New research has shown that bio-based fibres caused higher mortality, and reduced growth and reproductivity, among earthworms - a species critical to the health of soils globally - than conventional plastics. It has led scientists to suggest that materials being advocated as alternatives to plastic should be tested thoroughly before they are used extensively in a range of products. The study was carried out as part of the BIO-PLASTIC-RISK project, led by researchers at the University of Plymouth and the University of Bath, and supported with £2.6million funding by the Natural Environmental Research Council.

In a breakthrough study published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers have shown that, contrary to most projections, coral reefs are not inevitably doomed, but have the potential to persist and adapt over time, if carbon emissions are curbed and local stressors are addressed.

A team led by researchers at the University of Toronto has uncovered new targets that could be the key to effectively treating glioblastoma, a lethal type of brain cancer. These targets were identified through a screen for genetic vulnerabilities in patient-derived cancer stem cells that represent the variability found in tumours.

The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) is pleased to announce the recipient of the inaugural George M. Martin Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award: Steven N. Austad, PhD, Protective Life Endowed Chair in Healthy Aging Research and a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). The award recognizes individuals who during their careers have demonstrated extraordinary mentorship in the field of aging research

In a new study, Arizona State University researcher Michael Lynch explores the substantial energy demands required to maintain and evolve multicellular life. The study, using the water flea Daphnia as a model organism, reveals that multicellular organisms require significantly more energy than single-celled ones. In fact, studies show that these organisms require more than a tenfold increase in energy compared with protists — simpler, mostly single-celled organisms.

Researchers from the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and the University of Rome Tor Vergata in Italy have developed synthetic genes that function like the genes in living cells. The artificial genes can build intracellular structures through a cascading sequence that builds self-assembling structures piece by piece. The discovery offers a path toward using a suite of simple building blocks that can be programmed to make complex biomolecular materials, such as nanoscale tubes from DNA tiles. The same components can also be programmed to break up the design for different materials. 

A German-American research team has discovered two remarkable species of bacteria in the tissue of two deep-sea corals from the Gulf of Mexico. These previously unknown symbionts of the corals have an extremely small genome and can't even produce energy from carbohydrates, the team reports in the journal Nature Communications. The bacteria species belong to a new family.