Tag

Biology

All articles tagged with #biology

health24 minutes ago•7 min saved

DSM Goes Biologic: The Next Frontier in Diagnosing Mental Illness

The DSM is moving toward integrating biology into psychiatric diagnoses for the first time, aiming to use biomarkers and neurobiology to supplement symptom-based criteria. While current biomarkers for mental illness are limited and environmental factors blur biological signals, recent advances offer promise: blood-based biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease, inflammatory markers like CRP that may identify treatment-responsive subtypes, and genetic risk scores that could feed into precision psychiatry. The shift acknowledges overlapping symptom clusters and subgroups within disorders, with the goal of more objective, personalized diagnoses in the future, even as clinicians recognize the complexity and remaining gaps before such biology-driven DSM criteria become standard practice.

via The Conversation|

#biology #biomarkers #dsm

biology1 day ago•16 min saved

Desert Shark Discoveries in Egypt Highlight a Lost Inland Sea

Paleontologists in Egypt's Western Desert uncovered fossilized shark teeth from at least seven extinct species in the Abu-Tartur Plateau's Duwi Formation, indicating a once-diverse shallow sea in the Late Cretaceous and identifying species new to the region, with teeth signaling varied feeding strategies across ecological niches.

via Gizmodo|

#biology #desert #egypt

science1 day ago•3 min saved

Tiny Hairs, Mighty Grip: Gecko Feet Under the Microscope

ScienceAlert's Microscope Mystery reveals that the “forest” image is the underside of a gecko's foot: each toe is covered in hundreds of thousands of hairlike setae that branch into spatulae, enabling strong adhesion through van der Waals forces without glue; the combined grip could theoretically support about 133 kilograms, and geckos detach by peeling their toes at a precise angle—SEM imagery (colored afterward) shows this microscopic adhesive network that researchers are trying to mimic in synthetic adhesives.

via ScienceAlert|

#biology #gecko #microscopy

biology4 days ago•16 min saved

Cowpea’s soil signals recruit wasps to defend against leafminers

New research shows cowpea plants defend against leafminers by releasing airborne volatiles that attract parasitic wasps, and by exuding root compounds that reshape the surrounding soil microbiome. This soil-borne defense boosts the plant’s ability to recruit wasps even when not attacked, creating a multi-step indirect defense—potentially guiding sustainable pest management, though real-world duration of the effect remains uncertain.

via Gizmodo|

#biocontrol #biology #cowpea

biology4 days ago•16 min saved

Bacteria-Powered Transistors Create Slow-Mood Living Circuits

MIT scientists wired three strains of Pantoea agglomerans to act as transistors, forming “living circuit boards” that pass signals via output molecules. The setup can run multiple logic operations, with the largest circuit containing 24 colonies, but each calculation takes about eight hours and the whole system operates for roughly three days due to slow molecular diffusion and growth. Potential uses include monitoring plant roots for stress or pests, illustrating how simple cellular functions can be linked into larger biological circuits—even if not yet a replacement for traditional computers.

via Gizmodo|

#bioengineering #biology #biotechnology

biology5 days ago•8 min saved

Cat Kidney Lipids Create Durable Urine Signatures

Researchers found domestic cats store 13 branched-chain fatty acids in kidney lipid droplets, forming a reservoir that slowly releases a distinctive urine fingerprint. This stable chemical signature remains detectable for about a day and varies by individual, helping cats identify one another over time and offering potential tools for odor management and scent-based tracking of wild felids.

via Sci.News|

#biology #branched-chain-fatty-acids #chemical-individuality

biology11 days ago•24 min saved

Ancient Asgard Ancestor Traces All Complex Life

New genomic analyses strengthen the link between all complex life and a common Asgard archaean ancestor, with Hodarchaeales highlighted as a close relative. Scientists infer an anaerobic, hydrogen‑dependent acetogen that lived before the Great Oxidation Event over 2 billion years ago, forming the backbone of the Asgard–eukaryote connection. While subsequent studies and a 2026 correction reinforce this link, the exact branching order within the Asgard lineage remains debated as researchers refine where our branch sits on the tree.

via ZME Science|

#asgard-archaea #biology #eukaryotes

science12 days ago•8 min saved

Overfed Tiny Flatworms Grow Chains of Cloned Heads

University of Warsaw researchers showed that feeding abundant prey to four freshwater Stenostomum flatworm species triggers paratomy: developing heads form before earlier clones detach, producing temporary chains of 4–5 zooids connected head-to-tail (paracolonies). The effect, driven by overlapping reproductive cycles, becomes more pronounced with more food. Chains are not permanent and worms separate as heads finish developing; the study is a bioRxiv preprint (not peer-reviewed). While some related flatworms form permanent chains, evidence for a clear advantage or shared digestion in these chains is limited, and ecological implications remain unclear. Experimental results suggest the phenomenon is reproducible and strongly influenced by nutrition.

via ScienceAlert|

#biology #clones #flatworms

biology12 days ago•8 min saved

Ancient Cynodont Fossil Pushes Live Birth Deep into Mammal Lineage

Analysis of a 236-million-year-old cynodont fossil from Argentina reveals a neonatal bone line indicating live birth, with a newborn mass around 1.68 kg (about 10–20% of an adult), suggesting viviparity originated in the mammalian lineage far earlier than thought (roughly 90–95 million years ago) and proposing two plausible evolutionary scenarios for this trait's emergence.

via Sci.News|

#biology #cynodont #fossil

science12 days ago•3 min saved

Psychoactive Mushroom Produces Fairy-Tale Hallucinations While Defying Known Psychedelics

University of Utah researchers sequenced Lanmaoa asiatica and confirmed it can produce vivid "tiny people" hallucinatory experiences across cultures, yet the mushroom lacks the typical psychedelic compounds such as psilocybin or ibotenic acid, leaving the exact biochemical mechanism unknown; the study also identified multiple Lanmaoa species and is building an evolutionary map for how this trait arose.

via Gizmodo|

#biology #genetics #mycology

science14 days ago•49 min saved

LUCA Dates Back 4.2 Billion Years, Rewriting the Story of Life

New analysis places LUCA—the Last Universal Common Ancestor—on Earth about 4.2 billion years ago, roughly 400 million years after Earth's formation, based on genetic mutation rates and shared cellular machinery. The study suggests LUCA was a simple prokaryote with an immune system and likely lived in a recycling microbial ecosystem, meaning all modern life traces back to this ancient ancestor, while the exact path from LUCA to later life remains to be fully understood.

via Yahoo|

#biology #evolution #last-universal-common-ancestor

science17 days ago•6 min saved

GenAI Hallucinations Could Mislead Biotech Discoveries, Researchers Warn

Generative AI can speed up biology research and drug screening, but it can also generate plausible yet false biological signals. Experts say AI outputs should be treated as testable ideas or synthetic data rather than definitive findings, and must be independently verified in real experiments. The risk varies by use, with cases like AlphaFold 3 illustrating how AI errors can distort evidence if not carefully checked.

via ScienceAlert|

#ai-hallucination #alphafold #biology

biology19 days ago•17 min saved

Three Dodo Skulls Reframe the Extinction Narrative

With only three preserved dodo skulls, researchers CT-scanned them and compared brain structures to pigeons, finding the dodo’s forebrain size isn’t disproportionately small for its body, challenging the view of the dodo as unintelligent; the study also hints at nocturnal traits via optic lobes, but stresses these remain speculative since no dodo brains exist to study directly.

via Gizmodo|

#biology #cognition #ct-scans

biology21 days ago•16 min saved

Poop Might Have Sparked the Cambrian Explosion

Researchers propose that a gradual, ocean-wide buildup of fecal matter redistributed nutrients, spurring the evolution of complex digestive systems and creating a feedback loop where more life produced more poop, contributing to the Cambrian Explosion.

via Gizmodo|

#biology #cambrian-explosion #coprolites

earth-science23 days ago•16 min saved

Blood Falls Reveals Ancient Marine Origins Hidden Beneath Taylor Glacier

A Nature Geoscience study shows Blood Falls' vivid red water originates from ancient seawater released from beneath Taylor Glacier, with genetic analysis indicating the brine hosts predominantly marine-associated microbes. The findings support the idea of a relic marine ecosystem beneath the Dry Valleys and suggest the subglacial water was trapped during past warm periods, offering a new timeline for flooding and isolation events and illustrating life's resilience in extreme polar environments.

via Gizmodo|

#ancient-ocean #antarctica #biology