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Biology

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 22-Jun-2026 04:16 ET (22-Jun-2026 08:16 GMT/UTC)

Brain enzyme caught doing something unexpected — it builds polysialic acid on itself

Nagoya University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A chance discovery at Nagoya University in Japan has shown a well-known brain enzyme has a hidden ability: it builds a sugar chain on itself, becomes secreted from the cell and deactivates, then switches on outside the cell once the chain is removed. The finding, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, overturns a decades-old assumption about how polysialic acid, a sugar chain critical for brain development and function, is produced and shows a new way an enzyme can regulate its own activity.

Journal: Journal of Biological Chemistry
Funder: Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED), Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society of the Promotion of Science, CIBoG program, Nagoya University

AI unlocks the secrets of viruses: Birth of large protein structures for vaccine delivery

Pohang University of Science & Technology (POSTECH)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

- Prof. Sangmin Lee of POSTECH publishes findings in Nature, the world's most prestigious academic journal, through joint research with Prof. David Baker of the University of Washington, Nobel Prize laureate.

- Viral structural principles reproduced using AI, with promising applications as next-generation drug delivery systems.

Journal: Nature

New trial aims to extend immune system lifespan

University College London
Business Announcement

A first-in-human clinical trial of an immune rejuvenation therapy designed to restore the function of worn-out T cells is expected to begin later this year, building on research led by UCL scientists into the mechanisms of immune ageing.

Scientists just found something weird inside moss

University of California - Riverside
Peer-Reviewed Publication

UC Riverside researchers present evidence, that has not been previously documented, that desert mosses host fungi living inside their tissues.

Journal: New Phytologist

Like humans, great apes think differently from each other

Association for Psychological Science
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study assesses how cognitive skills of great apes vary between individuals.

Journal: Psychological Science

Ebola virus hides in the central nervous system, according to new research led by microbiologists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

International team uses cerebral organoids to better understand virus biology

Journal: Nature Microbiology

Machine-learning how to overcome antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea

Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard
Peer-Reviewed Publication

With tens of millions of annual cases, gonorrhea is the second most frequently reported sexually transmitted infection (STI). Alone in the U.S., over 600,000 cases are reported each year. If left untreated, gonorrhea can result in a plethora of serious health issues. The major challenge in more effectively controlling the disease lies in the ability of the responsible pathogen to rapidly develop resistance against newly available antibiotics.

Now, a new study published in Science Translational Medicine led by Wyss Institute Core Faculty member James Collins, Ph.D. at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University, MIT, and Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard offers an exciting new AI-enabled strategy to identify new chemical compounds that could be further developed into antibiotic therapies for N. gonorrhoeae.

Journal: Science Translational Medicine

Insect-eating bats may be helpful consumers of pests of crops including grapevines, orchard fruits, and vegetables, per study following six horseshoe bat colonies in northern Spain

PLOS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Insect-eating bats may be helpful consumers of pests of crops including grapevines, orchard fruits, and vegetables, per study following six horseshoe bat colonies in northern Spain

Journal: PLOS One

Researchers receive $4 million to improve endangered species management on military lands

Virginia Tech
Grant and Award Announcement

A pair of $2 million grants was awarded to projects in Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment, to support research to improve how military lands are managed for threatened and endangered species by looking at ways to manage the entire ecosystem, rather than devise a specific plan for each species.

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