https://phys.org/biology-news/ en-us Read the latest science news from Phys.org on biology, evolution, microbiology, biotechnology Artificial intelligence continues to squirm its way into many aspects of our lives. But what about biology, the study of life itself? AI can sift through hundreds of thousands of genome data points to identify potential new therapeutic targets. While these genomic insights may appear helpful, scientists aren't sure how today's AI models come to their conclusions in the first place. Now, a new system named SQUID arrives on the scene, armed to pry open AI's black box of murky internal logic. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-tool-ai-genomics.html Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 21 Jun 2024 05:00:01 EDT news638112738 When a cell spreads out or changes its shape to adapt to its environment, the transport rate of proteins between the nucleus and cytoplasm changes. Previously, scientists assumed this change was caused by a shift in the size of the nuclear envelope's pores; however, recent research findings have discovered an alternate explanation. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-insights-cell-protein.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 16:02:03 EDT news638118121 University of Manchester scientists have linked one of the ways that cells respond to stressful conditions with restricted healthy hair growth. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-scientists-link-ancient-biology-restricted.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 15:18:03 EDT news638115481 Insecticide use is a major factor causing a decrease in the size and diversity of butterfly populations across the US Midwest, reports Braeden Van Deynze of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and colleagues in a study published June 20 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-insecticides-contribute-butterfly-species-midwest.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 14:00:02 EDT news638093342 Chimpanzees appear to consume plants with medicinal properties to treat their ailments, according to a study published on June 20 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Elodie Freymann from the University of Oxford, UK, and colleagues. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-wild-chimpanzees-medicinal-illness-injuries.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 14:00:02 EDT news638092921 New strains of yeast for brewing lager beers, created by hybridizing wild strains of yeast from Patagonia with brewer's yeast, can yield novel flavors and aromas, reports a new study by Jennifer Molinet and Francisco Cubillos of the Universidad de Santiago de Chile, published June 20 in the journal PLOS Genetics. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-wild-yeasts-patagonia-yield-flavors.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 14:00:02 EDT news638091421 A devastating hurricane transformed a monkey society by changing the pros and cons of interacting with others, new research shows. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-hurricane-game-monkey-society.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 14:00:02 EDT news638090481 Advanced technology tested nearly two years ago in the water treatment system that serves Toledo could prove valuable in efforts to protect the water that pours out of taps well beyond northwest Ohio, according to research published by The University of Toledo. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-advanced-algae-sensor-toledo-valuable.html Biotechnology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 12:02:04 EDT news638103721 A mechanism that could help scientists harness enzymes for use in drug discovery has been discovered in a research breakthrough at the University of Birmingham. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-uncover-enzyme-communication-mechanism-aid.html Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 11:42:03 EDT news638102521 Advances in organoids and embryonic models of human development have the potential to prompt social and existential questions—e.g., what defines human individuality? However, bioethicist Insoo Hyun of Harvard Medical School and the Museum of Science in Boston says that these models have the potential to strengthen rather than weaken the concept of human individuality when considered within the philosophical frameworks of "personhood" and sentience. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-embryo-organoid-threaten-definition-personhood.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 11:00:01 EDT news638094739 The discovery of a new, ancient, predatory reptile dubbed Parvosuchus aurelioi—part of a group of crocodile-like reptiles called pseudosuchians—in Brazil is described in a paper in Scientific Reports. The specimen, which dates to approximately 237 million years ago, during the Middle-Late Triassic, is the first small predatory reptile of its kind to be found in this country. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-small-ancient-crocodile-reptile-brazil.html Paleontology & Fossils Thu, 20 Jun 2024 11:00:01 EDT news638091182 Purdue University researchers are introducing a new biosensor technology to the agricultural industry inspired by advancements achieved during the COVID-19 pandemic. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-paper-based-biosensor-fast-easy.html Biotechnology Agriculture Thu, 20 Jun 2024 10:48:58 EDT news638099332 A team of medical researchers and infectious disease specialists affiliated with multiple institutions in China, working with a pair of colleagues, one from Singapore, the other from Canada, has found evidence bolstering theories that suggest as the planet warms, fungi could become more dangerous to humans. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-scientists-evidence-climate-fungi-dangerous.html Ecology Cell & Microbiology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 10:47:35 EDT news638099250 A new study presents video evidence that at least one species of terrestrial leech can jump, behavior that scientists have debated for more than a century. Researchers from the American Museum of Natural History, Fordham University, and City University of New York (CUNY)'s Medgar Evers College published the footage and corresponding analysis in the journal Biotropica. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-conclusive-video-evidence-terrestrial-leech.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 10:00:01 EDT news638090881 Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology report the discovery of at least six orders of endosymbiont Symbiodolus clandestinus, which lives inside insect cells. Using fluorescence in situ hybridization, they showed that Symbiodolus is present in all life stages and tissues of infected insects. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-hidden-partners-symbiodolus-bacteria-insect.html Ecology Cell & Microbiology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 09:32:38 EDT news638094754 What do you get when you cross Norse mythology with a 78-million-year-old ancestor to the Triceratops? Answer: Lokiceratops rangiformis, a plant-eating dinosaur with a very fancy set of horns. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-ornate-horns-ancient-marvel-lokiceratops.html Evolution Paleontology & Fossils Thu, 20 Jun 2024 08:00:01 EDT news638027641 Scientists have prototyped a new method for "rationally engineering" enzymes to deliver improved performance. They have devised an algorithm, which takes into account an enzyme's evolutionary history, to flag where mutations could be introduced with a high likelihood of delivering functional improvements. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-scientists-algorithm-enzymes.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 05:00:01 EDT news638014321 A demonstration of how new technologies can be used in 21st century crop breeding comes from just published research that combines laser scanning and 3D printing to create a detailed 3D model of a sugar beet plant. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-crops-laser-3d.html Biotechnology Agriculture Wed, 19 Jun 2024 20:00:01 EDT news638018983 An important breakthrough in efforts to halt the advance of wheat blast, an emerging threat to international food security, has come from a surprising source. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-unexpected-source-global-wheat-blast.html Molecular & Computational biology Agriculture Wed, 19 Jun 2024 12:29:03 EDT news638018941 An international team of scientists has recently found that non-native species are expanding their ranges many orders of magnitude faster than native ones, in large part due to inadvertent human help. Even seemingly sedentary non-native plants are moving at three times the speed of their native counterparts in a race where, because of the rapid pace of climate change and its effect on habitat, speed matters. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-native-animals-ranges-faster-species.html Plants & Animals Ecology Wed, 19 Jun 2024 12:15:03 EDT news638018101 People often underestimate tiny beings. But microscopic algal cells not only evolved to thrive in one of the most extreme habitats on Earth—glaciers—but are also shaping them. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-glacier-algae-evolution.html Evolution Cell & Microbiology Wed, 19 Jun 2024 11:59:04 EDT news638017141 A study published in the journal BioScience sheds light on the importance of gray wolves in the western United States. Led by William Ripple, a scientist at Oregon State University and the Conservation Biology Institute, the research delves into the implications of large predator absence on plant and animal communities, and ecosystem functions. It calls attention to "shifting baselines" wherein increasingly degraded conditions are viewed as reflecting the historical state of a system. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-illuminates-ecological-importance-gray-wolves.html Plants & Animals Ecology Wed, 19 Jun 2024 10:33:54 EDT news638012027 A team of researchers at the University of Zurich has discovered that plants benefit from a greater variety of interactions with pollinators and herbivores. Plants that are pollinated by insects and have to defend themselves against herbivores have evolved to be better adapted to different types of soil. The research is published in the journal Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-interaction-insects-evolution.html Evolution Ecology Wed, 19 Jun 2024 09:35:02 EDT news638008501 Looking under the microscope, a group of cells slowly moves forward in a line, like a train on the tracks. The cells navigate through complex environments. A new approach by researchers involving the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) now shows how they do this and how they interact with each other. The experimental observations and the following mathematical concept are published in Nature Physics. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-railroad-cells-simulations-cell-movement.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 19 Jun 2024 05:00:01 EDT news637940162 When trees and livestock compete for land, the trees usually lose. It doesn't have to be this way. But centrally designed plans to implement tree-livestock coexistence in deforested areas don't always work on faraway farmland. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-women-sustainable-livestock-farming-bordering.html Ecology Agriculture Tue, 18 Jun 2024 16:49:53 EDT news637948190 A new study from the Zaher Lab at Washington University in St. Louis, published in Molecular Cell, dives into the mechanisms behind the ways cells respond to stress. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-biologists-closer-stress-response-cells.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 18 Jun 2024 15:28:02 EDT news637943281 A team of zoologists and marine biologists affiliated with several institutions in Indonesia, working with a colleague from Germany, has discovered previously unknown instances of fluorescence in 27 marine creatures. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-team-biologists-fluorescence-marine-creatures.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 18 Jun 2024 12:50:01 EDT news637933494 Scientists have created a research framework to incorporate ecological theory—mathematical models and concepts to understand interactions and dynamics of ecosystems—into ecosystem management and planning to more effectively scale restoration and counter rising carbon dioxide emissions globally. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-harnessing-ecological-theory-successful-ecosystem.html Ecology Tue, 18 Jun 2024 12:06:04 EDT news637931161 While there is an increasing consensus among humans that corporal discipline of children does more harm than good, fish may disagree. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-fish-offspring.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 18 Jun 2024 11:53:03 EDT news637930382 The iconic marsupial can regulate its temperature to a greater degree than previously thought—but this could prove troublesome as global warming bites. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-koalas-hottest-days-summer.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 18 Jun 2024 11:35:03 EDT news637929301