Environmental biomarkers, as a biological process, encompass the organismal and cellular responses by which living systems detect, transduce, and manifest measurable changes to environmental exposures such as pollutants, radiation, or other stressors. This process involves molecular events including altered gene expression, protein modification, metabolite shifts, and physiological or behavioral changes that collectively encode information about exposure, effect, or susceptibility. These responses generate quantifiable indicators (e.g., specific stress proteins, oxidative damage products, enzyme activities) that integrate dose, duration, and biological impact of environmental factors, thereby serving as mechanistic links between external stressors and ensuing adaptive, toxic, or pathogenic outcomes in organisms and ecosystems.
For 40 years, scientists have been monitoring the Neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis) along the southern coast of Brazil. A study published in Estuarine Management and Technologies reveals that these charismatic mammals ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 17, 2026
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27
How did the complexity of many organisms living today evolve from the simpler body plans of their ancestors? This is a central question in biology. Take our hands, for example: Every time we type a message on our mobile phone, ...
Evolution
Feb 9, 2026
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87
Blood tests are useful tools for doctors and scientific researchers: they can reveal a lot about a body's health. Usually, a blood sample is taken to get a picture of the large molecules that are present, such as cholesterols, ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Jan 31, 2026
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29
It might be less visible than dwindling lion populations or vanishing pandas, but the quiet crisis of small mammal extinction is arguably worse for biodiversity. These species are crucial indicators of environmental health, ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 27, 2026
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125
A study of wild African herbivores offers new insight into how environmental conditions—not just diet and anatomy—can influence the evolution of gut microbes that play a critical role in animal health and well-being.
Evolution
Jan 26, 2026
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26
Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), in collaboration with the University of the Virgin Islands have discovered that microorganisms in seawater surrounding corals provide a powerful indicator of ...
Ecology
Jan 20, 2026
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419
To stay healthy, our cells rely on a self-cleaning mechanism that removes defective or unnecessary components. This process, known as autophagy, has been linked not only to cellular maintenance but also to various diseases ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jan 15, 2026
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70
A collaborative team of researchers from the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, the University of Florida, Gainesville and University of Iowa have developed tools that allow grasses—including major grain crops like corn—to ...
Biotechnology
Jan 6, 2026
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43
Why do parasites harm their hosts? That's a question evolutionary biologists ask as they try to predict how a parasite might evolve and perhaps become more lethal in response to control methods, such as vaccines or drug treatments.
Evolution
Dec 17, 2025
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15
For the first time, scientists have analyzed metabolism-related molecules from the fossilized bones of animals that lived 1.3 to 3 million years ago, revealing insights about both the animals and their environments.
Molecular & Computational biology
Dec 17, 2025
0
73
