Long-term exposure to low levels of a common agricultural pesticide can accelerate physiological aging and shorten lifespan in fish — a finding from new research led by University of Notre Dame biologist Jason Rohr with potentially far-reaching implications for environmental regulations and human health.

Cells must continually adjust their protein composition, which includes protein synthesis as well as degradation. Most regulated protein degradation is executed by the ubiquitin–proteasome system (UPS), in which proteins are tagged with ubiquitin and routed to a protein-shredder called proteasome. The enzyme E3 ligase plays a key role here by acting as a “broker” that mediates the labeling of the proteins to be degraded. A research team at Goethe University Frankfurt has now made the first systematic catalog and relationship map of all human E3 ligases and identified 40 of them as potential key players in emerging drug classes such as PROTACs, which are used, for example, to treat cancer.

A new study shows that viruses in wild bees are closely linked to the flowers they visit and the availability of floral resources across the landscape. Researchers found that certain floral communities increase the likelihood of virus presence, and that flowers can serve as hubs for virus transmission between wild bees and honey bees. The findings suggest that pollinator conservation efforts must consider disease dynamics alongside habitat restoration.

Protein scientists could improve reproducibility and coordination across the field by adopting a small, shared set of “model proteins,” according to a new Perspective by Connecticut College chemist Marc Zimmer. Published in the 40th-anniversary issue of Protein Engineering, Design and Selection, the article proposes pairing widely used reference proteins with shared benchmarks, curated datasets and minimal reporting standards. Zimmer argues that the approach mirrors the success of model organisms and is especially timely as artificial intelligence accelerates protein design, increasing the need for comparable and reusable data.

Protein aggregates, damaged organelles, and invading bacteria are identified and removed in healthy cells. An international research team led by Professor Konstanze F. Winklhofer from the Institute of Biochemistry and Pathobiochemistry at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, has deciphered a critical mechanism underlying these processes, focusing on the protein optineurin. Malfunctions in this protein can lead to neurodegenerative diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or frontotemporal dementia. The researchers hope that their insights will lead to new approaches to treatment in the future. The study was published in the scientific magazine Advanced Science from December 17, 2025.

Whether in the gut, mouth, or on the skin, the human body is colonized by bacteria. Most of them are beneficial and we find distinct microbial communities at different body sites. A team led by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and King’s College London has now found strong evidence that bacteria from the mouth migrate to the gut in chronic liver disease and exacerbate the disease.

A selective protein degradation system known as Golgi membrane-associated degradation (GOMED), which identifies and removes unwanted proteins, has been delineated by researchers at Science Tokyo. This system works by tagging problematic proteins with a “molecular label” called K33-linked ubiquitin and using an adaptor protein, optineurin (OPTN), to guide them to GOMED structures for breakdown. These findings improve our understanding of cellular self-cleanup processes and may help in developing new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.

A Perspective by QST outlines a practical roadmap for “quantum life science,” spanning ultra‑sensitive diamond sensors in living cells, high-sensitivity hyperpolarized MRI for real‑time metabolism, and quantum effects that inspire new biotechnologies. The authors describe near‑term medical and industrial impacts—from precision diagnostics and drug discovery to efficient energy technologies—along with steps to scale these tools beyond specialized fields.