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. In a new study published today in Plants, People, Planet, scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and their international collaborators clarify the distinction between Ganoderma lucidum, a European bracket fungus described in 1781, and Ganoderma lingzhi, the East Asian species widely associated with medicinal lingzhi or reishi. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-false-lingzhi-unmasked-scientists-year.html Evolution Mon, 26 Oct 2026 21:10:01 EDT news712231982 Our bodies are composed of many different types of cells that work together to build and maintain normal physiological functions. In the central nervous system, for example, neurons transmit information, while glial cells such as astrocytes regulate the environment surrounding neurons and support their function. Understanding how these cell types influence one another is essential for uncovering how our bodies develop and function. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-binary-gene-enables-independent-multiple.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 26 Oct 2026 20:00:01 EDT news712232401 DNA-nano/microparticle motors are among the fastest artificial molecular motors reported to date, moving at approximately 30 nm per second. However, they are still slower than natural motor proteins (approximately 100–1,000 nm per second), and further improvements in design and performance are required. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-simulations-reveal-high-dna-particle.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 26 Oct 2026 16:20:01 EDT news712249621 Almost every cell in our body contains around two meters (6.6 feet) of DNA, packed into a tiny nucleus. Yet for the cell to function, this enormous amount of genetic material must remain organized and accessible. Researchers at the University of Basel have now discovered three distinct types of large chromosomal domains that help organize DNA in nuclei. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-hidden-chromosome-reveal-greater-complexity.html Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 26 Oct 2026 15:20:07 EDT news712244581 I never thought my shoelaces would get stolen. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-power-poop-conservationists-animal-scat.html Ecology Mon, 26 Oct 2026 15:20:04 EDT news712228105 As climate change reshapes habitats both on land and at sea, you might go to the beach one day, only to find yourself in a place that looks nothing like you remember, around sea creatures you don't recognize. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-japan-largest-marine-dna-fish.html Plants & Animals Mon, 26 Oct 2026 12:00:12 EDT news711978380 Unexpectedly, a kind of protein that is usually linked with diseases in the brain may play a vital role in semen, helping shepherd genetic material into sperm cells, scientists at Columbia's Zuckerman Institute report in the journal Molecular Cell. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-protein-fibers-hallmark-alzheimer-genetic.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 26 Oct 2026 11:00:04 EDT news712223761 Barley seed could be carrying more than the potential for a new crop, with emerging research from the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) finding that fungicide-resistant net blotch can be carried on seed and transferred to seedlings. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-barley-seed-fungicide-resistant-disease.html Agriculture Mon, 26 Oct 2026 10:00:08 EDT news712218861 The Malik Lab thrives on competition. But for HHMI investigator Harmit Malik and his team at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, it's the genomes—not the people—that are in conflict. The lab studies rapid evolution—the genetic changes that happen in a species over a few generations rather than thousands of years. These fast changes are often fueled by genetic conflicts—competitions between different entities trying to maximize their success at the expense of another. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-surveying-genetic-battlefield-uncover-rapid.html Evolution Fri, 23 Oct 2026 23:20:02 EDT news711982992 Many of the most potent antibiotics originate from bacteria. A large proportion belong to a class of compounds known as nonribosomal peptides (NRP). They are produced by large bacterial enzyme machineries—the nonribosomal peptide synthetases, or NRPS for short. These function like molecular assembly lines: Similar to the stations in a car factory, where new parts are added to the car at each step, several specialized modules string together amino acid by amino acid to build a peptide. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-bacteria-reinvent-weapons-chance-gene.html Evolution Fri, 23 Oct 2026 16:00:01 EDT news711980821 When DNA is damaged, cellular processes respond and repair the DNA. Inhibiting DNA damage repair can be therapeutically beneficial in cancers with genetic vulnerabilities related to DNA damage response. Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have uncovered a mechanism behind how this process works, which may have implications for cancer treatment. The results were published today in Molecular Cell. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-mechanism-parp1-dna-characterized-insight.html Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 23 Oct 2026 14:40:01 EDT news711976582 Humans and chimpanzees share almost all their genes. Despite this, our brains have developed in different ways. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have now shown that a viral pandemic dating back several million years is likely to be part of the explanation. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ancient-virus-chimpanzee-dna-gene.html Evolution Fri, 23 Oct 2026 14:00:26 EDT news711900901 More than 30,000 years ago, people associated with one of Europe's major Paleolithic cultures (the Gravettian) were more interconnected than previously thought. An international research team led by the University of Vienna has uncovered new genetic evidence of long-distance connections between these populations. Published in Science Advances, the study combines genomic data from rare human remains with human DNA preserved in cave sediments. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-paleolithic-human-dna-reveals-east.html Archaeology Fri, 23 Oct 2026 14:00:11 EDT news711899701 Researchers have created a material that manufactures the proteins responsible for cell movement, without needing intact living cells. By embedding cell-free gene expression into a thin sheet of protein filaments, they were able to make the material wrinkle, rise into blister-like shapes and break into bundles that flow around one another. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-dna-cell-free-material-motors.html Biotechnology Fri, 23 Oct 2026 11:20:15 EDT news711963752 After earning bachelor's and Ph.D. degrees in bioengineering with a focus on molecular biology, Will White, a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Computer Science at Tufts, was pretty certain his future research would involve things like DNA and proteins. What he didn't know was that alpacas would also be part of the equation. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-science-alpaca-immune.html Bio & Medicine Fri, 23 Oct 2026 10:40:05 EDT news711967959 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 Rising temperatures and increasing drought are shortening crop-growing seasons in many parts of the world. Now scientists in Sweden report new advances toward engineering more efficient photosynthesis, work that could eventually contribute to efforts to adapt crops for climate change. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-climate-resilient-crops-mind-tackles.html Biotechnology Thu, 22 Oct 2026 19:20:01 EDT news711904861 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 An absence of women scientists in U.K. exam board specifications for science could be a factor in the disproportionate number of girls dropping STEM subjects at 16 and contribute to the gender gap in STEM careers, new research from the University of Cambridge has found. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-uk-exam-board-science-specifications.html Social Sciences Wed, 21 Oct 2026 19:10:02 EDT news711799201 Most plants do not gather nutrients from the soil entirely on their own. Many form partnerships with microscopic fungi that grow inside their roots and extend into the surrounding soil. These partnerships, known as arbuscular mycorrhizal symbioses, help plants access nutrients, especially phosphorus. In return, the fungi receive carbon-rich compounds from the plants. But how does a plant coordinate the many signals needed to build and maintain this exchange? https://phys.org/news/2026-10-rice-partner-beneficial-soil-fungi.html Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 21 Oct 2026 18:20:01 EDT news711798606 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 A recent genomic survey of North Carolina black bears from mountain and coastal habitats reveals distinct differences in genetic health and diversity between the populations, with coastal bears exhibiting greater genetic fragility than mountain bears. The results could be used by wildlife management and law enforcement to ensure the health of both bears and the ecosystems they are part of. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-genetic-snapshot-north-carolina-black.html Plants & Animals Wed, 21 Oct 2026 15:10:01 EDT news711813241 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 Whenever a cell divides, it has to split its chromosomes perfectly between two daughter cells, and even a single mistake can be disastrous. Now, researchers from Japan have found that one of the key structures that makes this possible takes a surprising shape: a hollow sphere. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-chromosome-anchors-hollow-shells-cell.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 21 Oct 2026 14:00:19 EDT news711712921 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 In the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a research team from Kyushu University, Universitetet i Bergen and the University of Copenhagen reports that it found traces of ancient collagen protein from the common eland (Taurotragus oryx), a species of antelope, on a 60,000-year-old ochre-rich surface in the Kilpdrift Complex, a Middle and Later Stone Age archaeological site located within the coastal cliffs of the De Hoop Nature Reserve in South Africa. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-antelope-collagen-year-ochre-clues.html Archaeology Wed, 21 Oct 2026 10:20:15 EDT news711795661 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 In recent years, researchers at the University of Eastern Finland have been both leading and contributing to collaborative genome projects. These efforts have produced reference-quality genome assemblies for the Finnish brown hare and the mountain hare, as well as the Saimaa ringed seal, in collaboration with research partners. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-genomes-eastern-finnish-species-unique.html Ecology Wed, 21 Oct 2026 08:20:01 EDT news711783026 Researchers at Uppsala University have adapted Cell Painting, a widely used imaging method in drug discovery, to look at individual cells inside small 3D clusters of cancer cells. Two drugs that looked almost identical in ordinary flat cell cultures behaved differently in 3D, and the team linked the difference to how each drug switches on the cell's p53 stress response. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-transparent-minispheres-reveal-alike-cancer.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 21 Oct 2026 05:00:02 EDT news711713161 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