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

Biology

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 26-Oct-2025 05:11 ET (26-Oct-2025 09:11 GMT/UTC)

20-Jun-2025

Mutualism under pressure: new research in Panama shows a plant’s ability to keep its defender ants happy

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists discovered that swollen-thorn acacias invested more in ant rewards during a drought, suggesting that mutualistic interactions play a crucial role in the plant’s survival, even during climate stress

Journal: Oecologia

20-Jun-2025

Scientists at City of Hope discover how tiny parts of cells stay organized, adding new insights for blocking cancer growth

City of Hope
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A team of international researchers led by scientists at City of Hope provide the most thorough account yet of an elusive target for cancer treatment. Published today in Science Advances, the study suggests a complex signaling process involving paxillin, a focal adhesion protein that acts as a hub to connect with other proteins, may be vulnerable to therapy despite its fluid state.

Journal: Science Advances

20-Jun-2025

Island rivers carve passageways through coral reefs

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New research indicates reef passes — channels that cut through coral reefs and serve as conduits for ocean water and nutrients — are shaped by island rivers.

Journal: Geophysical Research Letters

20-Jun-2025

Global study reveals surprising flexibility in mosquito feeding patterns

Swansea University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a landmark global study, scientists have uncovered far greater diversity and flexibility in mosquito feeding patterns than previously thought, challenging long-held assumptions about how the disease-carrying insects select their hosts.

Published in Global Ecology and Biogeography, the findings highlight the pressing need to reconcile how we track and predict mosquito-driven disease transmission in a changing climate - which would have far-reaching implications for disease transmission.

Journal: Global Ecology and Biogeography
Funder: Australian Research Council, Royal Society

20-Jun-2025

Chromosomes and spindles in mature oocytes are stabilized by the histone modification

Kyushu University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

One of the causes of infertility is abnormal chromosome function in oocytes. New research from Kyushu University has revealed an unexpected novel function of the histone modification H3K4me3: stabilizing chromosomes and spindles in mature mouse oocytes.

Journal: Journal of Biological Chemistry
Funder: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Takeda Science Foundation, Naito Foundation

20-Jun-2025

The Barents Sea system – gateway to the changing Arctic

Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Book Announcement

Fritjof Nansen travelled the polar regions as both an explorer and a scientist. Ten Norwegian research institutions followed in Nansen’s footsteps in a collaborative investigation of the Barents Sea. Their 6-year effort has now been documented in a new book.

20-Jun-2025

Study shows tissues’ pliability depends on watery fluid between cells

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

MIT engineers found that fluid between cells plays a major role in how tissues respond when squeezed, pressed, or physically deformed, potentially influencing how they adapt to conditions such as aging, cancer, diabetes, and certain neuromuscular diseases.

Journal: Nature Physics
Funder: MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering