https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed a high-throughput method to identify gold nanoparticles capable of delivering therapies directly to mitochondria (the energy centers inside cancer cells). By tagging nanoparticles with unique DNA "barcodes," the team was able to track and compare dozens of designs simultaneously in living tumor models, rapidly identifying those most effective at reaching this critical subcellular target. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-dna-barcodes-gold-nanoparticles-cancer.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 12 May 2026 14:20:03 EDT news697804561 Advances in DNA sequencing have expanded our view of the microbial world, but the inability to cultivate most microbes has been a major constraint. Now, a systematic, predictive framework that combines existing genomic and computational modeling approaches to accelerate the discovery and cultivation of novel prokaryotic taxa has been proposed by KAUST researchers, in collaboration with an international team of scientists. The work is published in The ISME Journal. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-metagenomics-ai-uncultivated-bacteria-archaea.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 11 May 2026 18:20:07 EDT news697735861 Entropy gets a bad rap. Typically associated with randomness and chaos, it can also correlate with freedom and diversity. Cornell researchers have found that, thanks to the latter qualities, entropy can help bind certain pairs of molecules faster and more robustly—an approach that could have broad applications in drug development and assembling nanoparticles to form new materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-looped-polymers-stronger-faster-molecular.html Polymers Mon, 11 May 2026 17:10:02 EDT news697737001 A University of Florida study has made a key discovery in understanding a disease that for over a century has plagued the white button mushroom—a nutrient-dense vegetable that is valued for its versatility and health benefits. The study is published in the journal Microbiological Research. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-mushroom-caps-bacterial-species-stubborn.html Ecology Sun, 10 May 2026 13:00:05 EDT news697281057 A single scoop of water from an Irish river has revealed evidence not only of Ireland's only frog species—as expected—but also signs of the dreaded B. dendrobatidis fungus, marking the first time this devastating amphibian disease has been spotted in the country and exposing a previously unknown risk to Ireland's frog population. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-river-dna-track-fish-frogs.html Molecular & Computational biology Sat, 09 May 2026 17:00:01 EDT news697300018 For more than a decade, conservation biologist Steve Boyes searched for "ghost elephants"—nocturnal giants rumored to roam a remote, high-altitude wetland in eastern Angola. When a motion-sensor camera finally captured their image in 2024, Boyes turned to Stanford scientists for help answering a deeper question: Who are these elephants, and where did they come from? https://phys.org/news/2026-05-genetics-link-angola-ghost-elephants.html Plants & Animals Sat, 09 May 2026 09:00:03 EDT news697281772 When most people think about biodiversity in lakes and rivers, they imagine fish, plants, or perhaps birds and amphibians. But beneath the surface exists another world that often goes unnoticed: microscopic parasites that quietly shape aquatic ecosystems in ways scientists are only beginning to understand. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-scientists-uncover-hidden-parasite-diversity.html Ecology Thu, 07 May 2026 18:00:08 EDT news697365840 Small samples of DNA can reveal hotspots and trade routes in the illegal wildlife trade, according to a study published in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Sean Heighton and Philippe Gaubert of the University of Toulouse and the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, France and colleagues. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-trafficked-pangolin-dna-reveals-hotspots.html Plants & Animals Thu, 07 May 2026 14:00:06 EDT news697361761 Shapes of beaks and snouts come in an extraordinary range of forms, reflecting adaptations to different lifestyles and environments. Yet beneath this diversity lies a paradox: across birds and mammals, faces are built using deeply conserved developmental programs. So how does evolution generate such striking differences without reinventing the underlying machinery? https://phys.org/news/2026-05-evolution-sculpts-facial-birds-mammals.html Evolution Thu, 07 May 2026 12:20:04 EDT news697367342 A research team led by Prof. Hsing I-Ming, Professor of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBE) at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), in collaboration with Prof. Zhai Yuanliang, Associate Professor of the Division of Life Science (LIFS), has successfully developed the world's first DNA-guided CRISPR-Cas system capable of programmable RNA targeting and cleavage. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-dna-crispr-flips-gene-script.html Biotechnology Wed, 06 May 2026 15:00:05 EDT news697289641 Scientists have uncovered more than 1,700 new proteins that could have implications for human diseases, including cancer. Mostly very small, these proteins were found in what's called the "dark proteome," which covers gene products from previously overlooked sections of DNA. These proteins have unusual properties, motivating scientists to coin a new concept, peptideins, to help understand their potentially unique biology. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-dark-proteome-yields-microproteins-reshape.html Biotechnology Wed, 06 May 2026 11:00:10 EDT news697206062 A new kind of CRISPR that destroys cells rather than gene editing them has shown potential for killing sick cells while leaving healthy cells untouched. The technology has largely been tested in cells in a dish, but if it can be applied to organisms, it could be a powerful tool to treat disease and advance research. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-kind-crispr-viral-infection-cancer.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 06 May 2026 11:00:08 EDT news697201681 Scientists at Keele University have created the first detailed map of the genetic "switches" that control reproduction in disease-carrying insects such as Anopheles gambiae, the mosquito species most responsible for malaria transmission, paving the way for more effective methods of genetically controlling these insects. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-scientists-genetic-mosquito-reproductive-genes.html Biotechnology Tue, 05 May 2026 18:10:01 EDT news697216501 Modern biology is awash in data. Scientists can sequence DNA, track gene activity cell-by-cell, map proteins in space, and image tissues at microscopic resolution. However, it is a struggle to put all that information together to form a cohesive view. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-super-aims-biology-ai.html Biotechnology Tue, 05 May 2026 13:40:06 EDT news697198681 Indigenous people of the Andes were the first to domesticate the potato, making the starch-rich crop a dietary staple for this high-altitude population long before it spread to the rest of the world. Today, their descendants in Peru carry the highest known numbers of a gene involved in starch digestion of any population in the world. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-indigenous-andeans-digestive-superpower-linked.html Evolution Tue, 05 May 2026 13:10:06 EDT news697197198 One of life's many mysteries is how it ended up choosing only a set of 20 amino acids to build proteins for its wide catalog of organisms, from single-celled bacteria to behemoth whales. From a chemical standpoint, many of the canonical amino acids share similar chemical structures and properties, which might make them expendable. This raises an intriguing question: could life manage with one less amino acid? https://phys.org/news/2026-05-life-bacteria-amino-acid.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 05 May 2026 10:00:02 EDT news697190307 Researchers at the University of Oregon have developed an artificial intelligence tool that can read genetic code the way large language models like ChatGPT read text. Scanning the genome for biological mutation patterns, the computer model traces pairs of genes back in time to their last common ancestor. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-dna-ai-reconstructs-ancestry-minutes.html Biotechnology Mon, 04 May 2026 16:20:06 EDT news697124401 Gene expression is controlled, in part, by the interactions between genes and regulatory elements located along the genome. Those interactions depend on the ability of chromatin—a mix of DNA and proteins—to move around within a crowded space. In a new study, MIT researchers have measured chromatin movement at timescales ranging from hundreds of microseconds to hours, allowing them to rigorously quantify those dynamics for the first time. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-chromatin-tracking-reveals-motion-modes.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 04 May 2026 09:00:01 EDT news697101841 Millions of tons of plastic waste accumulate in landfills and oceans every year. One promising response is to engineer microbes to break the plastic down into useful chemical building blocks. However, teaching a bacterium to digest plastic efficiently demands fine-tuning not just one gene, but entire clusters of genes working in concert, like upgrading every machine on a factory assembly line rather than swapping out a single part. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-bacteria-complex-tasks-munching-plastics.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 04 May 2026 08:20:01 EDT news697100822 Researchers at Aarhus University have demonstrated that a simple adjustment to water filtration methods can dramatically improve the detection of marine animal DNA when using advanced, PCR-free sequencing. This methodological optimization could help clear a major bottleneck in aquatic biomonitoring and marine conservation efforts. The study is published in Metabarcoding and Metagenomics. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-simple-filter-swap-advance-marine.html Ecology Mon, 04 May 2026 07:20:01 EDT news697097461 Every year, millions suffer, and thousands lose their lives to infections that were once easily treatable with the right dose of medication. The drugs are the same; human physiology is the same; the only difference is that microbes, such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi, have now developed resistance to drugs designed to kill them. This phenomenon, known as antimicrobial resistance, is rapidly rising, ringing sirens for emergency action across the globe. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-temperatures-antibiotic-resistance-soil-year.html Ecology Sun, 03 May 2026 13:10:01 EDT news696502532 When cows burp, they send a substantial amount of methane gas into the air, which makes them a leading contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. According to research published in the journal Science, a newly discovered hydrogen-producing structure within the microbes of cow stomachs may influence how much of that gas is expelled. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-newly-organelle-cow-methane-emissions.html Cell & Microbiology Sun, 03 May 2026 11:40:02 EDT news696857519 Tropical ecosystems rely on the infrastructure provided by termites. These insects supply plants with vital nutrients by breaking down organic waste, bringing water to the roots by aerating the soil through tunneling, and sustaining the food chain, as they make up an estimated 10–20% of the total biomass of rainforests. But termites were not always the backbone of tropical ecosystems. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-mass-extinctions-termites-essential-today.html Ecology Thu, 30 Apr 2026 11:00:11 EDT news696763382 The development of an embryo is one of the most fundamental processes in biology. Early in this process, it is determined which cells will give rise to which tissues—controlled by epigenetic marks such as DNA methylation. Researchers at LMU have now shown that, rather surprisingly, this highly complex process is governed by physical laws. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-embryo-epigenome-universal-physical-reshaping.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 29 Apr 2026 17:50:01 EDT news696696721 Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions in living organisms. They are widely applied in industries such as food production, detergents, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals. However, for commercial use, natural enzymes often need improved stability, substrate specificity, or catalytic efficiency. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-molecule-method-rapidly-screens-custom.html Biochemistry Wed, 29 Apr 2026 17:40:05 EDT news696686821 Sequencing environmental DNA—or eDNA—from the East River in New York City can effectively monitor human diets and local wildlife, as well as the river's fish populations, report Mark Stoeckle and Jesse Ausubel of The Rockefeller University, U.S., in a study published in the open-access journal PLOS One. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-environmental-dna-nyc-east-river.html Ecology Wed, 29 Apr 2026 14:00:01 EDT news696687122 Every cell in the human body squeezes over six feet of DNA into a minuscule speck invisible to the naked eye—like compressing a whole house into a single sugar cube. In order to fit in a cell and remain organized, DNA is carefully wrapped around spool-like protein clusters called nucleosomes. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-ai-discovery-reveals-dna-isnt.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 29 Apr 2026 11:00:22 EDT news696670382 The genes that could help the world's crops survive drought, heat, and disease probably already exist. But much of this genetic diversity remains hidden within ancient plant varieties and forgotten seed collections, among millions of DNA differences that are difficult to spot. Now, a new way of reading crop genomes is helping scientists uncover these variations. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-tiny-dna-fragments-big-agricultural.html Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 28 Apr 2026 15:40:01 EDT news696607141 Scientists have captured the most detailed structural images to date of a specific type of protein's DNA repair process, a finding that could reveal ways to inhibit the effects of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations that heighten the risk for breast, ovarian and other cancers. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-dna-snapshots-reveal-brca-linked.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 27 Apr 2026 15:50:01 EDT news696521641 Researchers at University College Dublin have identified a genetic "switch" that determines the sex of cannabis plants, and found the same system may exist in hops. The study, published in New Phytologist, pinpoints a specific section of the X chromosome that influences whether cannabis plants develop as male, female, or both. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-beer-cannabis-sex.html Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 27 Apr 2026 10:40:11 EDT news696502501