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Biology

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 6-Jun-2026 16:16 ET (6-Jun-2026 20:16 GMT/UTC)

New sensors lower the cost of studying genetic disorders

North Carolina State University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers have demonstrated a new class of low-cost, scalable sensors that can be used to monitor electrical activity in human cerebral organoids. Because electrical signals are key to understanding brain function, this advance facilitates research into both neurodevelopment and genetic disorders such as Angelman syndrome.

Journal: npj Biosensing
Funder: Foundation for Angelman Syndrome Therapeutics

New tool makes gene regulation easier to study—and tweak

Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Understanding how genes are switched on and off in specific cell types remains one of biology’s central challenges. While AI has made major progress in decoding the regulatory logic of DNA, applying these approaches across datasets, tissues, and species has remained difficult. In a new Nature Methods paper, a research team led by Prof. Stein Aerts (VIB & KU Leuven) presents CREsted, a software package that enables both the analysis and design of gene regulatory elements in a systematic and scalable way.

Journal: Nature Methods
Funder: Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, ERC, Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Research Foundation Flanders - FWO, Foundation Against Cancer

Characteristics of CD4+T-cell reduction and pulmonary infections in critically ill immunocompromised patients

Journal of Intensive Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In this study, we revealed the pulmonary pathogen profiles of immunosuppressed ICU patients based on CD4⁺T-cell counts: the severe group showed a predominance of fungal/rare infections, whereas in the moderate group, bacterial infections were prevalent, often involving oral commensals. These findings underscore the potential of immune-status stratification to guide more precise empirical antimicrobial therapy. Future large-scale, multicenter studies are warranted to validate these associations and their impact on clinical outcomes.

Journal: Journal of Intensive Medicine

Microscopic coils and coffee trees lead to an amazing new fungal discovery

Pensoft Publishers
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Two previously unknown species of fungi, Neohelicomyces coffeae and Neohelicomyces puerensis, have been found living on dead coffee plant branches in China. These belong to a group called Neohelicomyces, known for their unique, coiled shapes that look like tiny springs or spirals under a microscope. While many fungi in this group have been found in the wild, this study is significant because it explores how these organisms exist within agricultural environments, specifically in coffee-growing regions.

Journal: MycoKeys

Nipah virus hijacks host protein NSUN2 to fuel replication

Higher Education Press
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology have decoded a critical survival strategy of the deadly Nipah virus (NiV), identifying a key host protein hijacked by the pathogen and translating this discovery into a promising new treatment approach. The work, published in Protein & Cell, addresses the urgent need for therapies against this high-mortality virus, for which no specific drugs currently exist.

Journal: Protein & Cell

Cell lineage tracing reveals early‑segregated germline in plants

Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters
Peer-Reviewed Publication

To determine whether Weismann's germ plasm theory is applicable to plants, researchers from Dr. QIAN Wenfeng's lab at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology (IGDB) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences tested the theory in Arabidopsis.

Journal: Current Biology

How can science support and enable the High Seas Treaty?

University of Plymouth
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study published in the journal npj Ocean Sustainability says while there has been considerable research into the international policy implications of implementing the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) agreement, often known as the High Seas Treaty there has until now been a lack of information on how science can play its role in delivering the objectives.

Journal: npj Ocean Sustainability
Funder: Natural Environment Research Council

The tumor microbiota: A new frontier in cancer biology

CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Recent research shows that tumors in different organs host microbial communities capable of influencing cancer biology, immune responses, and the effectiveness of therapies, highlighting the need to standardize methods for studying intratumoral microbes.

Journal: Cancer Cell

International team takes first steps in mapping wheat biology at single-cell resolution

Murdoch University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An international consortium of more than 80 researchers from over 30 institutions across nine countries is calling for a coordinated, worldwide effort to map gene expression across every cell type and developmental stage of wheat.

Journal: Nature Genetics
Funder: Key Research and Development Program of Zhejiang Province, Australian Research Council, Grains Research and Development Corporation, WA Agricultural Research Collaboration, Biological Breeding National Science and Technology Major Project, National Key Research and Development Program of China

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