Disease vectors are living organisms, typically arthropods such as mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, sandflies, and triatomine bugs, that biologically or mechanically transmit pathogenic agents between hosts, thereby enabling the spread of infectious diseases within populations and ecosystems. In vector-borne disease systems, pathogens often undergo essential developmental or replication stages within the vector (biological transmission), or are passively carried on contaminated body parts (mechanical transmission). Research on disease vectors encompasses their ecology, population dynamics, host-feeding behavior, vector competence, insecticide resistance, and interactions with environmental and climatic factors, informing surveillance, risk modeling, and integrated vector management strategies for disease control.
In 2025, Konstanz scientists looked very closely at rotting fruit in local orchards, and observed what no one had before—worms, hundreds of them, twisting skyward into self-assembled living structures known as "towers." It ...
Plants & Animals
May 4, 2026
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Mississippi State University biologist Matthew W. Brown is part of an international research team whose latest findings, published this spring in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, are reshaping scientific ...
Evolution
May 1, 2026
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In every backyard, park, and playground on Earth, the ground is teeming with a type of bacteria called Streptomyces—one of the most abundant organisms on the planet. While these dirt-dwelling microbes are known for producing ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 30, 2026
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Increasing evidence suggests that our species emerged through interactions between populations living in different parts of Africa, rather than from a single birthplace. Until now, however, most explanations for how those ...
Evolution
Apr 22, 2026
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Relatively simple habitat management can influence population genetics, providing conservation managers with the opportunity to support genetic resilience not only through breeding programs or translocations, but also by ...
Ecology
Apr 21, 2026
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A team of researchers from institutions across South America have expanded scholarly knowledge of the Pikelinia spider genus, with their recent discovery of a new crevice weaver species: Pikelinia floydmuraria. The new species ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 14, 2026
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Southern California is home to a flying black-and-yellow treasure. While commercial honeybee hives nationwide are collapsing under attack from deadly parasites, a unique hybrid bee found only in this part of the state has ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 10, 2026
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297
A team of scientists at The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), led by Nikos Vasilakis, Ph.D., and Peter McCaffrey, MD, has developed a new computational pipeline that could dramatically accelerate the development ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Apr 9, 2026
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Rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus type 2 is a terrible way for any animal to die, especially creatures as gentle as these. Highly contagious and lethal, it threatens wild and domestic rabbits. First detected in the United ...
Veterinary medicine
Apr 9, 2026
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Researchers at Umeå University show how tick-borne viruses remodel human cells into virus factories, using an advanced microscopy method. The findings provide new insight into how the virus replicates and matures, knowledge ...
Biotechnology
Apr 7, 2026
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