Researchers at University of Iowa Health Care and colleagues at Texas Biomedical Research Institute and Boston University, have traced a cellular route Ebola virus (EBOV) uses to traverse the inner and outer layers of skin and emerge onto the skin’s surface. The study identifies new cell types within the skin that are targeted by EBOV during infection and shows that human skin specimens actively support EBOV infection. Overall, the findings, suggest that the skin’s surface may be one route of person-to-person transmission.

Drosophila melanogaster, the fruit fly, has long been a model species for biologists seeking to understand the molecular mechanisms of animal function and how novelty may arise in organisms. Theoretical physicist Andrea Liu of the University of Pennsylvania is conducting research on the insect, along with biology and experimental biophysics collaborators at Duke University. Their research has opened the door to an approach that could offer not only a new understanding of how biological function emerges but also suggest a new class of systems in condensed matter physics. 

Meta-analysis of past studies conducted by University of Utah researchers calculates reduced risk of certain cancers for coffee and tea drinkers.