Researchers from the EHU-University of the Basque Country have developed a robust protocol to detect the molecules involved in the metabolic reactions of sperm. The new method enables a detailed analysis to be made even with small samples, and the largest number of potential biomarkers identified to date to be detected; this advance could help to diagnose male infertility and develop future clinical solutions.

Markers of a new mechanism for cell death, called karyoptosis, have been found in brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

Cells can spontaneously change shape even without external signals, but the underlying mechanisms behind this form of self-organization have remained unclear. Now, researchers from Japan have discovered self-propelled treadmilling actin filaments (SpTAs), mobile protein assemblies that function as self-propelled particles. Their study shows that even though SpTAs move randomly, they push the cell membrane outward and accumulate to grow protrusions, thereby defining the overall shape of the cell.

A research team at the Ruhr University Bochum Department of Molecular and Cellular Botany (Germany), led by Professor Christopher Grefen, has uncovered how plants form the tiny pores on their leaves responsible for gas exchange and water regulation. The scientists identified the two lipid-modifying enzymes GELP80 and GELP100 as deciding factors for the formation of functional stomata. The results were published in the journal The Plant Cell on May 26, 2026. They provide fresh insight into the mechanics of plant development and could, in the long term, help make crops more resistant to drought.

Research has revealed how bacteria rely on circadian clocks to control the spread of their multi-cellular colonies.

The findings provide important clues as to how we might improve soil health and plant growth. They may also help to explain how some bacteria spread hospital-acquired infections.

As temperatures soar across the Northern Hemisphere, a free tool lets anyone, anywhere check how dangerous the heat really is for their sport and decide whether it is safe to play.

Scientists from the University of Copenhagen, the University of the Witwatersrand, the National Geographic Society’s Rising Star project and 13 collaborating global institutions found no signs of any biological males within the group of Homo naledi remains tested, offering intriguing insights into potential cultural behaviours that may have existed before Homo sapiens.