EurekAlert! News by Subject: Biology - News by Subject: Biology

Biology

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 16-May-2025 10:09 ET (16-May-2025 14:09 GMT/UTC)

Threat of abrupt mortality events keeps endangered monkey population at risk, despite decades of growth

University of Wisconsin-Madison
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Despite the population being almost four times larger than it was in 1982, a new study published in the journal Ecology suggests the northern muriqui monkeys remain at risk, especially in the face of ongoing habitat disturbances.

Journal: Ecology

Detailed bedbug genome analysis may improve pesticides

University of Texas at Arlington
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Thanks to a new University of Texas at Arlington study published in the Journal of Heredity, scientists now have a better genetic understanding of the insect. The research offers an updated genome analysis of the common bedbug Cimex lectularius, providing new insight for those working to prevent bedbug infestation, develop remediation strategies and track pesticide resistance.

Journal: Journal of Heredity
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. National Science Foundation, University of Tulsa, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Joseph R. and Mary W. Wilson Urban Entomology Endowment

Landmark study using 21 years of New England Aquarium’s Marine Conservation Action Fund (MCAF) data finds small grants advance ocean conservation and equity

New England Aquarium
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A recently-published study in the journal Biological Conservation highlights how small grants can address ocean conservation challenges in a manner that promotes social equity.

Journal: Biological Conservation

Simple enrichment reduces boredom and boosts welfare in housed dairy cows

Understanding dairy cow behavior has been a hot topic of dairy science research in the last few decades. In a special issue of JDS Communications dedicated to behavior in dairy animals, a new study highlights the importance of environmental enrichment for improving the welfare of housed dairy cows. Researchers at the University of Nottingham found that introducing a simple novel object into the cows’ environment can significantly reduce boredom-associated behaviors, make the environment more engaging, and help the dairy science community better understand the effects of housing on behavior.

Bioengineered yeast microbes as targeted drug delivery systems

National University of Singapore, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (NUS Medicine) have developed a groundbreaking way to engineer yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) to create microbial communities that can perform complex tasks and self-regulate their composition in response to external signals.

Journal: Nature Communications

Human civilization at a critical junction between authoritarian collapse and superabundance

System Shift Lab
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new scientific study published in the journal Foresight concludes that human civilisation is on the brink of the next ‘giant leap’ in evolution. However, progress could be thwarted by centralised far-right political projects such as the incoming Donald Trump administration.

"Industrial civilisation is facing 'inevitable' decline as it is replaced by what could turn out to be a far more advanced ‘postmaterialist’ civilisation based on distributed superabundant clean energy. The main challenge is that industrial civilisation is facing such rapid decline that this could derail the emergence of a new and superior 'life-cycle' for the human species", commented Dr Nafeez Ahmed, author of the paper, member of The Club of Rome, member of the Earth4All Transformational Economics Commission and Distinguished Fellow at the Schumacher Institute for Sustainable Systems.

Journal: foresight

The Crop Journal study uncovers impact of excess sugar on seed production in genetically modified rice

KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers in China achieve a deeper understanding of the reduction of healthy seeds in highly photosynthetic rice crops

Journal: The Crop Journal