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.
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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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
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73
Researchers at McGill University have identified bacteria that can indicate whether a blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) bloom is likely to be toxic, offering a potential water-safety early warning system. Blooms are becoming ...
Environment
Nov 3, 2025
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Parents are deeply worried about the climate crisis and their children's future, but a new University of Bath study shows many struggle to live low‑carbon lives. Time pressures, lack of affordable options and structural barriers ...
Environment
Sep 26, 2025
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64
Agricultural landscapes are among the most degraded habitats worldwide. Their restoration is one of the key measures for halting global biodiversity loss and preserving important ecosystem services.
Plants & Animals
Sep 23, 2025
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25
A new study suggests a habitable past and signs of ancient microbial processes on Mars. Led by NASA and featuring key analysis from Imperial College London, the work has uncovered a range of minerals and organic matter in ...
Astrobiology
Sep 10, 2025
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The microbiome comprises a multitude of bacteria, viruses and fungi that exist in and on a multicellular organism. The interactions of body cells and the microbiome form a structural and often functional unit, the so-called ...
Evolution
Sep 8, 2025
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As humanity ventures deeper into space, one critical question looms large: how do we prevent Earth's microbes from contaminating other worlds? A new study published in Journal of The Royal Society Interface by Daniel J. Brener ...
Astrobiology
Jun 27, 2025
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The search for life on other worlds needs a way to sift through the chemistry of their atmospheres. If another species observed Earth to search for life, they'd look for "smoking gun" chemistry in the atmosphere. That includes ...
Astrobiology
Jun 2, 2025
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41
Researchers have developed the world's first near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent nanosensor capable of real-time, non-destructive and species-agnostic detection of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA)—the primary bioactive auxin hormone ...
Bio & Medicine
May 20, 2025
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