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. Human cells hold about two meters (6.6 feet) of DNA, folded and compacted to fit inside a nucleus. That packing is essential for life, but it creates a problem for scientists. Some of the genes that control a cell's identity are buried so deep in tightly packed DNA that gene-targeting tools such as CRISPR activation, or CRISPRa, struggle to reach them. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-quick-crispr-skin-cells-neurons.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 23 Oct 2026 09:20:09 EDT news711963602 New research is shedding light on the diversity of deep-sea siphonophores. A team of scientists from MBARI, the University of Gdańsk, New York University and Yale University conducted a comprehensive examination of Bargmannia siphonophores using museum material, submersible observations and genomic sequencing. This work uncovered two previously unknown species: Bargmannia marlena and Bargmannia pyrosa. The team published their findings in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society last week. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-dna-underwater-footage-reveal-species.html Plants & Animals Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:30:02 EDT news711907741 Clostridium botulinum bacteria produce a potent neurotoxin called botulinum toxin, which causes the serious illness botulism. The toxin attacks the nervous system, leaving the body unable to control its muscles and making every breath a struggle. Without immediate treatment, botulism can be fatal. Humans, however, have managed to domesticate this dangerous bacterium to do their bidding. Over more than 90 years, biologists have been able to turn a wild microbe into an efficient factory for medical, military and cosmetic products like Botox. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-humans-domesticated-bacterium-botox-treatments.html Evolution Wed, 21 Oct 2026 15:50:01 EDT news711814360 Over the past 30 years, Swiss barn owls have become more reddish-brown and more heavily spotted. By analyzing the genomes of more than 3,000 birds, scientists at the University of Lausanne identified the genetic variants linked to these changes in plumage and revealed natural selection at work. Their findings, published in Nature Communications, show that evolution can happen rapidly in the wild. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-swiss-barn-owls-gradually.html Plants & Animals Wed, 21 Oct 2026 15:00:10 EDT news711803641 Viruses are sneaky intruders, hijacking the internal machinery of host cells and replicating out of sight. Understanding these dynamics is the first step to developing effective antiviral strategies that could stop infections, but scientists have largely been left in the dark because there are limited tools to study how viruses move in space and time inside live infected cells, according to Joyce Jose, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-tool-tracks-viral-rna-infected.html Biotechnology Wed, 21 Oct 2026 13:00:13 EDT news711800341 The oxygen in about every other breath we take comes from microscopic cells—phytoplankton—drifting in the surface of the ocean. Among them is Prochlorococcus, the smallest and most abundant photosynthetic organism in the seas. It single-handedly accounts for roughly 10% of all the carbon that the land and the oceans pull from the atmosphere each year. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ocean-abundant-loner-microbe-sticky.html Ecology Wed, 21 Oct 2026 09:00:06 EDT news711791161 Legend has it that a giant elfin, owl-like creature called the chickcharney haunts the islands of the Bahamas. Those who encounter this cryptid on cordial terms are said to be blessed with good luck. Those who disrespect the chickcharney, however, don't fare as well. "If you see one shoe in the field, it means that chickcharney came, picked up this person and took them away," said Jessica Oswald, recounting a story she was told in the Bahamas. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-caribbean-islands-center-diversity-barn.html Evolution Tue, 20 Oct 2026 19:00:04 EDT news711714482 DNA is not randomly distributed within the nucleus but is packaged with proteins into chromatin, which is precisely folded into complex three-dimensional structures. However, scientists have not fully understood how this complex three-dimensional (3D) organization is regulated or how it changes over time. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-spatial-genomics-tool-range-dna.html Cell & Microbiology Sun, 18 Oct 2026 16:00:02 EDT news711209463 Scientists know a great deal about how lions hunt, breed and survive, but the microscopic communities living inside them have remained largely unexplored. Now, a study of wild lions in Namibia is beginning to change that, while revealing how much biology is still missing from the world's genomic databases. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-lion-yield-previously-unknown-microbial.html Ecology Sun, 18 Oct 2026 08:00:01 EDT news711199822 A Université de Montréal–led research team has analyzed the genetic origins of human remains found in Old Montreal—and uncovered unexpected results. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-genetic-evidence-settler-indigenous-france.html Archaeology Fri, 16 Oct 2026 15:50:02 EDT news711377941 Changes in our genes affect health risks from heart disease to cancer, but how those genes are turned on and off is just as crucial to health. What's more, almost all genes occur as two copies—one from each parent—that aren't necessarily turned on and off in sync. When that differential gene regulation goes awry, it can cause serious health problems. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-machine-analysis-gene-reveals-dimension.html Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:20:06 EDT news711366944 Researchers at the University of Miami have identified a group of previously unknown viruses that bridge an evolutionary gap between viruses and cellular protein compartments, a discovery with implications for both biotechnology and scientists' understanding of the origins of life. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-newly-viruses-reveal-evolutionary-link.html Evolution Thu, 15 Oct 2026 19:40:10 EDT news711297722 Bacteriophages, or viruses that infect bacteria, have a fiendishly simple purpose in life: attach to a bacterial cell, inject their DNA and then use the host's genetic machinery to reproduce. In doing so, they may have evolved some of the most efficient gene-editing tools ever seen in nature. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-molecular-snapshots-reveal-viral-enzymes.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 15 Oct 2026 17:00:01 EDT news711293581 Somatic mutations, the DNA changes that occur as our bodies grow and age, not only hold an important key to cancer but are emerging as the seeds of a wide range of common, noncancerous diseases. The Somatic Mosaicism across Human Tissues (SMaHT) Network, a National Institutes of Health Common Fund initiative to catalog all the normal processes of somatic mutation, has published its first comprehensive benchmarking study in the journal Cell. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-dna-sequencing-methods-rare-mutations.html Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 15 Oct 2026 15:00:14 EDT news711292504 The spectacled cobra (Naja naja) is one of India's "big four" snakes responsible for most serious snakebite cases. It is currently considered one species, which lives across much of South Asia, with regional differences in color, hood markings and venom. However, it's still unclear which regional cobra populations represent separate evolutionary groups. A new study published in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution has helped parse out which groups have different lineages, and when and where they may have diverged from their ancestors. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-india-cobras-genetic-mainland-sri.html Plants & Animals Thu, 15 Oct 2026 13:20:21 EDT news711282094 They can't fly or swim, so why do their closest relatives appear on different continents? Grey Gustafson, an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, discovered through DNA sequencing that the ancestors of some of today's tiger beetles existed in South America and Africa before the two continents separated. What's more, North America's largest tiger beetles are related to these ancestral South American giant tiger beetles. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-mystery-flightless-beetle-transatlantic-journey.html Evolution Thu, 15 Oct 2026 11:20:11 EDT news711279724 Scientists have long used a powerful gene-editing tool called CRISPR to make precise changes to DNA. But a different version of the technology, known as Cas13a, targets RNA, the genetic material found in viruses such as HIV. Now, researchers at Rice University have developed an improved version of Cas13a that could make it easier to detect HIV and other RNA viruses in blood and environmental samples. The study was published in Cell Chemical Biology. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-enzyme-hiv-viruses.html Biotechnology Wed, 14 Oct 2026 17:00:11 EDT news711206461 Scientists have announced a new genus of deep-sea segmented marine "spaghetti worms" with suction cups on their bodies, showing just how much undiscovered biodiversity is out there in the deep seas around Australia. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-scientists-genus-deep-sea-spaghetti.html Plants & Animals Wed, 14 Oct 2026 14:20:23 EDT news711195902 A new study by researchers at the University of South Florida and Florida Atlantic University has demonstrated that a DNA sequencing tool can rapidly identify harmful algae in coastal waters, offering a new approach for monitoring species that could lead to improved methods for detecting potentially dangerous species before blooms become widespread. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-dna-tool-algal-blooms.html Ecology Wed, 14 Oct 2026 14:00:37 EDT news711185581 Imagine a medicine that stops seizures at their source, switches off instructions that keep a cancerous tumor growing and prevents Alzheimer's from stealing memories and wreaking havoc on the brain. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-molecular-code-treatments-untreatable-diseases.html Biochemistry Wed, 14 Oct 2026 10:40:23 EDT news711187741 Deep in the forests of Yunnan, China, scientists have discovered a "fungal giant" that challenges our understanding of how large fungi can become. The newly described species, Dianjunus rex, produces vertical fruiting bodies up to 50 cm (20 inches) high and weighing up to 2.2 kg (4.9 pounds)—the largest known within the phylum Ascomycota. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-scientists-d-rex-giant-fungus.html Evolution Tue, 13 Oct 2026 19:20:10 EDT news711122101 For decades, scientists have been able to look at individual moments in the development of an embryo: a snapshot of a developing brain, a picture of how the heart takes shape or a glimpse of cells beginning to form the nervous system. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-dna-flight-embryonic-cell.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 13 Oct 2026 17:00:06 EDT news711121141 Marine bacteria have evolved to bypass the copper-based coatings applied to ship hulls to stop the growth of barnacles, algae and other marine life. This necessitates new methods for managing biofouling—the unwanted accumulation of marine organisms—on ship hulls. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-copper-resistant-bacteria-complicate-efforts.html Evolution Tue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:08 EDT news711044461 A small number of random genetic mutations cause simple RNA droplets to transform into cell-like structures. In this process, they form cavities, can move and are able to take up cargo. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-random-mutations-rna-droplets-cell.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 13 Oct 2026 10:00:21 EDT news711100681 A new antiviral defense system discovered by Columbia scientists could be adapted in the future into a gene editor that slows down aging in our cells and improves cancer therapies. At the same time, the discovery also sheds light on an ancient event in evolution that may have helped set the stage for the emergence of higher organisms. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-bacterial-antiviral-defense-ancient-link.html Evolution Mon, 12 Oct 2026 18:20:02 EDT news711038641 Scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed an AI-powered database and a platform that could enable researchers to more accurately predict which proteins undergo phase separation—a process through which proteins in cells separate like oil droplets in water. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ai-platform-database-protein-phase.html Plants & Animals Mon, 12 Oct 2026 09:20:16 EDT news711014161 Scientists have succeeded in reconstructing the family tree of cells in a developing mouse embryo. They recorded cells' relationships, starting when the fertilized egg first split in two and ending after the body and its organs took shape. That period lasted 13.5 days. (Full gestation in mice is 19 to 21 days.) https://phys.org/news/2026-10-dna-typewriter-cells-history-mouse.html Cell & Microbiology Sun, 11 Oct 2026 18:20:01 EDT news710603400 Scientists have discovered a previously unknown microorganism that has the smallest genome ever found and may be able to replicate and express its own genetic information. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-tiny-marine-microbe-genetic-machinery.html Evolution Fri, 09 Oct 2026 11:00:12 EDT news710692981 Octopuses, squid and cuttlefish, collectively known as coleoid cephalopods, have evolved exceptionally large and elaborately structured nervous systems capable of complex behaviors such as problem-solving and rapid camouflage. A new study by scientists at the University of Vienna suggests that the origins of this complexity may lie not just in the genes themselves, but in how the genome is organized in 3D. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-3d-genome-entanglement-cephalopods-evolved.html Plants & Animals Fri, 09 Oct 2026 05:00:12 EDT news710674442 Across mammals, larger species typically have longer lifespans, ranging from only a couple of years for mice to almost 200 years for some whales. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-genes-big-dogs-age-faster.html Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 08 Oct 2026 14:00:48 EDT news710602201