{"@attributes":{"version":"2.0"},"channel":{"title":"Biology News - Evolution, Cell theory, Gene theory, Microbiology, Biotechnology","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/biology-news\/","language":"en-us","description":"Read the latest science news from Phys.org on biology, evolution, microbiology, biotechnology","item":[{"title":"Medieval pandemic left a hidden legacy in Europe's oldest trees","description":"A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences demonstrates how radiocarbon dating can reveal the maximum lifespan of Mediterranean hardwoods, uncovering hidden links between human history and long-term ecosystem dynamics. By analyzing mature and ancient oak trees across Italy, researchers found that a millennium of age is attainable from the Mediterranean coast to mountain environments.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-medieval-pandemic-left-hidden-legacy.html","category":"Plants & Animals","pubDate":"Sat, 06 Jun 2026 19:40:01 EDT","guid":"news699875318"},{"title":"120,000-year-old European fallow deer\u2014tracing the loss of genetic diversity","description":"European fallow deer have faced a dramatic loss of genetic diversity since the last interglacial period. This was revealed by 120,000-year-old fossils from central Germany's Neumark-Nord site in Saxony-Anhalt, analyzed by researchers from the University of Potsdam, the MONREPOS Research Center and Museum in Neuwied, and Leiden University. Their results have been published in the journal iScience. Modern fallow deer thus represent just a fraction of their Ice Age ancestors' variety. The study highlights how climate and human actions substantially reshaped a once-diverse species and may help inform conservation action.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-year-european-fallow-deer-loss.html","category":"Plants & Animals","pubDate":"Sat, 06 Jun 2026 17:40:02 EDT","guid":"news699874805"},{"title":"Previously unknown detoxification pathway for chloromethane revealed","description":"Chloromethane is a gas that is toxic to humans and contributes to the depletion of the ozone layer. It is produced during the combustion of coal, biomass and other raw materials. Natural sources such as algae, plants and fungi also release it. A research team led by biologist Prof. Julia Kurth from the University of M\u00fcnster has discovered and characterized a previously unknown enzyme system in anaerobic bacteria of the species Acetobacterium dehalogenans. This system converts the gas into nontoxic substances. The results, published in the journal Nature Communications, are of interest for environmental remediation, climate research and biotechnology.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-previously-unknown-detoxification-pathway-chloromethane.html","category":"Molecular & Computational biology","pubDate":"Sat, 06 Jun 2026 15:00:01 EDT","guid":"news699874689"},{"title":"Sweet basil carbon dots show potential for sustainable agriculture","description":"What if a common herb found in the kitchen could help farmers grow healthier crops? As the global population grows and agriculture faces increasing environmental challenges, scientists are searching for innovative ways to improve crop productivity while reducing reliance on chemical inputs.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-sweet-basil-carbon-dots-potential.html","category":"Biotechnology","pubDate":"Sat, 06 Jun 2026 12:40:02 EDT","guid":"news699871272"},{"title":"Why do rival plants coexist? The secret is in the soil beneath the oaks","description":"How can plants that compete for the same resources grow in the same area without one driving the other to extinction? Ecologists have been trying to answer this question for decades, and a surprising new explanation has now emerged: the soil surrounding oak trees acts as a silent mediator that restrains the dominant species and gives an advantage to weaker ones, allowing both to coexist.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-rival-coexist-secret-soil-beneath.html","category":"Plants & Animals","pubDate":"Fri, 05 Jun 2026 20:00:01 EDT","guid":"news699875509"},{"title":"Hagfish fossils reveal stepwise eye simplification before near-total vision loss","description":"Many animals, including humans, rely on their eyes to detect changes in their surroundings. The eyes of vertebrates, animals with a backbone or a similar supporting structure, contain a transparent structure (i.e., the lens) that focuses incoming light onto a layer of light-sensitive cells, known as the retina. Cells in the retina then convert light into signals that are sent to the brain.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-hagfish-fossils-reveal-stepwise-eye.html","category":"Evolution","pubDate":"Fri, 05 Jun 2026 15:20:01 EDT","guid":"news699796418"},{"title":"Dengue is no longer just a travel risk\u2014what Google's mosquito plan could mean for your summer","description":"This is not science fiction or some perverse prank. A Silicon Valley tech giant is seeking federal approval to release up to 64 million sterilized male mosquitoes in California and Florida over the next two years.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-dengue-longer-google-mosquito-summer.html","category":"Ecology","pubDate":"Fri, 05 Jun 2026 14:40:02 EDT","guid":"news699885963"},{"title":"Europe's aversion to eating insects may have deep ecological and evolutionary roots","description":"In recent years, human population growth, coupled with the climate crisis, environmental pressures, and current production and consumption patterns, has driven the search for alternative food sources. With 1,611 insect species listed as edible, organizations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have proposed insects as a sustainable food source.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-europe-aversion-insects-deep-ecological.html","category":"Ecology","pubDate":"Fri, 05 Jun 2026 14:00:01 EDT","guid":"news699791942"},{"title":"RNA-guided transposon mechanics show use of figure-eight intermediate and direct-transfer route","description":"IS110 transposons are a large, diverse family of bacterial insertion sequences (IS elements)\u2014small, mobile DNA elements that can move from one genomic location to another. They have recently attracted broad interest due to the finding that some of these transposons use a bridge RNA (bRNA) to recognize both donor DNA and target DNA.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-rna-transposon-mechanics-figure-intermediate.html","category":"Cell & Microbiology","pubDate":"Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:40:08 EDT","guid":"news699882121"},{"title":"Visual AI tracks nearly 100 wildlife species to improve conservation","description":"Wildlife research projects worldwide could benefit from a new AI system which can automatically find, name, and follow individual animals in footage.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-visual-ai-tracks-wildlife-species.html","category":"Ecology","pubDate":"Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:00:04 EDT","guid":"news699881221"},{"title":"Hawai'i's last false killer whales threatened by nutritional stress and warming seas","description":"A seven-year collaborative study has revealed alarming fluctuations in the health of Hawaii's endangered insular false killer whales, with some individuals losing nearly a quarter of their body weight in just a few months. Published in Endangered Species Research, the findings provide the first quantitative evidence that nutritional stress and environmental shifts may be driving the decline of this iconic population, which now numbers fewer than 140 individuals.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-hawaii-false-killer-whales-threatened.html","category":"Plants & Animals","pubDate":"Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:20:01 EDT","guid":"news699875865"},{"title":"How the body creates reliable antibodies out of biological chaos","description":"A new study tracking thousands of B cells across more than 100 germinal centers in mice reveals how the system consistently produces highly effective antibodies. The findings overturn longstanding ideas about how germinal centers function, revealing that they are far more selective than once thought, and challenges the idea that antibody improvement is driven mainly by rare growth \"bursts\" among the most successful B cells.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-body-reliable-antibodies-biological-chaos.html","category":"Evolution","pubDate":"Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:00:01 EDT","guid":"news699781741"},{"title":"'The Heaven Sword' crowned as East Asia's tallest tree after a nearly decade-long search","description":"Taiwan, historically known as Formosa, holds a secret deep within its rugged interior: it is one of the rare locations on Earth  capable of supporting \"giant\" trees\u2014specimens that tower over 80 meters in height. Since 2014, a dedicated group, the \"Taiwan tree seekers,\" has been on a mission to locate and document these sky-piercing giants. The multidisciplinary team is a unique blend of professional tree climbers, ecologists, geologists, and remote sensing specialists.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-heaven-sword-crowned-east-asia.html","category":"Plants & Animals","pubDate":"Fri, 05 Jun 2026 00:00:01 EDT","guid":"news699781621"},{"title":"Rice\u2013fish co-culturing could help curb schistosomiasis while increasing food production","description":"The chronic disease schistosomiasis wreaks havoc on more than 220 million people around the world, with the vast majority of cases being in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite decades of mass drug administration campaigns, schistosomiasis remains one of the world's most widespread neglected tropical diseases. Rice farmers and their families are particularly at risk, as the parasitic worms that cause the disease are spread by freshwater snails found in the standing water of rice fields.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-ricefish-culturing-curb-schistosomiasis-food.html","category":"Ecology","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 19:20:02 EDT","guid":"news699807901"},{"title":"Deep-sea discovery uncovers new family of copepods near Greenland","description":"An international research team, including Dr. Nancy Mercado Salas from the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change (LIB), has described a new family of copepods (Copepoda). The discovery was made at a depth of more than 2,500 meters in the Irminger Basin, southeast of Greenland, and provides new insights into the evolution of a group of animals that has hitherto been poorly understood. The findings are published in the journal PeerJ.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-deep-sea-discovery-uncovers-family.html","category":"Evolution","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:00:03 EDT","guid":"news699804601"},{"title":"Novel synthetic biomolecule degrades disease-related proteins","description":"Northwestern Medicine scientists have developed a novel synthetic biomolecular condensate that can degrade intracellular disease-causing proteins, providing a framework for new therapeutic approaches for a wide range of diseases, as detailed in a recent study published in Nature Communications.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-synthetic-biomolecule-degrades-disease-proteins.html","category":"Biotechnology","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 17:40:05 EDT","guid":"news699804361"},{"title":"The best pollinators can drive evolutionary changes in flowers","description":"A new study by plant biologists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, challenges a longstanding idea that stems from the large number of flowers in the mountains of Central and South America that have evolved to be pollinated by hummingbirds instead of bees. According to the research team, flowers make this switch\u2014not because bees avoid cool, wet cloud forest conditions at higher elevations\u2014but because hummingbirds are simply more effective pollinators.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-pollinators-evolutionary.html","category":"Evolution","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 17:00:04 EDT","guid":"news699801783"},{"title":"Rare wild goats in Northumberland prove to be a genetically distinct breed","description":"New research shows Cheviot goats are one of the UK's most genetically distinct goat populations. Led by Newcastle University, this is the first genetic study to determine the ancestry and genetic health of a UK feral goat population. It provides a genetic assessment of the Cheviot goats in Northumberland's College Valley, identifying them as a historically significant and genetically distinct population unlike the other European goat breeds.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-rare-wild-goats-northumberland-genetically.html","category":"Plants & Animals","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 16:40:03 EDT","guid":"news699801481"},{"title":"Overlooked DNA structures help organize the genome","description":"Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered that little-studied DNA structures play a central role in organizing the human genome and controlling gene activity, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study revealed that G-quadruplexes (G4s)\u2014four-stranded DNA structures\u2014directly interact with a key genome-organizing protein called CTCF, helping shape how DNA folds inside the cell and how genes are turned on or off.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-overlooked-dna-genome.html","category":"Cell & Microbiology","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 16:00:04 EDT","guid":"news699795302"},{"title":"Newfound velociraptor cousin probably glided on four 'wings' and hunted early birds","description":"A fossil bed in northwestern China is littered with the remains of hundreds of prehistoric birds\u2014including some whose broken bones were crushed into pellets, similar to those coughed up by modern owls. For years, scientists guessed that a larger predatory animal must have hunted these ancient birds, but they never found direct fossil evidence of this predator.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-newfound-velociraptor-cousin-glided-wings.html","category":"Paleontology & Fossils","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 14:20:04 EDT","guid":"news699792422"},{"title":"Bumble bees show spontaneous problem-solving, challenging big-brain assumptions","description":"In a new study, bumble bees solve a completely novel object-manipulation task. What makes this behavior especially remarkable is that the bees had never been trained. The findings challenge the long-standing assumption that spontaneous problem-solving is restricted to humans and other large-brained vertebrates.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-bumble-bees-spontaneous-problem-big.html","category":"Plants & Animals","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 14:00:07 EDT","guid":"news699791281"},{"title":"Billions are going into fish passage projects, but planning methods can undercut results","description":"Fish that split their lives between fresh and salt water often face obstacles getting back and forth. Dams and roads fracture river networks and interfere with traditional migratory routes, sparking concerns about fish health and abundance, as well as biodiversity on a broader scale.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-billions-fish-passage-methods-undercut.html","category":"Plants & Animals","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 13:20:03 EDT","guid":"news699790441"},{"title":"Costa Rica paid landowners to restore forests and biodiversity\u2014bioacoustics indicate that it worked","description":"Forest restoration can help fight climate change and restore lost biodiversity, but the satellite-based techniques used to measure successful forest restoration have been less-than-helpful for measuring changes in biodiversity. Instead, a team of researchers listened to the sounds of life in the restored forests. Their new study, published in Global Change Biology, reveals that forest restoration efforts in Costa Rica seem to be working to both regrow forests and restore lost biodiversity.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-costa-rica-paid-landowners-forests.html","category":"Plants & Animals","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 13:00:03 EDT","guid":"news699795468"},{"title":"DNA repair enzyme uses one-dimensional sliding to detect key sites, researchers reveal","description":"DNA is the blueprint of the human body. However, tens of thousands of DNA lesions occur in our bodies every day. In particular, if \"apurinic\/apyrimidinic sites\" (AP sites, damaged sites where one letter of DNA information has been erased) are not properly repaired, they can lead to cancer and aging.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-dna-enzyme-dimensional-key-sites.html","category":"Cell & Microbiology","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 12:40:05 EDT","guid":"news699789361"},{"title":"Not too sunny, not too shady, just right for Japanese macaques","description":"As climate change alters the temperatures of animal habitats, it seems natural that endotherms, warm-blooded animals, would prefer to hang out in the shade during hot weather. The use of microhabitats in the sun and shade is an important thermoregulatory behavior that has been reported across a wide range of animal species, and researchers are becoming increasingly interested in how animals\u2014especially those with long lifespans\u2014flexibly cope with thermal stress.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-sunny-shady-japanese-macaques.html","category":"Plants & Animals","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 11:20:01 EDT","guid":"news699782822"},{"title":"D&D-seq maps DNA-protein interactions in single cells with multi-omics compatibility","description":"A new technology allows scientists to map, in single cells, the DNA binding sites of transcription factors and other regulatory proteins that control gene activity, according to a study led by investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine and the New York Genome Center. With key advantages over methods currently in use, the technology is expected to be a powerful addition to biologists' toolkit for studying cells in health and disease.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-dd-seq-dna-protein-interactions.html","category":"Cell & Microbiology","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 11:00:01 EDT","guid":"news699716101"},{"title":"Why jellyfish can't rise to the surface","description":"Using box jellyfish as an example, researchers from Kiel University show how the physics of density, not behavior or physiology, can prevent animals from reaching the surface even as they actively swim upward.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-jellyfish-surface.html","category":"Plants & Animals","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 10:40:03 EDT","guid":"news699782281"},{"title":"Endangered basking sharks rely on the ocean twilight zone during long-distance migrations","description":"Endangered basking sharks aren't fasting during long-distance migrations. A new study led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution shows that they may be foraging along the way, and in much deeper areas of the ocean than previously thought. As filter feeders, this species is most often observed close to the surface, especially in waters off of New England, but data show markedly different behavior during their winter migrations to the Sargasso Sea and the Caribbean.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-endangered-basking-sharks-ocean-twilight.html","category":"Plants & Animals","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 09:20:05 EDT","guid":"news699780901"},{"title":"Majestic manta rays dive deep to survive storm events, data reveal","description":"New research led by the University of the Sunshine Coast has found that reef manta rays are diving deep in storm events to find food and stay alive. As World Environment Day is celebrated around the globe on June 5, the findings offer hope for the future of a species listed as vulnerable to extinction.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-majestic-manta-rays-deep-survive.html","category":"Plants & Animals","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 09:00:01 EDT","guid":"news699780482"},{"title":"Moms' learned fear of snakes gets inherited by offspring in a critically endangered mouse, biologists discover","description":"Conservationists often raise the young of endangered species in captivity before releasing them into suitable habitats as adults. The benefits are obvious: survival to adulthood is typically high, as captive animals are safe from predators and food scarcity. Unfortunately, a lack of exposure to enemies in early life may become a drawback later, if the released individuals have never learned to recognize and avoid their predators.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-moms-snakes-inherited-offspring-critically.html","category":"Plants & Animals","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 00:00:03 EDT","guid":"news699698521"}]}}