EurekAlert! News by Subject: Biology - News by Subject: Biology

Biology

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 21-Dec-2025 23:11 ET (22-Dec-2025 04:11 GMT/UTC)

Groundbreaking AI aims to speed lifesaving therapies

Virginia Tech
Peer-Reviewed Publication

To solve a problem, we have to see it clearly. Whether it’s an infection by a novel virus or memory-stealing plaques forming in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, visualizing disease processes in the body is the first step toward alleviating human suffering. It’s also often the most difficult and costly. But an artificial intelligence (AI) breakthrough by Virginia Tech computer scientists published Sept. 16 in Cell Systems — a high-impact journal dedicated to biological research — is bringing those fog-bound processes into focus.

Journal: Cell Systems

Scientists create a mathematical model that explains esophageal motility disorders

Kyushu University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at Kyushu University in Japan have developed a mathematical model that recreates the muscle movements of the esophagus that occur during swallowing. The model, reported in Royal Society Open Science, also replicates muscle dynamics seen in various esophageal motility disorders, revealing insights into their underlying causes and opening up new avenues for treatment.

Journal: Royal Society Open Science
Funder: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development

New approach improves right whale distribution models

Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers have published a new approach for incorporating more direct information on zooplankton prey to improve model predictions in models that estimate North Atlantic right whale density, which could in turn inform management efforts.

Journal: Endangered Species Research

Boston University receives major multimillion dollar NIH grant for women’s health research

Boston University
Grant and Award Announcement

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Boston University a prestigious $4.5 million BIRCWH grant to further women’s health research and spur career growth for young investigators.

Funder: NIH/Office of Research on Women's Health

Study highlights importance of dedicated exits for vulnerable populations in building evacuations

Nanjing Agricultural University The Academy of Science

A research team has demonstrated how advanced drone-based thermal imaging can be used to more accurately measure canopy temperature (CT) in wheat fields by disentangling experimental signals from environmental and technical noise.

Journal: Plant Phenomics

Study reveals how different messages motivate people to take conservation actions

Cornell University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New research finds that the types of messages shared can influence people’s willingness to change their behavior to prevent bird-window collisions.

Journal: Biological Conservation

Davor Solter and Azim Surani awarded the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize 2026

Goethe University Frankfurt
Grant and Award Announcement

Developmental biologists Davor Solter and Azim Surani will receive the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize 2026, the Scientific Council of the Paul Ehrlich Foundation announced today. The prizewinners discovered the phenomenon of genomic imprinting. In mammals, this means that the genetic materials of eggs and sperms are functionally different. In addition to their genetic information, some genes carry a molecular mark that prevents their genetic information to be active in the embryo. This why we need the full genetic input from both mother and father. This discovery shook the foundation of classical genetics and opened the door to the vast field of modern epigenetics.