Latest Biology News & Discoveries: Cutting-Edge Research in Life Sciences - SciTechDaily

Why Do Some Men Not Produce Sperm?

Stowers Institute for Medical Research — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 23:16:42 +0000

Scientists at Stowers Institute collaborate to discover an underlying cause of male infertility. Infertility affects countless couples globally, and in half of these cases, the...

Brain’s Reward Pathway Unlocked: Revealing the Secrets of the Dopaminergic System

IMBA - Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 10:00:11 +0000

Breakthrough organoid model replicates essential neural network. A new organoid model of the dopaminergic system sheds light on its intricate functionality and potential implications for...

Tiny Titans of the Sea: Scientists Discover Two New Species of Pygmy Squids

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Graduate University — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 07:21:59 +0000

In the coastal waters of the Okinawa Islands, researchers have discovered two species of cephalopods, named in honor of traditional Japanese folklore. The underwater landscapes...

New Study Reveals Calcium’s Crucial Role in Cleansing Dead Cells

Kyoto University — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 06:32:04 +0000

Scientists have found that extracellular calcium mediates the activation of a membrane protein that waves the flag signaling cell death. A research team co-led by...

Ancient Bloodsuckers Revealed: Male Mosquitoes Fed on Blood Too

Cell Press — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 20:39:37 +0000

Researchers have unearthed the oldest fossil mosquitoes in Lebanese amber, showing that ancient male mosquitoes were likely blood-feeders. This finding from the Lower Cretaceous period...

Ancient Predators, Modern Mysteries: Mapping the Crocodile’s Evolutionary Path

University of York — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 16:05:18 +0000

Researchers have mapped the family tree of crocodiles and their extinct relatives to shed new light on why there are so few species of the...

CRISPR’s Hidden Universe: FLSHclust Algorithm Unlocks Secret Gene Modules

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 13:15:06 +0000

Researchers using the new FLSHclust algorithm discovered 188 unique CRISPR-linked gene modules, including a novel type VII CRISPR-Cas system, in a massive protein database. This...

Penguins’ Survival Secrets – Scientists Uncover Bizarre 4-Second Sleep Strategy

American Association for the Advancement of Science — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 06:28:38 +0000

In the wild chinstrap penguins engage in a unique sleep pattern, obtaining more than 11 hours of rest each day– but not all at once....

Shocking Revelation: Bottlenose Dolphins’ Electric Sense Uncovered

The Company of Biologists — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 00:37:20 +0000

Bottlenose dolphins’ electric sense could help them navigate the globe. Born tail first, bottlenose dolphin calves emerge equipped with two slender rows of whiskers along...

Scarier Than Lions – Animals Around the World Fear This “Super Predator”

University of Western Ontario — Sun, 03 Dec 2023 22:17:26 +0000

A new study reveals that elephants, rhinos, giraffes, and other wildlife fear this predator far more than lions. Lions have long been regarded as the...

Tectonic Tales of Life: How Geology Has Influenced Evolution for the Past 500 Million Years

University of Sydney — Sun, 03 Dec 2023 11:53:48 +0000

Recent research reveals a striking correlation to how life evolved over 500 million years. The movement of rivers, mountains, oceans, and sediment nutrients at the...

Brain Not Required: Brittle Stars Showcase Surprising Learning Abilities

Duke University — Sun, 03 Dec 2023 04:02:25 +0000

Brainless brittle stars are capable of learning through experience, as demonstrated in new research. They exhibit classical conditioning by associating darkness with feeding, a significant...

MIT Revolutionizes Cellular Imaging: A New Way To See the Activity Inside a Living Cell

Anne Trafton, Massachusetts Institute of Technology — Sat, 02 Dec 2023 23:13:15 +0000

Using fluorescent labels that switch on and off, MIT engineers can study how molecules in a cell interact to control the cell’s behavior. Living cells...

Unveiling Earth’s Hidden World: Scientists Map Vast Subsurface Microbial Universe

Northwestern University — Sat, 02 Dec 2023 05:40:28 +0000

A former goldmine serves as a gateway to explore microbial life deep within the Earth’s crust. If you totaled the mass of all microbes dwelling...

Green Ancestors: Decoding the Secrets of 600 Million Years of Plant Life

University of Göttingen — Sat, 02 Dec 2023 00:24:31 +0000

A research team from Göttingen University leads an investigation into 10 billion RNA snippets to identify “hub genes.” The majority of the Earth’s land surface...

Sophisticated Microbial Metropolis: Revealing Bacterial Teamwork Across Generations

University of Basel — Fri, 01 Dec 2023 17:22:10 +0000

When bacteria build communities, they cooperate and share nutrients across generations. Researchers at the University of Basel have now successfully demonstrated this for the first...

Ultrasound – A New Way To Get Rid of Toxic “Forever Chemicals”

Tatyana Woodall, Ohio State University — Fri, 01 Dec 2023 06:56:56 +0000

The new method breaks up dangerous chemicals into harmless substances. New findings indicate that ultrasound technology could be effective in treating per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances...

Microscopic Arms Race: Solving the Mystery Behind Bacteria’s Extensive Weaponry

University of Oxford — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 16:00:25 +0000

A new study led by the University of Oxford has shed light on why certain species of bacteria carry astonishing arsenals of weapons. The findings,...

Unmasking Nature’s Dark Secret: Are Hosts Addicted to Their Microbiome?

Cell Press — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 15:05:01 +0000

We’ve long understood that hosts experience malfunctions in the absence of their microbiome, which can occur due to a lack of certain microbial species or...

Hunger Games: How Gut Hormones Hijack the Brain’s Decision Desk

University College London — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 22:23:26 +0000

Researchers have found that hunger hormones in the gut directly affect the brain’s hippocampus, influencing eating decisions. This discovery, made through a study on mice,...

Killer Whale Conundrum: Why Are Orcas Harassing and Killing Porpoises Without Eating Them?

University of California - Davis — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 22:49:13 +0000

Scientists investigate a perplexing behavior. For many years, scientists have been puzzled by the behavior of Pacific Northwest fish-eating killer whales, who have been seen...

CRISPR’s Hidden Treasures: 188 New Systems Unveiled by Smart Algorithm

Allessandra DiCorato, Broad Institute — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 00:57:38 +0000

By analyzing bacterial data, researchers have discovered thousands of rare new CRISPR systems that have a range of functions and could enable gene editing, diagnostics,...

Watch: How Hammerhead Sharks Get Their Hammer in Stunning Detail

University of Florida — Mon, 27 Nov 2023 19:53:35 +0000

For weeks, you’d be hard-pressed to tell if the rapidly growing animal was going to become a chicken, a fish, a frog, or even a...

Ancient Time Capsule: Scientists Discover DNA in 6-Million-Year-Old Turtle Shell

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute — Mon, 27 Nov 2023 14:54:39 +0000

There are seven existing species of sea turtles, with the genus Lepidochelys comprising two of them: the olive ridley and the Kemp’s ridley. Despite being...