Individual biological variation refers to the naturally occurring differences in measurable biological characteristics among individuals of the same species, arising from the interplay of genetic, epigenetic, developmental, and environmental factors. It encompasses intra-individual (within-person, over time) and inter-individual (between-person) variability in parameters such as gene expression, metabolic activity, immune responses, and physiological biomarkers. This process underlies differential susceptibility to disease, heterogeneity in drug response, and variation in phenotypic traits. In research and clinical laboratory science, individual biological variation is quantitatively characterized to distinguish physiological fluctuation from pathological change and to establish reference change values and personalized reference intervals.
What makes one bat take risks and venture far from its roost in search of food, while another stays close to familiar, safer areas? A new study from Tel Aviv University's School of Zoology reveals that the environment in ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 23, 2026
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19
DNA is the blueprint of life. Genes encode proteins and serve as the body's basic components. However, building a functioning organism also requires precise instructions about when, where, and how much those components should ...
Biotechnology
Feb 19, 2026
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19
For more than a century, Mendelian genetics has shaped how we think about inheritance: one gene, one trait. It is a model that still echoes through textbooks—and one that is increasingly reaching its limits. In a perspective ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Feb 18, 2026
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25
An international research team, including VUB data scientist Yannick Jadoul, has shed new light on the rhythmic nature of sexual behavior in bonobos. By precisely analyzing the tempo of movements during sex, researchers aim ...
Evolution
Feb 17, 2026
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94
What if cattle were selected not only for their productivity, but also for their resistance to disease? A study conducted by a team of scientists combining systemic immunology, genomics and machine learning provides a better ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Feb 11, 2026
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20
When two homozygous plant lines with different characteristics are crossed, the resulting offspring are often more robust and productive than their parents. This phenomenon is called heterosis. It can be caused by positive ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Dec 10, 2025
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33
Internal clocks can tick very differently. While some people are most productive in the morning, others are only active later in the day or at night. This phenomenon is known in science and medicine as chronotype.
Plants & Animals
Dec 8, 2025
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13
It's an evolutionary battle, an endless competition for survival, that has spanned millions of years. Within this epic tale for the ages, the skillful characters are mighty, but very, very tiny—they're microscopic. It's bacteria ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 24, 2025
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25
Why do no two human faces look quite the same? Although we all follow the same biological blueprint, our features—the curve of a lip, the angle of a nose, the breadth of a jaw—diverge in endlessly subtle ways.
Evolution
Nov 20, 2025
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31
As a Ph.D. student, I wanted to understand the evolution of individual differences in fruit fly behavior—the building blocks of personality. My experiments involved measuring how my tiny subjects acted in a maze.
Evolution
Oct 16, 2025
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