https://phys.org/biology-news/molecular-computational/ en-us Medical Xpress provides the latest news on molecular and Computational biology Human color vision depends on three types of cone cells in the retina. Although all three contain the same light-absorbing molecule, 11-cis-retinal, differences in the surrounding protein determine sensitivity to red, green or blue light. Understanding how these subtle protein differences produce such precise color discrimination has been difficult because cone pigments are highly unstable and structurally challenging to study. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-3d-views-primate-cone-pigments.html Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 27 Jul 2026 16:10:01 EDT news704386141 The dangers of antibiotic overuse have become increasingly clear in recent decades. Excessive use accelerates the evolution of bacterial resistance to antibiotics, raising the alarming prospect of infections that no longer respond to existing drugs and pose a serious threat to public health. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-hidden-dna-bacteria-faster-route.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 27 Jul 2026 14:40:01 EDT news704376601 Gene editing is a highly precise and powerful technology that allows scientists to insert, delete, modify or replace DNA bases in living organisms. It has a variety of uses, including correcting disease-causing mutations and improving crops. Tools like CRISPR act as molecular scissors that target specific places in a genome to make these changes. But the technology is not perfect and can accidentally edit the wrong pieces of DNA or RNA. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ai-tiny-gene-editor-unintended.html Biotechnology Mon, 27 Jul 2026 13:38:56 EDT news704378300 Researchers at the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS) and collaborators have uncovered one of the earliest steps in DNA replication: the moment a cell first opens its DNA to begin making a copy of its genome. The findings, published in Nature Communications, reveal where DNA first begins to "unzip" inside living cells and identify a molecular gate that helps prepare DNA for copying. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-scientists-cells-dna.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 27 Jul 2026 13:20:03 EDT news704371141 For the first time, researchers can witness nanometer-scale thickness changes across a melting snowflake with a compact, lensless chip that captures gigapixel video at 30 frames per second across centimeter-scale fields. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-christmas-july-capture-gigapixel-3d.html Biotechnology Mon, 27 Jul 2026 12:00:03 EDT news704368931 In nature, the rarest ingredient can be the one that holds everything together. In a new article published in Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Dr. Erika C. Freeman of the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) in Berlin argues that a handful of scarce molecules can shape entire living communities, far out of proportion to how little is present. These are what ecologists call "keystone molecules." https://phys.org/news/2026-07-molecules-emerge-chemical-keystones-life.html Ecology Sun, 26 Jul 2026 13:00:01 EDT news703865858 All cells in the human body—and the motions they enable, from our beating hearts to our wiggling toes—use energy generated by a molecule called ATP. Its energy is thought to be released to fuel cellular processes in only one way: when ATP's decomposition is initiated by an enzyme, a specific type of protein. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-natural-molecule-cellular-energy.html Biotechnology Sat, 25 Jul 2026 12:00:02 EDT news704032756 For more than a century, scientists have sought to reconstruct human evolution using diverse lines of evidence, including fossils, genetic variation across populations and ancient DNA. Building on these approaches, researchers are increasingly using large population biobanks to investigate how natural selection continues to shape the genomes of living populations. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-scientists-modern-biobanks-window-human.html Evolution Fri, 24 Jul 2026 15:40:01 EDT news704119322 If you look up invasive species in a textbook, there's a good chance you'll find a picture of a brown tree snake. Native to Australia and the South Pacific, the brown tree snake arrived on Guam sometime after World War II, possibly by stowing away aboard cargo planes. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-inbred-brown-tree-snakes-island.html Ecology Fri, 24 Jul 2026 14:00:07 EDT news704023681 The pearly razorfish (Xyrichtys novacula) is a small marine animal that lives in sandy coastal waters and feeds on creatures like shrimp. Known locally in Spain's Balearic Islands as raors, it is a popular dish in many homes and restaurants across the region. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-fishing-fish-species-molecular.html Plants & Animals Fri, 24 Jul 2026 13:40:06 EDT news704113560 La Trobe University scientists have uncovered the critical role fatty cell structures play in our body's early detection and defense against viruses. Published in Nature Communications, the discovery could open the door to a new type of antiviral strategy that harnesses the body's innate defense mechanisms rather than targeting individual viruses. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-fat-cell-block-viral-antiviral.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 24 Jul 2026 13:00:01 EDT news704111702 When scientists want to create a protein that can potentially treat disease, one approach is to begin with a different protein and evolve it in the lab, selecting over many generations for versions with a new, desired function. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-combining-ai-protein-laboratory-evolution.html Biotechnology Fri, 24 Jul 2026 10:40:01 EDT news704105143 Spliceosomal introns are noncoding DNA sequences located between exons in many eukaryotic protein-coding genes. Most are removed post-transcriptionally by RNA splicing and do not encode proteins, but they have been implicated in various regulatory processes, including gene transcription, mRNA nuclear export and the generation of protein diversity. Whether spliceosomal introns are essential for fundamental cellular life has long been unclear. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-yeast-survives-spliceosomal-introns.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 23 Jul 2026 15:20:05 EDT news704031421 A patient with a severe infection is prescribed a potent antibiotic. Hopes for improvement are high, but just after treatment is given, resistance to the drug increases thousands of times. How could this happen? https://phys.org/news/2026-07-environmental-bacteria-ferry-genes-boost.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 23 Jul 2026 13:20:05 EDT news704029321 For cells to function properly, they must produce the right amount of each protein. It is a delicate balance: Both too little and too much can compromise essential cellular functions. A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) has now shown that even a modest excess of tubulin—the protein that assembles into microtubules, the cell's internal scaffolding—is enough to disrupt tissue architecture and reduce cell viability. Published in Nature Communications, the study demonstrates that the quantity of a protein is just as important as its function. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-slight-overproduction-tubulin-cellular-health.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 22 Jul 2026 17:40:04 EDT news703947121 A genomic surveillance study has shed new light on how an invasive urban malaria mosquito species spread from Asia to Africa, potentially threatening public health across a rapidly urbanizing continent where malaria is mainly concentrated in rural areas. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-invasive-malaria-mosquito-asia-africa.html Ecology Wed, 22 Jul 2026 14:20:06 EDT news703940522 Antibiotics are a medical marvel, but many microbes are gaining the ability to resist and tolerate these therapeutics. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have uncovered how S. pneumoniae adapts to antibiotic exposure and immune pressures. Their findings reveal that changes in RNA regulation enable bacteria to enter a state of antibiotic tolerance. The results provide a deeper understanding of how pathogens survive treatment and could inform strategies to improve the effectiveness of existing antibiotics. The findings were published in Cell Host & Microbe. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-antibiotic-tolerant-bacteria-hidden-rna.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 22 Jul 2026 14:00:04 EDT news703940161 A biotech company called Revel Pharmaceuticals is looking into ways to reverse aging, and the company's science team, along with researchers from the company Calico and the University of Colorado, may be a step closer to realizing the so-called fountain of youth. The team recently published their study in Nature Communications detailing how they engineered an enzyme capable of reversing a particular form of age-related damage and demonstrated its competence with test results. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-enzyme-erases-stubborn-aging-human.html Biotechnology Wed, 22 Jul 2026 12:40:07 EDT news703934311 When a fruit fly catches a whiff of a ripe peach, it quickly heads toward it. Time after time, it finds the fruit—even from many feet away and even if the scent arrives only as a few drifting, disconnected puffs. How do they home in with such unerring accuracy? https://phys.org/news/2026-07-fruit-flies-fleeting-scent-puffs.html Plants & Animals Wed, 22 Jul 2026 11:00:29 EDT news703857961 An international research team led by the Medical University of Vienna has investigated a new peptide derived from cone snail venom that significantly reduced inflammation-induced pain in an animal model. Crucially, its effect takes hold immediately after subcutaneous injection, whereas previously known cone snail peptides must be administered directly into the cerebrospinal fluid. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-cone-snail-venom-peptide-enable.html Biotechnology Tue, 21 Jul 2026 18:00:01 EDT news703863302 Deep learning approaches have transformed how scientists predict the activity and function of DNA sequences in the genome. A new AI tool called Corgi (Context-aware Regulatory Genomics Inference), developed by Martin Vingron's bioinformatics group at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics allows researchers to predict how the genome behaves across different cell types. The findings could help improve efforts to mimic the activity of cells virtually, with potential applications in basic research and medicine. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ai-tool-dna-sequences-genes.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 21 Jul 2026 17:50:01 EDT news703867682 A tapeworm fundamentally changes the lives of ants: Workers of the species Temnothorax nylanderi infected with the tapeworm Anomotaenia brevis live several times longer than their uninfected nestmates. They are also less active, and their metabolism becomes more similar in some respects to that of queens. A new study by Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), published in the journal BMC Genomics, reveals the molecular basis of this unusual effect. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-tapeworm-hijacks-worker-ants-queen.html Ecology Tue, 21 Jul 2026 17:20:09 EDT news703862342 African sleeping sickness and related diseases can be treated only with toxic and sometimes ineffective drugs. Now, University of Connecticut researchers show in Nucleic Acids Research that a crucial enzyme could be the key to safer, more effective medicines. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-sickness-parasite-reveals-enzyme-weak.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 21 Jul 2026 15:20:13 EDT news703856221 Scientists at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Center have uncovered new insights into how cells regulate DNA methylation, a fundamental process that helps keep potentially harmful viral elements in our genome under control. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-insights-dna-body-manual-life.html Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 21 Jul 2026 14:10:02 EDT news703859443 Researchers at the University of Vienna have discovered a key mechanism that enables sea anemones to regenerate into fully developed organisms from disorganized clusters of cells. The study, published in Nature Communications, shows that the so-called Notch signaling pathway controls tissue organization and the formation of the body axis. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-sea-anemone-cells-reform.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 21 Jul 2026 12:40:07 EDT news703852441 Protein aggregates are associated with the development of diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. These are found more often in certain areas of cells known as membraneless organelles. Do these organelles promote this protein clumping, or do they protect the cell by temporarily absorbing the aggregates? Professor Simon Ebbinghaus and Mailin Becker from Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, set out to answer this question with their new, self-developed method, "confocal Fast Relaxation Imaging," or cFReI. They report their findings in the journal PRX Life. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-cell-imaging-method-protein-organelles.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 20 Jul 2026 18:00:03 EDT news703782421 Why do some brains survive long after death when most other soft tissue decays? That's the question a research team led by Alexandra Morton-Hayward at the University of Oxford set out to answer. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-human-brains-outlast-soft-tissues.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 20 Jul 2026 14:20:01 EDT news703772218 New research has uncovered the complex biological history preserved within DNA traces found on the Shroud of Turin, offering fresh insights into one of the world's most studied and debated historical artifacts. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-shroud-turin-dna-biological-history.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 20 Jul 2026 13:00:06 EDT news703770901 What determines which tasks bees perform in their colony? Biologists from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) and the universities in Cologne and Frankfurt/Main have investigated the role neural activity plays in this process. In an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they explain that by manipulating a specific gene, they can selectively inhibit neural circuits in bees and thus influence their work behavior. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-bee-brains-reveal-colonies-central.html Ecology Mon, 20 Jul 2026 11:40:03 EDT news703766341 University of Virginia School of Medicine scientists have identified a widespread source of error in a popular method for studying the genome and created a machine-learning tool to correct it. The free tool could improve the reliability of both conventional and single-cell data generated using this method, giving researchers a clearer view of how gene activity is controlled in health and disease and providing stronger foundations for future diagnostic and drug-development efforts. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-machine-tool-accuracy-genomics.html Biotechnology Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:40:02 EDT news703759809