https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Engineers at the University of California have developed a new data structure and compression technique that enables the field of pangenomics to handle unprecedented scales of genetic information. The team, led by UC San Diego electrical and computer engineering professor Yatish Turakhia, describe their compressive pangenomics approach in Nature Genetics. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-compressed-technique-enables-pangenomics-scale.html Biotechnology Mon, 12 Jan 2026 14:16:21 EST news687449761 Detecting cancer in the earliest stages could dramatically reduce cancer deaths because cancers are usually easier to treat when caught early. To help achieve that goal, MIT and Microsoft researchers are using artificial intelligence to design molecular sensors for early detection. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-nanoparticles-ai-crafted-sensors-paths.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 06 Jan 2026 09:53:22 EST news686915581 A new study published in Nature on November 26 has shed light on the origins, population structures, and kinship systems of the people of Shimao—one of China's most significant late Neolithic settlements. Analyses of ancient DNA from individuals who inhabited the site reveal genetic links to southern settlements, while also providing evidence of male mass burials associated with human sacrifice. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-male-skulls-shimao-gate-rewrite.html Archaeology Fri, 28 Nov 2025 10:20:13 EST news683547601 Scientists have found wolf remains, thousands of years old, on a small, isolated island in the Baltic Sea—a place where the animals could only have been brought by humans. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-ancient-wolves-remote-baltic-sea.html Ecology Mon, 24 Nov 2025 15:00:10 EST news683197261 As humans age, we become more vulnerable to cancer and other diseases. Bowhead whales, however, can live for up to 200 years while staying remarkably disease resistant. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-bowhead-whales-secret-life-protein.html Plants & Animals Wed, 29 Oct 2025 13:05:05 EDT news680961901 By making the world's microbial DNA easier to explore, a new sequence alignment tool, LexicMap, lets scientists search for a DNA sequence against millions of bacterial and archaeal genomes in minutes, helping researchers track outbreaks, study antibiotic resistance, and understand microbial diversity. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-sequence-alignment-algorithm-enables-rapid.html Biotechnology Tue, 30 Sep 2025 11:59:03 EDT news678452341 Climate change is drying landscapes and raising temperatures faster than many species can adapt. A research paper from Colorado State University offers a rare empirical look at how these pressures are already reshaping wildlife through the lens of the yellow warbler—a common migratory bird. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-yellow-warbler-lens-response-rapid.html Plants & Animals Mon, 29 Sep 2025 15:00:06 EDT news678375961 One of the great challenges of ecology is to understand the factors that maintain, or undermine, diversity in ecosystems, researchers write in a new report in the journal Science. The researchers detail their development of a new model that—using a tree census and genomic data collected from multiple species in a forest—can predict future fluctuations in the relative abundance of those species. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-genomics-tree-accurately-forest-future.html Ecology Thu, 18 Sep 2025 14:00:01 EDT news677405761 A research team led by Professor Simona Giunta at the University of Rome La Sapienza has produced the first reference-quality genome assembly of an experimentally relevant human cell line, the widely used retinal pigment epithelial line RPE-1. The work, published in Nature Communications, marks a milestone in functional genomics by providing a matched, high-quality genome for one of biology's most important model systems. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-quality-genome-widely-rpe-human.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 15 Sep 2025 15:58:04 EDT news677170682 The icy world of Antarctica might not be enticing to us, but it's bustling with microscopic life. Scientists recently got a detailed glimpse at the genetics of a diverse range of microorganisms hidden beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS), and they have a story to share. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-genomes-uncover-extraordinary-survive-microbes.html Ecology Wed, 10 Sep 2025 09:50:02 EDT news676716235 A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals that smaller islands within the Wallacea biodiversity hotspot are crucial refuges for endangered vertebrates, providing higher-quality habitats and supporting populations. These findings challenge conventional conservation approaches and emphasize the importance of prioritizing habitat management on these smaller landmasses. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-smaller-islands-crucial-refuge-endangered.html Evolution Wed, 25 Jun 2025 16:00:04 EDT news670086002 Animals, from worms and sponges to jellyfish and whales, contain anywhere from a few thousand to tens of trillions of nearly genetically identical cells. Depending on the organism, these cells arrange themselves into a variety of tissues and organs, such as the gut, muscles, and sensory systems. While not all animals have each of these tissues, they do all have one tissue, the germline, that produces sperm or eggs to propagate the species. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-cells-complex-creatures-animal-multicellularity.html Evolution Tue, 17 Jun 2025 11:00:02 EDT news669283171 Research conducted by Filip Kolář of the Faculty of Science, Charles University, and Patrick Meirmans of the University of Amsterdam has revealed that genome duplication (polyploidization)—a process playing a key role in plant evolution and breeding—has a significant but inconsistent impact on the ecological requirements of individual species. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-evolutionary-environments-colonized-genome.html Evolution Mon, 16 Jun 2025 11:03:04 EDT news669290582 Imagine looking at thousands of scattered puzzle pieces and trying to guess what picture they create. Without any reference point, it's nearly impossible. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-chaos-clarity-tool-complex-cell.html Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 22 May 2025 15:27:18 EDT news667146431 Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have found that the critically endangered regent honeyeater faces hidden genetic risks while still retaining relatively high genetic diversity, risks that become apparent when combining genomic data across time with ecological modeling. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-assumptions-genomic-diversity-illusions-population.html Ecology Thu, 27 Mar 2025 09:33:14 EDT news662286784 A new study identifying genetic factors contributing to bovine tuberculosis (bTB) susceptibility could represent an important step in the fight against the disease in cattle, and the zoonotic threat it poses to humans. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-susceptibility-bovine-tuberculosis-cattle-key.html Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 24 Mar 2025 14:50:04 EDT news662046601 It is a deep question, from deep in our history: when did human language as we know it emerge? A new survey of genomic evidence suggests our unique language capacity was present at least 135,000 years ago. Subsequently, language might have entered social use 100,000 years ago. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-genomic-capacity-language-emerged-years.html Evolution Fri, 14 Mar 2025 08:41:05 EDT news661160462 Pangolins are unique as they are the only mammal to be covered in scales. Even though they are scaly, photos of them are typically met with "awwws" from the viewers, who find them adorable. Importantly, though, pangolins play an essential role in maintaining their ecosystem. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-celebrating-world-pangolin-day-genomes.html Plants & Animals Fri, 14 Feb 2025 09:01:00 EST news658746048 The octopus just revealed another one of its secrets: what determines its sex. University of Oregon researchers have identified a sex chromosome in the California two-spot octopus. This chromosome has likely been around for 480 million years, since before octopuses split apart from the nautilus on the evolutionary tree. That makes it one of the oldest known animal sex chromosomes. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-octopuses-oldest-sex-chromosomes.html Plants & Animals Mon, 03 Feb 2025 11:00:01 EST news657794581 Researchers from the German Max Planck Institutes of Geoanthropology and Biology Tübingen use genomic data to study the decline in genetic diversity in the Amazon Basin, particularly in Brazil Nut trees. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-genomic-analyses-reveal-human-vital.html Ecology Fri, 24 Jan 2025 11:00:03 EST news656924702 Researchers have introduced Annotatability—a powerful new framework to address a major challenge in biological research by examining how artificial neural networks learn to label genomic data. Genomic datasets often contain vast amounts of annotated samples, but many of these samples are annotated either incorrectly or ambiguously. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-framework-tracks-ai-decode-complex.html Biotechnology Mon, 06 Jan 2025 11:58:04 EST news655387081 An international team of virologists, mammalian ecologists and zoologists has uncovered the evolutionary origins of the hepatitis E virus. In their study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group analyzed genomic data for multiple viral hosts. https://phys.org/news/2024-12-uncovering-evolutionary-hepatitis-virus.html Evolution Fri, 13 Dec 2024 10:34:39 EST news653308476 Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Toronto have developed a new k-mer sketching metagenomic profiler, called sylph, that allows scientists to analyze genomic data more quickly and precisely than other profilers. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-metagenomic-profiling-method-precision-resources.html Biotechnology Wed, 13 Nov 2024 16:25:03 EST news650737501 The most recognizable yellow jacket at Georgia Tech is made of fabric and foam, but Professor Mike Goodisman and a team of researchers revealed a far more complex cellular structure by successfully sequencing the genome of two local species of yellow jacket wasps—Vespula squamosa (the southern yellow jacket) and Vespula maculifrons (the eastern yellow jacket). https://phys.org/news/2024-10-genome-sequencing-yellow-jacket-behavior.html Plants & Animals Wed, 16 Oct 2024 14:21:03 EDT news648307261 A new climate change prediction tool provides insight into population-level vulnerability to global change through combining genomic, geographic and environmental data. The toolbox, published in the journal in Methods in Ecology and Evolution, will enable researchers and conservation practitioners to understand and predict how global environmental change may impact wildlife populations by integrating genomic, geographic and environmental data. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-toolbox-global-impact-wildlife.html Ecology Tue, 08 Oct 2024 10:47:14 EDT news647603227 Scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine in Qatar (WCM-Q) have created an intricate molecular map of the human body and its complex physiological processes based on the analysis of thousands of molecules in blood, urine and saliva samples from 391 volunteers. The data was integrated to create a powerful, interactive visual web-based tool called Connecting Omics (COmics) that can be used to investigate the complex molecular make-up of humans and discover underlying traits associated with various diseases. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-human-molecular-contributes-disease-mechanisms.html Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 11 Sep 2024 16:20:29 EDT news645290422 Aotearoa New Zealand's flightless parrot, the kākāpō, evolved two different color types to potentially help them avoid detection by a now-extinct apex predator, Lara Urban at Helmholtz AI, Germany and colleagues from the Aotearoa New Zealand Department of Conservation and the Māori iwi Ngāi Tahu, report in the open-access journal PLOS Biology. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-zealand-kkp-feather-evade-predatory.html Plants & Animals Tue, 10 Sep 2024 14:00:01 EDT news645175742 Since the catastrophic pandemics of the Middle Ages, one disease has almost proverbially symbolized contagion and death: the plague. It is now known that the plague bacterium Yersinia pestis has been present in Central and Northern Europe for more than 5,000 years. However, it is still uncertain whether it also led to pandemics and mass deaths in its early forms. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-neolithic-bones-reveal-isolated-yersinia.html Evolution Fri, 06 Sep 2024 13:38:04 EDT news644848680 An international team of researchers, led by scientists from the University of Copenhagen and University of Toronto, analyzed beluga whale bones retrieved from archaeological sites in the Mackenzie Delta, Northwest Territories, Canada, to shed light on the sustainability of centuries of Inuvialuit beluga whale subsistence harvests. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-characterizing-impact-years-inuvialuit-subsistence.html Ecology Wed, 14 Aug 2024 12:43:02 EDT news642858181 A Mississippi State faculty member's work on plant life symbiosis—a mutually beneficial relationship between living organisms—is pushing back against the newer theory of "single-origin"—that all life stems from one point—instead suggesting "multiple-origin" theory which opens a better understanding for genetically engineering crops. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-symbiosis-exposes-theories-experimental-life.html Evolution Wed, 29 May 2024 17:27:03 EDT news636222422