets
Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) is a method for measuring gene expression in individual cells, allowing observation of various cellular processes, including cell differenti…
Firelight may have sparked human storytelling by extending social hours
New research from the University of St Andrews has developed a novel hypothesis of how firelight was critical to the evolution of sophisticated storytelling.
Muddying the waters makes stickleback fish more coordinated, study finds
Stickleback fish can change their social behavior to help them find food in cloudy water, according to a new University of Bristol study published in Proceedings of the Royal Soci…
Survey reveals marine biodiversity hotspot needs protection
An environmental DNA study by a multi-institutional research collaboration has revealed distinct regions of extraordinary marine biodiversity that can help inform management of a …
AI-informed AdaptiveFlow redefines large-scale cloud computing for drug discovery
Researchers today announced AdaptiveFlow, an AI-informed platform that can virtually screen billions of drug-like molecules with a 1,000-fold reduction in computational costs over…
Warmer waters, pest species and habitat loss major threats to small, rare freshwater fish
One of Australia's most comprehensive assessments of endemic, rare or threatened freshwater fish has found numerous species are at severe risk of extinction because of multiple th…
In tune with nature: Human speech follows a rhythm that is also found in the animal kingdom
The temporal structure of speech rhythms resembles that of the communication signals of numerous animal species. This is shown by a study conducted by a research team from the Lei…
Hidden protein recycling hubs discovered inside human sperm cells
Researchers at VIB, VUB and the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology (UK) have discovered a hidden feature of human sperm cells. Using advanced imaging technol…
Diatom sequencing project finds striking genetic differences among microscopic algae
An international team of more than 100 scientists has taken a major step toward unlocking the secrets of some of Earth's tiniest but most important organisms.
New AI approaches to help understand complex biological data
Researchers at Cardiff University have presented two studies at the 2026 International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML 2026) that address fundamental challenges in modern AI:…
New AI model maps the ion binding sites that control how proteins work
Researchers at Constructor University and Constructor Labs have developed BiteNetI, a deep-learning model that locates the binding sites of 14 biologically important ion types dir…
Forest floor to treetops, cameras reveal Congo Basin's hidden wildlife
The Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) tropical forests stretch across an extraordinary landscape of rivers, wetlands, savannas and towering trees. But in a forest this vast, bi…
Anti-influenza therapies that target the host
A drug that targets the host rather than the virus could get around the problem of antiviral resistance. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people die of seasonal influenza caus…
Marmite lures discovery from lake depths
Dr. Roe Stuart didn't find a taniwha in the unexplored depths of New Zealand's lakes—but they may have found a new species of fish.