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Biology

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 20-Oct-2026 00:17 ET (20-Oct-2026 04:17 GMT/UTC)

Skin has a sex: females and males do not renew their skin in the same way

Université libre de Bruxelles
Peer-Reviewed Publication

By filming skin stem cells in living mice over five months, researchers at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), in collaboration with the University of Cambridge, have discovered that in females these cells renew the skin in a more coordinated way than in males.

Journal: Nature

Two paths to healthier soils: Scientists reveal how straw and biochar store carbon differently

Biochar Editorial Office, Shenyang Agricultural University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Soils are among the planet's largest carbon reservoirs, yet salinity and land degradation threaten their ability to store carbon and support agriculture. Improving carbon storage in salt-affected farmland could therefore offer a dual benefit: restoring soil health while supporting climate change mitigation.

Journal: Biochar

Analysis of Italian paintings reveals the cultural and culinary significance of the thorny oyster, combining with other historical texts and testimonies to uncover its "forgotten history"

PLOS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Analysis of Italian paintings reveals the cultural and culinary significance of the thorny oyster, combining with other historical texts and testimonies to uncover its "forgotten history"

Journal: PLOS One

Brief contact with healthy corals can transfer healthy symbiotic algae to bleached ones

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Coral bleaching occurs when heat stress from warm ocean waters causes corals to expel their symbiotic dinoflagellate algae, and is a major cause of global coral reef decline. Now, Daniel Collins and colleagues have demonstrated that brief physical contact between healthy and bleached coral can restore algae to the bleached coral, leading to their full recovery. Just one week – and sometimes as little as three days – is enough to trigger this transformation. The algal recovery time is an order of magnitude faster than most recovery times in the wild, which in some cases can be too slow to prevent reef death. Collins et al. show that the algal transfer happens via tissue fusion between the corals, and as a result, the procedure is only successful for corals from the same genetic background (or genet). The researchers found that symbiont algae transfer via the uptake of polyps occurs upon contact in both same-genet and mixed-genet pairings, “revealing an additional, slower pathway for symbiont transfer that is insufficient on its own to support colony recovery,” they write. They note that the next step will be to see whether these contact-based recovery strategies can be applied in the field at the scale of natural coral reefs.

Journal: Science Advances

Plant cell receptor balances signals from food and foe

Salk Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Salk scientists find a receptor called SRF3 that manages cellular iron levels while simultaneously regulating the plant’s immune response. Discovery reveals previously unknown mechanism that allows plants both to absorb this essential nutrient and defend against microbes, informing future crop resilience efforts. Study also provides insights into cellular mechanisms that could be relevant in mammalian cells and key signaling proteins in cancer and beyond.

Journal: Science Advances

University of Cincinnati study shows proof-of-concept for hydrocephalus gene therapy

University of Cincinnati
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A proof-of-concept study led by UC’s Agnes (Yu) Luo, PhD, and collaborators at UC Davis shows that an adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy can reduce hydrocephalus-associated tissue damage in animal models, pointing to a potential new treatment strategy.

Journal: Fluids and Barriers of the CNS

Erika Cyphert, Ph.D., of the University of California San Diego receives 2026 Sagol Network Geromic Award for Junior Faculty

American Federation for Aging Research
Grant and Award Announcement

The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2026 Sagol Network GerOmic Award for Junior Faculty: Erika Cyphert, PhD, Assistant Professor of Shu Chien-Gene Lay Bioengineering Department, Jacobs School of Engineering, University of California San Diego. Established in 2020, the Sagol Network GerOmic Award for Junior Faculty is a one- to two-year award of $160,000 given to junior faculty (MDs and PhDs) to conduct aging-related Omics (GerOmics) research.

Newly discovered viruses reveal an evolutionary missing link

University of Miami
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Using AI-powered tools and vast DNA databases, University of Miami researchers identified previously unknown viruses that offer new clues about the origins of life.

Journal: Nature Communications

Early tetrapods had surprisingly little ability to move their necks

Uppsala University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new model has made it possible to estimate how the backbones of some of the first animals on land could and could not move using sturgeon as a material analogue. These results disprove a long-standing hypothesis that changes in early tetrapod anatomy as they moved onto land gave them improved neck mobility. The study, led by a researcher at Uppsala University, formerly of Carleton University in Canada, has been published in the journal Nature.

Journal: Nature
Funder: The Steven Cohen Award for Student Research presented by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology & the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

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