Microplastic pollution in the Gulf of Mexico is contaminating Texas oysters and causing biochemical stress and physiological damage

A two-year collaboration between Anindilyakwa Land and Sea Rangers and UTS scientists has delivered the first comprehensive scientific baseline for the corals around the Groote Archipelago in Australia's Northern Territory.

Growth delay, muscle hypotonia, craniofacial abnormalities, cognitive impairment, and heart defects: these are the key manifestations of Kabuki syndrome, a rare genetic disorder affecting 1 in 30,000 newborns. The condition is caused by mutations in a gene (KMT2D) that encodes a protein called MLL4, which is involved in organizing chromatin — the complex of DNA and proteins within the cell nucleus. A promising breakthrough in understanding the disease and its underlying causes comes from research led by the University of Trento (UniTrento), revealing a previously unknown mechanism that links chromatin alterations to defects in the cellular response to mechanical stimuli.

How cells respond to the leukemia drug 6-thioguanine still holds surprises: A new study, led jointly by researchers from CeMM and the University of Oxford identifies NUDT5 as an unexpected regulator of drug sensitivity and reveals that its role has nothing to do with its enzymatic activity. Published in Nature Communications (DOI 10.1038/s41467-026-74489-9), the findings combine targeted protein degradation, medicinal chemistry and genetic experiments to uncover a previously hidden layer of thiopurine biology and further challenge traditional views of how enzymes function in cells.

When shopping for a new appliance, choosing a movie to watch or even ordering a cup of coffee, people often experience “choice overload.” New research from the Smithsonian suggests that female Cope’s gray treefrogs face a similar challenge when selecting a mate. In a study published today in iScience, researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the University of Tennessee found that when female treefrogs are confronted with too many males calls at once, they become less likely to successfully choose a mate.

After tracking birds in the Puget Sound lowlands for 12 years, researchers conclude that birds respond better to some development configurations than others, highlighting measures developers can take to protect native species while still meeting the region’s growing demands.

Professor Yanliang Zhang and colleagues have created a novel hybrid bioprinting technique that produces vascular networks containing capillaries fewer than 10 micrometers in diameter—smaller than that of the finest human hair—completing a crucial step in realizing lab-grown organs.

As mice age, their total egg reserve collapses around tenfold. Yet, according to a new study in Nature Ageing, the proportion of eggs in the brief window where a follicle is shifting from dormant to growing stays constant throughout life, at approximately 14%. The finding challenges the perception that ovaries are a passive reservoir of eggs. The authors of the study reframe the female reproductive organ as an actively monitored system and suggest the ovary could be counting its own egg supply because of a yet-to-be-identified hormone or neuronal signalling. The discovery was possible thanks to the first complete three-dimensional map of how a mammalian ovary changes across its reproductive lifespan.