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 from Monash University, in collaboration with the University of Warwick, have discovered how the bacterial antibiotic "gladiolin" can disarm Candida albicans, one of the leading causes of life-threatening fungal infections, opening new avenues for developing life-saving treatments. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-discovery-scientists-deadly-fungal-infections.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 19 Aug 2026 18:00:01 EDT news706364881 Quantum computers hold great promise for applications from drug discovery to cybersecurity. Yet figuring out what would give quantum computers their edge over everyday "classical" computers is a subtle problem. A new theoretical study led by researchers at the Cavendish Laboratory shows that quantum computers are harder to make powerful than previously assumed while offering the clearest picture yet of what actually makes them work. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-bit-magic-secret-quantum-negativity.html Quantum Physics Wed, 19 Aug 2026 16:40:04 EDT news706361343 As antimicrobial resistance grows around the world, novel therapies to counter it become increasingly important. Phages—viruses that infect bacteria—are an exciting avenue of research in this regard, providing a means to selectively kill pathogenic bacteria, even those resistant to traditional antibiotics. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-viral-loose-cannon-enzyme-phages.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 19 Aug 2026 16:20:04 EDT news706360571 Researchers at Nagoya University in Japan in collaboration with FUJIFILM have developed a novel way of delivering circular RNA (cirRNA) into cells, paving the way for longer-lasting mRNA-based therapeutics including cancer vaccines and GLP-1 obesity treatments. The research is published in Cell Biomaterials. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-lipid-nanoparticle-capped-circular-rna.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 19 Aug 2026 11:00:21 EDT news706201501 University of Birmingham scientists have developed a new material that changes from a gel to a liquid-like state under ultraviolet light and can be rebuilt using heat or dismantled by acid. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-switchable-smart-gel-pave-gen.html Polymers Tue, 18 Aug 2026 16:50:04 EDT news706286522 A research team has developed a new molecular editing strategy that can directly convert pyridine compounds into their positional isomers. Instead of moving individual substituents around the molecule, the method relocates the nitrogen atom within the pyridine ring itself, allowing existing molecular structures to be reorganized while preserving their substituents. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-nitrogen-pyridine-path-molecular.html Biochemistry Tue, 18 Aug 2026 16:00:08 EDT news706272901 The complete genome of the tuberculosis bacterium was sequenced and published in 1998. Since then, scientists have deciphered about two-thirds of TB's genes. Or have they? https://phys.org/news/2026-08-tb-gene-reveals-unexpected-biological.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 17 Aug 2026 15:00:06 EDT news705927228 Iron is essential. Our cells need it to produce energy, carry oxygen throughout the body and power countless chemical reactions that sustain life. But this metal has a dark side. When too much of it is left free inside cells, it can trigger destructive reactions that break down DNA, proteins and even cell membranes. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-cells-molecule-iron-overload.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 14 Aug 2026 11:00:03 EDT news705749897 Scientists often describe life as a series of chemical reactions. Pallav Kosuri, Ph.D., describes life as movement. Chemical reactions are how you drive the movement of atoms, proteins, cells and bodies—without movement, there is no life. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-tiny-dna-rotor-microscopes-track.html Biotechnology Fri, 14 Aug 2026 10:40:02 EDT news705921781 Every 15 minutes, someone in the U.S. dies from a drug-resistant superbug. A few decades from now, antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections threaten to become the leading cause of death worldwide, outpacing cancer. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-mutation-hotspots-friendly-viruses-outmaneuver.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 13 Aug 2026 17:50:01 EDT news705860402 Like a delivery driver navigating crowded city streets, a gene-therapy-toting lipid nanoparticle faces a gauntlet of potential detours on its journey toward a cell's nucleus. First, there's entering the cell's plasma membrane; then navigating around organelles like the Golgi apparatus, mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum—all destinations that can errantly absorb the particle's payload, rendering it ineffective at best or harmful at worst. And that's all before the particle even enters the nucleus and successfully makes a genetic change. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-crispr-roadblocks-scientists-genes-blocking.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 13 Aug 2026 13:00:03 EDT news705841141 Designing an effective antibody drug is like searching for the right key in a warehouse of locks. Scientists may begin with millions—or even billions—of antibody candidates, but only a tiny fraction will recognize and bind tightly to the disease target. Identifying those rare candidates has long been one of the biggest challenges in developing antibody medicines. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ai-biology-antibodies-drug-discovery.html Biotechnology Thu, 13 Aug 2026 05:00:03 EDT news705763776 Long before humans discovered biodegradable plastics, microorganisms had already invented their own. Many bacteria and archaea produce natural bioplastics called polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), storing them inside their cells as reserves of carbon and energy. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-nature-bioplastic-fed-animals-hundreds.html Evolution Thu, 13 Aug 2026 05:00:01 EDT news705655861 Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have developed a simpler way to produce a fast-growing class of targeted cancer therapies, a discovery that could make the medicines easier to manufacture consistently while driving the development of new treatment options. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-sugar-swap-production-cancer-therapies.html Biochemistry Wed, 12 Aug 2026 16:30:01 EDT news705769201 More than 100,000 people are awaiting an organ transplant in the United States, with a new candidate added to the list every 10 minutes. Even if the transplant is carried out successfully, recipients must take immunosuppressive medications, elevating their risk of broader infections, and adhere to a strict lifestyle for the rest of their lives—all while facing the possibility that their body could reject the donated organ at any time. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-hybrid-bioprinter-capillary-networks-narrower.html Biotechnology Wed, 12 Aug 2026 13:40:06 EDT news705752101 The decades-old scientific quest to create brand-new proteins has been turbocharged in the era of artificial intelligence. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-qa-deploying-ai-proteins-nature.html Biotechnology Wed, 12 Aug 2026 13:40:04 EDT news705756123 Scientists have long been fascinated by two promising classes of antibiotics that disable RNA polymerase (RNAP). They knew that these drugs could grind gene expression to a halt in several pathogens, including the bacterium behind tuberculosis, by binding to specific locations in RNAP. But despite decades of study, a key question remained: What process are the drugs actually targeting? https://phys.org/news/2026-08-scientists-uncover-hidden-mechanism-rna.html Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 11 Aug 2026 14:20:01 EDT news705667982 Every living cell, from the simplest bacterium to a human neuron, relies on the same basic machinery to read, interpret, and use its DNA. This molecular machinery is so fundamental that life as we know it cannot exist without it. And because it is so essential, it has long been a target for drugs; it shuts down a bacterium's ability to access its own genes and it quickly dies. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-pathogens-dna-qa-biologist.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 11 Aug 2026 07:00:03 EDT news705641102 For most healthy people, Cryptococcus is an unnoticed infection. The immune system walls it off in the lungs and keeps it dormant for life. But in patients undergoing cancer chemotherapy, recovering from an organ transplant, living with HIV or taking newer immunosuppressing drugs for autoimmune disease, the fungus can reactivate, spread to the brain and cause meningitis. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-uncovering-cryptococcus-shifts-silent-infection.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 10 Aug 2026 17:30:01 EDT news705600902 In a world first, scientists led by a team from Stanford University have created 16 viable viruses that do not exist in nature and were designed by AI. Their experiment, which is published in Science, could help in the fight against superbugs by allowing researchers to design customized viruses to kill drug-resistant bacteria. Thomas Inglesby and Moritz S. Hanke have published a Perspective piece on the work and its implications in the same edition of the journal. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-sixteen-ai-viruses-route-drug.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 10 Aug 2026 07:00:01 EDT news705314814 Investigators at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have developed a platform for systematically discovering molecular glues that could become protein degradation drug candidates. The platform could help drug developers dramatically expand the range of disease-related proteins that can be therapeutically targeted for elimination via protein degradation. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-metabolically-molecular-degrader-cancer-cells.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 06 Aug 2026 14:20:04 EDT news705237301 Nanoscience, which studies small objects, has a big problem. According to a team of scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the field confronts a pervasive data analysis error that can give misleading insights into how these tiny objects' properties depend on their size. The team also offers a practical solution—a mathematical correction that can reveal how these materials truly behave. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-sizing-errors-true-nanoparticle-behavior.html Nanomaterials Thu, 06 Aug 2026 03:00:02 EDT news705141061 Cancer cells have a voracious appetite for sugar—using it to fuel their rapid growth. This is why many scientists have tried to develop drugs that block cancer cells' metabolism by cutting off their sugar supply. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-experimental-drug-cancer-favorite-fuel.html Biochemistry Wed, 05 Aug 2026 18:20:06 EDT news705160922 A research team from AIST, the Institute of Science Tokyo, and Ritsumeikan University has demonstrated that the phase behavior of histone–DNA condensates depends on the site of histone acetylation. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-histone-acetylation-sites-reshape-dna.html Biochemistry Wed, 05 Aug 2026 17:00:03 EDT news705163682 Using simple artificial cells, a research group led by Makito Miyazaki of the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences (IMS) in Japan has uncovered fundamental physical principles that govern how living cells change their shape. By combining experiments with computer simulations and theoretical analysis conducted in collaboration with Purdue University, the researchers showed how a cell's actin cytoskeleton—the network of protein fibers that gives it its shape—can generate cell-scale shape changes and front-rear polarity without relying on complex biochemical signaling. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-artificial-cells-reveal.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 05 Aug 2026 16:40:07 EDT news705154695 In early 2025, special signals wended their way through a fiber-optic highway strung above the streets and sidewalks of the Maryland suburbs. The arrival of those signals at their destination marks a significant step toward a long-held dream of building a "quantum network." Researchers believe that this emerging technology could someday link quantum devices in ways that supercharge scientific research, enable ultrasecure communications and boost the power of future quantum computers. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-spooky-particles-transit-dc-suburbs.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 05 Aug 2026 16:30:01 EDT news705164821 Two plants that cause neurotoxicity and paralysis in the tiniest doses are also known to counter pain, malaria, cancer and pests. For the first time, researchers discovered a way to recreate these powerful compounds in the lab, helping lead the way to improved, naturally sourced therapeutics. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-deadly-blooms-genetic-blueprint-hard.html Agriculture Sat, 01 Aug 2026 07:00:06 EDT news704728495 Researchers at the University of Tartu have discovered a mechanism in bacteria that helps them adapt to fluoride, which is toxic to most organisms above relatively low threshold concentrations. Their discovery may represent a significant milestone in bioindustry, as it could help reduce the use of petrochemical products. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-backup-fluoride-defense-soil-bacteria.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 31 Jul 2026 15:20:03 EDT news704720281 The creation of fully artificial organs is a sci-fi dream, and researchers in Japan may have brought it one step closer to reality by developing a new photofabrication technique (i.e., a light-controlled synthetic method) for constructing arteriole-scale tubular hydrogels. Their research is published in the journal Advanced Materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-closer-artificial-uv-arteriole-scale.html Biotechnology Wed, 29 Jul 2026 16:40:06 EDT news704550301 Researchers at the University of Warwick and spinout company Verdel Instruments have successfully demonstrated two-dimensional mass spectrometry (2DMS) on a benchtop instrument, making this powerful technique practical and affordable for everyday laboratory use. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-advanced-mass-spectrometry-technique-free.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 29 Jul 2026 09:20:02 EDT news704531582