Scientists have pinpointed crucial genetic resistance to a fungal disease that threatens the global banana supply in a wild subspecies of the fruit. In a valuable step forward for banana breeding programs, Dr. Andrew Chen and Professor Elizabeth…
Category: 5. Biology
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Genetic discovery offers hope for global banana farming
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When fluctuations shape biodiversity: A minimalist model explains why 'rarity' is so common
An ecosystem is not a still life. Even where everything looks stable—a woodland, a lake, the soil—the internal “bookkeeping” keeps changing: how many individuals belong to which species, and for how long. Some populations expand, others…
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Giant DNA viruses encode their own eukaryote-like translation machinery, researchers discover
In a new study, published in Cell, researchers describe a newfound mechanism for creating proteins in a giant DNA virus, comparable to a mechanism in eukaryotic cells. The finding challenges the dogma that viruses lack protein synthesis…
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Did Life Begin in the Cold? New Experiments Point to an Icy Origin
Experiments reveal that unsaturated lipid membranes promote vesicle fusion and DNA retention during freeze–thaw cycles, highlighting icy environments as potential drivers of protocell evolution. Today’s cells are extraordinarily intricate….
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Beyond Mendel: Researchers call for a new understanding of genetics
For more than a century, Mendelian genetics has shaped how we think about inheritance: one gene, one trait. It is a model that still echoes through textbooks—and one that is increasingly reaching its limits. In a perspective article published…
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'Ridiculous' plan developed at Florida zoo saves wild rhino's eyesight in Africa
Corralling a wild rhinoceros into a small chute to give it eyedrops might seem like a crazy plan. But if it’s crazy and it works, then it’s not crazy.
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Quantum-level effects in biology: Weak magnetic fields and isotopes can alter cell protein structures
A novel method to manipulate the inner structure of cells connects several scientific fields and could represent a significant step in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Travis Craddock,…
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Digital forestry team combines AI with satellite data to monitor urban trees
A Purdue University digital forestry team has created a computational tool to obtain and analyze urban tree inventories on public and private lands with record-breaking speed at an unprecedented scale. The team accomplished the feat by developing…
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Turtles' brains shed light on evolutionary developments dating back hundreds of millions of years
A new study from the School of Neurobiology, Biochemistry, and Biophysics reveals a surprising insight into the operation of the ancestral brain: the visual cortex of turtles is capable of detecting unexpected visual stimuli in a way that is…
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Chiral myosin steers actin into stable rotating rings without a template, study finds
Living cells are highly organized, yet they are not assembled using rigid blueprints or by following a predetermined plan. Instead, order emerges on its own from countless interactions between molecules that are constantly moving and rearranging….
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