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Biology

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 30-Oct-2026 21:16 ET (31-Oct-2026 01:16 GMT/UTC)

When meat doesn’t matter: Female Guinea baboons do not prefer males who are better at acquiring or sharing meat

Deutsches Primatenzentrum (DPZ)/German Primate Center
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Meat is a rare and highly prized resource for wild Guinea baboons (Papio papio). Yet, contrary to long-standing assumptions based on human hunter-gatherer societies, a new study by the German Primate Center – Leibniz-Institute for Primate Research (DPZ) now reveals that female Guinea baboons do not preferentially choose males who are more skilled at acquiring meat as their mates. The research team led by William J. O’Hearn (DPZ & University of Exeter, UK) additionally shows that female Guinea baboons are less dependent on their primary male for access to meat than previously thought afterdocumenting the first-ever case of female-initiated prey capture. The results, now published in the American Journal of Biological Anthropology, throw new light on the evolutionary origins of meat provisioning as a male quality signal in primates.

Journal: American Journal of Biological Anthropology

“Silent DNA switches” in heart development may trigger rare birth defect ——New study links noncoding mutations near TBX1 to tetralogy of Fallot

Science China Press
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers identified functional noncoding variants in an enhancer of TBX1 that may contribute to tetralogy of Fallot, the most common cyanotic congenital heart defect. Using whole-genome sequencing in 428 patients and blood vessel organoids, the study shows that disruption of this enhancer reduces TBX1 expression and impairs vascular development linked to the cardiac outflow tract.

Journal: Science China Life Sciences

Brain possesses greater self-repair capacity than previously assumed

University of Zurich
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The brain evidently can regenerate itself better than previously assumed after injuries or certain autoimmune diseases. Using a mouse model, researchers at the University of Zurich have demonstrated that special supporting and nourishing cells repopulate damaged areas of the brain by initially sending only newly formed cell nuclei there.

Journal: Nature Neuroscience

Environmental eustress inhibits CCL2 to overcome doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity and alleviate tumor growth

Science China Press
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A team led by Academician Ge Junbo and Professor Sun Aijun at Fudan University reveals that environmental eustress attenuates doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity while enhancing antitumor effects via a hypothalamus-heart-tumor axis. Eustress upregulates hypothalamic BDNF, which activates TrkB receptors on cardiac resident macrophages to inhibit CCL2 secretion, thereby reducing pro-inflammatory Ly6C^highmonocyte/macrophage infiltration into heart tissue. In hepatocellular carcinoma models, eustress also downregulates tumor microenvironment CCL2, decreasing immunosuppressive G-MDSCs and M2 macrophages while increasing cytotoxic CD8+ T cells and M1 macrophages. CCL2 is identified as a core dual target for cardio-oncology intervention, providing a safe and accessible non-pharmacological strategy for preventing chemotherapy-related cardiac toxicity in cancer patients.

Journal: Science Bulletin

Researchers achieve long-lasting and renewable chemical production with photosynthetic microorganisms

University of Turku
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Finnish researchers have taken an important step toward long-lasting production of renewable chemicals and fuels using photosynthetic microorganisms. By entrapping cyanobacteria engineered for ethylene production in thin nanocellulose films, the researchers enabled sustained ethylene production for more than four months and generated approximately twice as much ethylene as comparable suspension cultures.

Journal: Trends in Biotechnology

New mountain dragon lizard from Thailand named after Syrax from House of the Dragon

Pensoft Publishers
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists have described a new species of lizard from the high mountain forests of western Thailand, and have given it a name straight out of fantasy television: Acanthosaura syrax, named after Syrax, the dragon ridden by Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon. The discovery has been published in the open-access, peer-reviewed ZooKeys journal.

Journal: ZooKeys

Rotational chair testing fills critical gaps in vestibular disorder care, comprehensive review finds

Higher Education Press
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A research team led by Ganggang Chen at the First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University has published a comprehensive review in ENT Discovery detailing the clinical applications of rotational chair testing for vestibular disorders. The paper synthesizes evidence on the test’s physiological basis, standardized protocols, diagnostic performance, and expanded use cases, positioning it as an indispensable tool that bridges the frequency domain gap between standard caloric testing and video head impulse tests (vHIT). The findings provide a roadmap for broader, more standardized implementation of the modality to improve diagnosis and rehabilitation guidance for patients with dizziness and vertigo.

Journal: ENT Discovery

Healthy lifestyle cuts hearing impairment risk by 14%, metabolism is key driver

Higher Education Press
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A research team led by Wenyan Li and Yanfeng Jiang at Fudan University has published study in ENT Discovery, quantifying how lifestyle influences hearing impairment and dissecting the mediating roles of inflammatory and metabolic biomarkers. Based on 441,844 UK Biobank participants followed for a median of 14.22 years, the study found that adherence to an ideal lifestyle was associated with a 14% lower risk of incident hearing impairment compared with a poor lifestyle. Mediation analyses showed metabolic biomarkers—particularly body mass index (BMI) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c)—accounted for the largest share of the association, while inflammatory pathways played a smaller secondary role. The findings offer mechanistic evidence supporting lifestyle-based interventions for hearing impairment prevention.

Journal: ENT Discovery

Higher doses of common fertility drug linked to pregnancy risks

Adelaide University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Around one in six people experience infertility, with irregular or absent ovulation among the most common causes. The drug clomiphene citrate has long been a mainstay of fertility treatment, but a growing body of Adelaide University research is raising safety concerns about higher cumulative doses.

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council, National Health and Medical Research Council