Fruit flies, mice, zebrafish, yeast and the tiny worm C. elegans are model organisms that have carried modern biology on their backs.
Biotechnology
Mar 1, 2026
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81
Tiny insects trapped in amber could tell us a great deal about their roles in past ecosystems: pollinators, parasites, predators, and prey. But how many of the insects preserved alongside each other reflect interactions during ...
Ecology
Feb 27, 2026
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101
Whether people follow a general trend when choosing a partner or consciously decide against it has a noticeable impact on the diversity of phenotypes to choose from. This is shown by a new study by the University of Würzburg.
Evolution
Feb 24, 2026
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30
As you read this, the screen is probably flashing over 240 times per second, yet, as a human, you won't notice this flickering light. However, to a fruit fly hovering above your head, the screen would represent a strobe light ...
Evolution
Feb 24, 2026
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31
From summer evenings to global disease prevention, mosquito repellents are a daily defense for billions of people, yet until now, scientists didn't fully understand how mosquitoes themselves perceive these "keep away" signals. ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 24, 2026
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40
For decades, scientists viewed the genome of a newly fertilized egg as a structural "blank slate"—a disordered tangle of DNA waiting for the embryo to wake up and start reading its own genetic instructions. In research published ...
Biotechnology
Feb 24, 2026
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83
Love is in the air for the vinegar fly. Drosophila melanogaster has long been a model for understanding how brains translate sensory information into courtship behavior. Male flies perform a multitude of romantic actions—orienting, ...
Ecology
Feb 23, 2026
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12
Some time around 1683, amateur Dutch scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek scraped the plaque from between his teeth and peered at it through a home-made microscope.
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 18, 2026
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40
Researchers at Tokyo Metropolitan University have studied how fruit flies tune their development in response to environmental changes (diapause). Studying fruit fly strains from different latitudes across Japan, they showed ...
Ecology
Feb 16, 2026
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13
Multicellularity is one of the most profound phenomena in biology, and relies on the ability of a single cell to reorganize itself into a complex organism. It underpins the diversity in the animal kingdom, from insects to ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 12, 2026
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20
