A team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology has investigated why the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster drinks alcohol and has shown that alcohol has a direct and positive effect on the mating success of male flies. This effect is due to the increased production of sex pheromones after alcohol consumption, which makes males that have consumed alcohol more attractive to females. Male flies are therefore strongly attracted to alcohol, especially when they are not yet mated. Three different neural circuits in the flies' brains control the response when the flies smell alcohol: While two olfactory receptors are responsible for attracting male flies to small amounts of alcohol, a third ensures that excessive amounts have a deterrent effect. Because alcohol is toxic, the flies must carefully weigh the risks and benefits of drinking alcohol.

A collaboration between chemical engineers and animal scientists has created a system for recovering valuable industrial chemicals from animal waste, representing a major step towards circularity and environmental sustainability.

A new study led by Prof. XU Cao’s team at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology (IGDB) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences sheds light on an adaptive strategy that may be pivotal in developing heat-resilient crop varieties amid escalating climate change.

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has launched the AI Small Molecule Drug Discovery Center, a bold endeavor that harnesses artificial intelligence (AI) to revolutionize drug development. The new Center will integrate AI with traditional drug discovery methods to identify and design new small-molecule therapeutics with unprecedented speed and precision. Unlike conventional drug discovery, which can take years and cost billions, AI-driven approaches enable researchers to rapidly navigate a vast chemical landscape, including natural products, to pinpoint promising drug candidates. By leveraging Mount Sinai’s world-leading expertise in machine learning, chemical biology, and biomedical data science, the Center aims to bring innovative treatments to patients faster—particularly for diseases with urgent unmet needs, including cancer, metabolic disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases.

 

A team of scientists have developed ‘fungi tiles’ that could one day help to bring the heat down in buildings without consuming energy. These wall tiles are made from a new biomaterial combining fungi's root network – called mycelium – and organic waste. Earlier research has shown that mycelium-bound composites are more energy efficient than conventional building insulation materials such as expanded vermiculite and lightweight expanded clay aggregate.

 

Building on this proven insulating property, the scientists add a bumpy, wrinkly texture to the tile, mimicking an elephant’s ability to regulate heat from its skin.