Mitochondria can sense bacteria and trigger your immune system to trap them – revealing new ways to treat infections and autoimmunity

Not only do mitochondria serve as the engine of the cell – they also act as watchtowers for the immune system.

Andrew Monteith, Assistant Professor of Microbiology, University of Tennessee • conversation
yesterday ~7 min

Neuropathic pain has no immediate cause – research on a brain receptor may help stop this hard-to-treat condition

Chronic pain affects millions of people in the US. Targeting an oft-overlooked brain receptor could one day offer relief.

Siddhesh Sabnis, Ph.D. Student in Medical Sciences, Texas A&M University • conversation
June 23, 2025 ~7 min


MIT engineers uncover a surprising reason why tissues are flexible or rigid

Watery fluid between cells plays a major role, offering new insights into how organs and tissues adapt to aging, diabetes, cancer, and more.

Jennifer Chu | MIT News • mit
June 20, 2025 ~7 min

When Earth iced over, early life may have sheltered in meltwater ponds

Modern-day analogs in Antarctica reveal ponds teeming with life similar to early multicellular organisms.

Jennifer Chu | MIT News • mit
June 19, 2025 ~8 min

50 years after ‘Jaws,’ researchers have retired the man-eater myth and revealed more about sharks’ amazing biology

A shark expert whose own curiosity about these fascinating fish was sparked by the movie explains some of their unique features. Many discoveries came in the decades after ‘Jaws.’

Gareth J. Fraser, Associate Professor of Evolutionary Developmental Biology, University of Florida • conversation
June 18, 2025 ~11 min

RNA has newly identified role: Repairing serious DNA damage to maintain the genome

Researchers discovered a previously unknown function of RNA, potentially opening the door to new ways to treat cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.

Francesca Storici, Professor of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology • conversation
June 16, 2025 ~6 min

Trade in a mythical fish is threatening real species of rays that are rare and at risk

They look like devils and hence are called pez diablo in Spanish, but these demonic objects are dried and mutilated versions of living rays known as guitarfish.

Peter Kyne, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow in Conservation Biology, Charles Darwin University • conversation
June 16, 2025 ~8 min

Ancient fossils show how the last mass extinction forever scrambled the ocean’s biodiversity

Not everything dies in a mass extinction. Sea life recovered in different and surprising ways after the asteroid strike 66 million years ago. Ancient fossils recorded it all.

Stewart Edie, Research Geologist and Curator of Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution • conversation
June 10, 2025 ~10 min


A bottlenose dolphin? Or Tursiops truncatus? Why biologists give organisms those strange, unpronounceable names

Some say Latin names are elitist and incomprehensible, but they started out as a way to be inclusive.

Nicholas Green, Assistant Professor of Biology, Kennesaw State University • conversation
June 3, 2025 ~8 min

It’s miller moth season in Colorado – an entomologist explains why they’re important and where they’re headed

Miller moths migrate through the state every summer and are sometimes considered to be a pest.

Ryan St Laurent, Assistant Professor of Biology, University of Colorado Boulder • conversation
June 3, 2025 ~8 min

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