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

Biology

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 11-Oct-2025 19:11 ET (11-Oct-2025 23:11 GMT/UTC)

25-Aug-2025

A new tool to track infant development, starting at just 16 days old

Northwestern University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Developmental scientists and medical social science experts at Northwestern University have spearheaded the creation of the most recent NIH Toolbox, providing the newest nationally standardized assessment of cognitive, language, motor and social-emotional skill development in infants aged 16 days to 42 months.

The original NIH Toolbox, although widely implemented in clinical and research settings, was designed to measure children from 3 years of age through adulthood.

Journal: Infant Behavior and Development
Funder: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

25-Aug-2025

New method probes cancer cell messengers that weaken immune system

Purdue University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Certain types of biochemical processes can impair the immune system’s ability to recognize and kill cancer cells. Purdue University’s W. Andy Tao and his associates have developed a new way to study these processes. They demonstrated the validity of their method in experiments involving leukemia and rare liver cancer cell lines.

Tao and 10 co-authors published the details of their new method Aug. 1 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Their work provides a system for tracking and identifying the various types of proteins and an unheralded but widely secreted class of bioparticles called extracellular vesicles (EVs) that can compromise immunotherapy.

Journal: Journal of the American Chemical Society
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation, NIH/National Institutes of Health

25-Aug-2025

Flamingos reveal their secret to ageing

Tour du Valat
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Is ageing inevitable? While most living beings age, some do so more slowly than others. A new scientific study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) addresses a fascinating question: what if migration influences the way we age? To explore this mystery, scientists turned their attention to the pink flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus), a graceful migratory bird that is emblematic of the Camargue region of France.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

25-Aug-2025

Gene-diet interactions help regulate the body’s daily rhythms

Baylor College of Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

While scientists have long known that certain core genes help regulate circadian rhythms, a new study led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine reveals that there is an additional layer of regulation – diet interacts with an individual’s genetic makeup, influencing daily patterns of gene activity in the liver, especially those related to fat metabolism.

Journal: Cell Metabolism

25-Aug-2025

Scientists discover rare wasp species in the U.S. for the first time

Binghamton University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A research team including faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York have identified two previously unknown species of parasitic wasps living in the United States.

Journal: Journal of Hymenoptera Research

25-Aug-2025

Breakthrough in 3D-printed scaffolds offers hope for spinal cord injury recovery

University of Minnesota
Peer-Reviewed Publication

For the first time, a research team at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities demonstrated a groundbreaking process that combines 3D printing, stem cell biology, and lab-grown tissues for spinal cord injury recovery.

Journal: Advanced Healthcare Materials
Funder: NIH/National Institutes of Health, State of Minnesota Spinal Cord Injury and Traumatic BrainInjury Research Grant Program, International Spinal Cord Society

25-Aug-2025

Why repetitive DNA has an active role in the human brain

Lund University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

For decades, large stretches of human DNA were dismissed as “junk,” thought to serve no real purpose. In a new study in Cell Genomics, researchers at Lund University show that the repetitive part of the human genome plays an active role during early brain development and may also be relevant for understanding brain diseases.

Journal: Cell Genomics
Funder: Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s, Swedish Research Council, The Swedish Brain Foundation, Cancerfonden, Barncancerfonden, NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, The Swedish Society for Medical Resear, The Swedish Government Initiative for Strategic Research Areas (MultiPark & StemTherapy)