Species specificity, as a biological process, refers to the selective interaction, compatibility, or functional activity of biological molecules, cells, or pathogens with organisms of particular species, arising from co-evolved structural and regulatory determinants. It encompasses mechanisms such as species-restricted receptor–ligand recognition, host-range determinants in pathogens, species-dependent expression or sequence variants of target proteins, and immune recognition constraints that limit cross-species functionality. Species specificity thus governs processes like host tropism, cross-species transmission barriers, xenogeneic incompatibilities, and the species-selective efficacy or toxicity of biomolecules, ultimately shaping interspecies boundaries in infection, signaling, and physiological regulation.
Xenophagocytosis is a natural immune process that limits interspecies organ generation by eliminating living donor cells, researchers at the Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan, report. By uncovering how embryonic macrophages ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 1, 2026
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190
It is a mystery that has puzzled scientists for years. How can the world's only winged mammals carry viruses that cause severe disease while rarely becoming seriously ill themselves?
Plants & Animals
Jul 29, 2026
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9
Within every muscle of every living species with a backbone, a protein called myosin tugs on a partner protein to generate a muscle contraction. This function, discovered in mammals a century ago, has been presumed by scientists ...
Evolution
Jul 14, 2026
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26
In the study of bacteria, a longstanding dogma has held that two molecular machines—RNA polymerase, which leads the way in transcribing DNA into RNA, and ribosomes, which bring up the rear translating RNA into proteins—worked ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 2, 2026
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10
Daphnia, commonly known as water fleas, are tiny crustaceans that live in freshwater ponds and lakes. When they sense predators in their surroundings, these small organisms can swiftly move away or adapt their body shape, ...
RIKEN researchers have determined the molecular structure of an enzyme that occurs in fish. This could shed light on molecular processes in a wide range of marine organisms. The work is published in the Journal of Biological ...
Plants & Animals
May 13, 2026
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7
A study published in Cell Research advances a central idea in stem cell biology by identifying a checkpoint that controls the identity of many different types of stem cells across developmental stages. For nearly two decades, ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 8, 2026
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37
Just because a female olive baboon has mated with a specific male doesn't mean he will be the father of her offspring. According to a new study published in PLOS Biology, mate selection continues long after copulation as ...
A plant uses a rare scent to guide its pollinator to male flowers first and to female flowers later, finds a study led by Kobe University. The work, appearing in Current Biology, uncovers a precise chemical system that not ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 6, 2026
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13
We are continually in an evolutionary arms race with bacteria. As we develop new antibiotics, they develop resistance, and so it goes on until some of our treatments no longer work. Superbugs and antimicrobial resistance ...
