Biobots are fascinating tiny self-powered living robots built exclusively using frog embryonic cells. Developed in the laboratories of Wyss Institute Associate Faculty member and Tufts University Professor Michael Levin and his collaborators, they are remarkably motile, moving autonomously through aqueous environments, and exhibit other exciting properties, including the ability to self-replicate and respond to sound stimuli. 

Now, Levin’s team endowed biobots with a nervous system by creating the first “neurobots.” Their new study shows that novel types of nervous systems self-organize within neurobots, with neuronal processes extending in between neurons as well as towards non-neuronal cells lining the surface of the bots. The study is published in Advanced Science.

Coyotes may be building dens and having litters of pups near you, according to new research from the University of Georgia. But chances are you won’t see them — even if they are denning right next door.

The new international Dream Biology Award invites young scientists to present bold scientific visions in the life sciences. The competition, launched by the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IOCB Prague), recognizes original ideas with the potential to significantly advance biological research and deliver meaningful benefits to society. Projects submitted to the competition are expected to be more ambitious than typical ERC or NIH grant proposals. In addition to a unique handcrafted Bohemian glass trophy symbolizing the essence and evolving nature of life, the winner will receive a €10,000 prize.

New molecular insights into the link between hepatocellular carcinoma and intratumoral fibrosis could lead to better treatment strategies, report researchers from Institute of Science Tokyo. Through a comprehensive analysis involving clinical data and in vitro and in vivo experiments, they revealed that the SPP1–CD44–Hedgehog signaling pathway is a key driver of fibrosis in liver tumors, hinting at its potential as a therapeutic target.

Researchers discovered the mechanism behind a decades-old evolutionary mystery—how “selfish chromosomes” cheat the rules of genetic inheritance. The study is the first to identify the Ovd gene acts as a quality control checkpoint during sperm development. Normally, Ovd detects and eliminates abnormal sperm cells. But selfish chromosomes exploit the system to kill competitors, boosting their chances of passing into the next generation. The findings reveal the biology behind segregation distortion, a phenomenon in which genes sway inheritance in their favor to beat the standard 50/50 odds predicted by Mendelian genetics.