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. Scientists have uncovered evidence supporting a mechanism in which transposable elements (TEs), once considered "non-functional" DNA, may have contributed to the evolution and expansion of gene regulation during neural development. Such insights into the mechanisms regulating the development of neuronal cells in the brain may help inform future strategies for generating specific neural cell types from embryonic stem cells (ESCs). https://phys.org/news/2026-05-mobile-dna-elements-gene-regulatory.html Evolution Tue, 12 May 2026 15:40:06 EDT news697814641 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 Throughout history, most of the world's genomic research has relied on DNA data from people of European ancestry. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-africa-world-greatest-genetic-diversity.html Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 12 May 2026 14:00:03 EDT news697809062 The world's oceans are losing oxygen—and rapidly. The principal cause is the increasing warming of the oceans, which reduces the solubility of oxygen in water and increases respiratory activity. In addition, it strengthens stratification of the water column, making it harder for deep and surface water to mix. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-climate-oxygen-deficiency-metabolic-ocean.html Environment Tue, 12 May 2026 10:20:11 EDT news697797739 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 On the western side of Lake Macquarie in New South Wales, Australia, sits Myuna Bay, a quiet bay with meadows of seagrass waving beneath the water. The most common marine plant species you find there is Zostera muelleri. It has long ribbon-like leaves that grow from stems (called rhizomes) buried beneath the sediment and provides important shelter for small fish, shrimp and crabs. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-beneath-seagrass-meadows-shift-seas.html Environment Sun, 10 May 2026 18:30:01 EDT news697284763 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 A Curtin University-led study has revealed the extraordinary biodiversity hidden in deep underwater canyons off Western Australia's Nyinggulu (Ningaloo) coast, ranging from species previously undetected in the area, such as the elusive giant squid, to others thought to be new to science. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-giant-squid-rare-elusive-marine.html Ecology Tue, 05 May 2026 18:20:01 EDT news697209841 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 scientist J. Craig Venter and his team announced in 2010 that they had created the first cell controlled by a fully synthetic genome, it marked a turning point in how scientists think about life. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-synthetic-biology-rewrite-life-death.html Biotechnology Sun, 03 May 2026 13:00:01 EDT news696840098 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 Scientists at Université de Montréal's Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer have developed a new database that integrates the molecular structure of microRNAs and messenger RNAs to systematically model their interactions. Called RIMap-RISC and developed by Ph.D. student Simon Chasles in the laboratory of UdeM professor François Major, director of IRIC's RNA engineering research unit, the database is detailed in a study published in Genome Biology. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-interface-rna-biology.html Molecular & Computational biology Sat, 02 May 2026 16:00:01 EDT news696769987 Extracellular vesicles, or EVs, are tiny membrane-bound particles released by nearly all cells. They carry proteins, RNA, lipids, and other biological cargo that reflect the condition of their parent cells. Because EVs circulate in blood, urine, and other body fluids, scientists see them as promising biomarkers for diagnosing diseases without invasive biopsies. However, traditional laboratory methods such as Western blotting and ELISA analyze EVs in bulk, averaging signals across millions of particles and often missing rare but clinically important subpopulations. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-vesicle-profiling-liquid-biopsies-everyday.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 30 Apr 2026 17:20:06 EDT news696784501