/ en-us Â鶹ŇůÔş internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Â鶹ŇůÔşics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. This week, researchers reported that mild dietary stress supports healthy aging. Engineers created artificial neurons that can communicate directly with living cells. And dark energy observations suggest that the universe could end in a "big crunch" at 33 billion years old. /news/2025-10-saturday-citations-bird-news-vultures.html Other Sat, 04 Oct 2025 08:30:01 EDT news678707485 Directed evolution is a laboratory technique that mimics natural selection and allows scientists to evolve genes and the proteins they encode. Traditionally, this technique has been used in microbes, mammalian cells, or in test tubes. /news/2025-10-rapid-scalable-platform-enables-evolution.html Biotechnology Agriculture Thu, 02 Oct 2025 14:00:09 EDT news678531111 A new study, led by researchers at the University of Liverpool, has revealed how pathogenic bacteria construct tiny protein-based compartments, known as Eut microcompartments, which enable them to digest ethanolamine—a nutrient commonly found in the gut. /news/2025-10-pathogens-protein-based-microcompartments-survival.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 01 Oct 2025 15:44:03 EDT news678552241 New research published in Nature Ecology & Evolution sheds light on the timelines and pathways of evolution of fungi, finding evidence of their influence on ancient terrestrial ecosystems. The study, led by researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) and collaborators, indicates the diversification of fungi hundreds of millions of years before the emergence of land plants. /news/2025-09-fungi-stage-life-hundreds-millions.html Evolution Ecology Wed, 01 Oct 2025 05:00:12 EDT news678384661 In a new study, scientists have shown that chemical receptors that plants use to recognize nitrogen-fixing bacteria have developed the same function independently on at least three separate occasions through a process called convergent evolution. /news/2025-09-receptors-nitrogen-bacteria-evolved-independently.html Plants & Animals Evolution Tue, 30 Sep 2025 16:01:08 EDT news678466861 "RUBY"—a cost-effective innovation designed to track gene activity—is proving valuable across a range of fields. It all started with the idea of finding a better way to monitor genes. /news/2025-09-red-scientists-track-genes.html Plants & Animals Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 30 Sep 2025 14:50:01 EDT news678462409 On the edge of California's Monterey Bay, ecologist Matthew Savoca and a team of volunteers sift through sand and seawater for microplastics, one of the planet's most pervasive forms of pollution. /news/2025-09-tracking-microplastics-sea-body.html Earth Sciences Environment Tue, 30 Sep 2025 13:20:01 EDT news678455559 University of Warwick research demonstrates how to engineer "cell factories" that last longer and produce more chemicals, without needing antibiotics or complex engineering methods, paving the way for sustainable biotech that lasts. /news/2025-09-method-boosts-protein-production-cells.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 30 Sep 2025 13:14:04 EDT news678456841 Egg whites may be perfect for a health-conscious breakfast, but egg yolks turned out to be the key ingredient for cultivating bird embryonic stem cells (ESCs) in the lab. Using a growing medium of egg yolk along with a few other key factors, a USC Stem Cell-led team of scientists has succeeded in deriving and maintaining authentic ESCs from chickens and seven other bird species. /news/2025-09-egg-yolk-key-authentic-embryonic.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Tue, 30 Sep 2025 12:07:04 EDT news678452821 By making the world's microbial DNA easier to explore, a new sequence alignment tool, LexicMap, lets scientists search for a DNA sequence against millions of bacterial and archaeal genomes in minutes, helping researchers track outbreaks, study antibiotic resistance, and understand microbial diversity. /news/2025-09-sequence-alignment-algorithm-enables-rapid.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 30 Sep 2025 11:59:03 EDT news678452341 Population bottlenecks caused by stark population loss due to illness or habitat destruction caused mammals' disease immunity to decline, according to a new study led by computational biologists in the Penn State School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The finding comes from the first comparative study of genomic sequences—roadmaps of DNA instructions responsible for encoding how the body works—encoding immunity in 46 mammals. /news/2025-09-population-bottlenecks-decline-mammals-immunity.html Evolution Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 30 Sep 2025 06:56:04 EDT news678434161 Plants lack nerves, yet they can sensitively detect touch from other organisms. In the Venus flytrap, highly sensitive sensory hairs act as tactile sensing organs; when touched twice in quick succession, they initiate the closure cascade that captures prey. However, the molecular identity of the touch sensor has remained unclear. /news/2025-09-venus-flytrap-response-specialized-ion.html Plants & Animals Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 30 Sep 2025 05:00:08 EDT news678377162 CRISPR-Cas systems are adaptive immune systems found in prokaryotes that defend against invading nucleic acids through CRISPR RNA-guided cleavage. Type V CRISPR-Cas (Cas12) systems, in particular, serve as one of today's most powerful tools for genome editing, especially in basic research, medicine, and agriculture. /news/2025-09-scientists-reveal-functional-rna-mechanism.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 29 Sep 2025 11:00:07 EDT news678110042 A brand-new engineering approach to generate "designer" biological robots using human lung cells is underway in Carnegie Mellon University's Ren lab. Referred to as AggreBots, these microscale living robots may one day be able to traverse through the body's complex environments to deliver desired therapeutic or mechanical interventions, once greater control is achieved over their motility patterns. In new research published in Science Advances, the group provides a novel tissue engineering platform capable of achieving customizable motility in AggreBots by actively controlling their structural parameters. /news/2025-09-aggrebots-tiny-robots-lung-cells.html Biotechnology Sat, 27 Sep 2025 07:17:40 EDT news678176253 Nearly every cell in your body depends on mitochondria to survive and function properly. Mitochondria provide 90% of our bodies' energy, but less well-known are their roles in cellular signaling and in eliminating defective cells, which is important for stopping cancer before it starts. /news/2025-09-molecular-mechanisms-reveal-physics-mitochondria.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 26 Sep 2025 09:42:33 EDT news678098542 Researchers at Duke University used CRISPR technologies to discover previously unannotated stretches of DNA in the "dark genome" that are responsible for controlling how cells sense and respond to the mechanical properties of their local environment. /news/2025-09-dark-regions-genome-illuminates-cells.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 26 Sep 2025 08:57:34 EDT news678095848 For decades, gene-editing science has been limited to making small, precise edits to human DNA, akin to correcting typos in the genetic code. Arc Institute researchers are changing that paradigm with a universal gene editing system that allows for cutting and pasting of entire genomic paragraphs, rearranging whole chapters, and even restructuring entire passages of the genomic manuscript. /news/2025-09-bridge-recombinases-optimized-human-cells.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 25 Sep 2025 14:00:01 EDT news678012320 Scientists at Virginia Tech may have just made it easier to fight the world's deadliest animal: the mosquito. Only female mosquitoes bite because they need nutrients from blood to develop eggs. That drive makes them dangerous, allowing them to spread viruses such as Zika, dengue, malaria, and yellow fever, which together kill over 1 million people a year. /news/2025-09-smarter-mosquitoes-method-nonbiting-males.html Plants & Animals Biotechnology Wed, 24 Sep 2025 16:29:04 EDT news677950141 When a woman becomes pregnant, the outcome of that pregnancy depends on many things—including a crucial event that happened while she was still growing inside her own mother's womb. It depends on the quality of the egg cells that were already forming inside her fetal ovaries. The DNA-containing chromosomes in those cells must be cut, spliced and sorted perfectly. In males, the same process produces sperm in the testes but occurs only after puberty. /news/2025-09-molecular-discovery-reveals-chromosomes-generation.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 24 Sep 2025 14:41:04 EDT news677943661 Research led by a physicist at the University of California, Riverside, shows how viruses form protective shells (capsids) around their genomes, a process that—while messy and complex—consistently results in highly symmetrical icosahedral structures. /news/2025-09-qa-viruses-symmetrical-shells.html Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 24 Sep 2025 14:00:05 EDT news677862661 Corn rootworms, pests responsible for billions of dollars in yearly crop losses, are evolving resistance that weakens even the latest biotechnology controls, according to a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. /news/2025-09-pest-resistance-threatens-corn-industry.html Biotechnology Agriculture Tue, 23 Sep 2025 17:09:04 EDT news677866142 An Australian research team has achieved an advanced materials breakthrough that opens the door to a new generation of nanodrug applications. From drug delivery, to diagnostics, to gene editing and beyond, the breakthrough has the potential to improve outcomes for patients around the world in coming decades. /news/2025-09-lipid-nanoparticles-complex-options-generation.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Tue, 23 Sep 2025 10:35:04 EDT news677842501 Turning genes on and off is like flipping a light switch, controlling whether genes in a cell are active. When a gene is turned on, the production of proteins or other substances is promoted; when it's turned off, production is suppressed. Korean researchers have gone beyond the limitations of existing CRISPR technology, which focused primarily on "off" functions, by developing the world's first innovative system that can simultaneously turn genes on and off, opening a new paradigm for the synthetic biology-based bio-industry. /news/2025-09-dual-mode-crispr-enables-simultaneous.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 22 Sep 2025 16:00:04 EDT news677774507 Previously unseen documents show how a poet performed a major ghostwriting job on the autobiography of the two British pioneers behind the world's first "test-tube baby," so that the book used emotional storytelling to aid public acceptance of a controversial medical technology. /news/2025-09-famous-ivf-memoir-hidden-ghostwriter.html Other Mon, 22 Sep 2025 13:26:36 EDT news677766390 The dodo has been extinct for more than 300 years, but that isn't stopping Dallas' Colossal Biosciences from trying to resurrect the 3-foot-tall, flightless bird. /news/2025-09-resurrection-dodo-bird-closer-colossal.html Plants & Animals Biotechnology Mon, 22 Sep 2025 09:27:33 EDT news677752048 Ant societies are built on scent. Pheromones guide the insects to food, warn them of predators, and regulate the rhythms of their colonies. This chemical communication system is governed by a simple rule: one receptor, one neuron. /news/2025-09-society-built-scent-ants-neurons.html Plants & Animals Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 19 Sep 2025 11:00:01 EDT news677430044 Between a third and half of all soil carbon on Earth is stored in peatlands, says Tom and Marie Patton Distinguished Professor Joel Kostka. These wetlands—formed from layers and layers of decaying plant matter—span from the Arctic to the tropics, supporting biodiversity and regulating global climate. /news/2025-09-microbes-wetland-reveals-earth-carbon.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 18 Sep 2025 14:15:04 EDT news677423701 A research team led by scientists from the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) has introduced a new way to fine-tune genetic material. Their study, published in Nature Biotechnology, describes an innovative technique in which chemical tags are attached directly to DNA, opening the door to new approaches in medicine, agriculture, and biotechnology. /news/2025-09-bacteria-defense-strategies-scientists-chemical.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 18 Sep 2025 11:57:04 EDT news677415421 When Ph.D. student Kshitiz Parihar began combing through dozens of research papers on two seemingly different topics—tumor mechanics and extracellular vesicles, tiny packages of proteins and genetic material secreted by cells—he noticed something surprising: the two fields were speaking to each other. /news/2025-09-bioengineers-explore-tumor-mechanics-tiny.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 18 Sep 2025 11:31:05 EDT news677413861 Genetic editing holds promise to treat incurable diseases, but the most popular method—CRISPR—sometimes does more harm than good. A new study from University of California San Diego and Yale University researchers highlights an innovative alternative approach that may be safer. The study was published in Nature Chemical Biology on Sept. 18, 2025. /news/2025-09-small-nuclear-rna-base-safer.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 18 Sep 2025 09:57:04 EDT news677408222