Host adaptation is the biological process by which a parasite, pathogen, commensal, or mutualistic organism undergoes genetic, phenotypic, and often behavioral changes that increase its fitness in association with a specific host species or host range. It typically involves selection on traits mediating host recognition, attachment, immune evasion, nutrient acquisition, and replication within host tissues or cells. Mechanistically, host adaptation may proceed through point mutations, gene gain or loss, regulatory rewiring, or horizontal gene transfer, and is shaped by host immune pressures, ecological context, and transmission routes, often leading to specialization, host shifts, or emergence of new host-specific lineages.
An invasive species found across West Texas may pose a greater threat to native bighorn sheep than previously understood.
Plants & Animals
Jul 13, 2026
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52
The increase in mosquito-borne virus infections is a growing public health concern. Diseases traditionally confined to tropical or subtropical regions, like dengue or West Nile virus, are expanding their geographic scope. ...
Ecology
Jun 22, 2026
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13
A new Yale-led study provides one of the most detailed and comprehensive analyses to date of genetic variation in human populations in Oceania, filling a major gap in representation in genomics research. Despite harboring ...
Evolution
Jun 11, 2026
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103
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is generally associated with animals. But a new study by researchers from the University of Calgary and international collaborators explored the potential for CWD to spread from deer, elk and ...
Ecology
Jun 11, 2026
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29
A key step in the origin of many pandemics occurs when an animal-borne virus infects humans and then evolves to spread more efficiently from person to person. That is why scientists and physicians keep a close watch on viruses ...
Evolution
Jun 2, 2026
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114
Researchers have found surprising links that show that Neanderthal ancestry influences our immune system today in ways more nuanced than previously recognized. Their work is published in the journal Genome Biology and Evolution.
Evolution
May 28, 2026
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493
Johanna Harvey, an assistant professor of wildlife disease ecology at the University of Rhode Island, has described bird flu in public presentations as a quiet virus with loud consequences. Now, she's published a new paper ...
Ecology
May 27, 2026
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15
Even if you haven't heard of Botrytis cinerea, you've likely seen it—slowly growing in your store-bought blueberries, tomatoes or even on your beautiful orchids. Commonly known as gray mold, the fungus attacks hundreds of ...
Plants & Animals
May 20, 2026
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20
Scientists from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have uncovered what gives Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium that causes cholera, the ability to colonize the human gut. The researchers found that a small RNA embedded within ...
Molecular & Computational biology
May 16, 2026
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19
Male strepsipterans develop inside a host insect during their larval stage and, upon reaching the adult stage, emerge from the host body to begin a free-living phase. In a new study, researchers at University of Tsukuba directly ...
Plants & Animals
May 8, 2026
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