A University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) study, published in Nature Communications, uncovers how enteroviruses—including those causing polio, myocarditis, encephalitis, and the common cold—hijack host cell machinery to replicate. Researchers determined the structure of a cloverleaf-shaped RNA element in the viral genome bound to the viral protein 3CD, which recruits host factors to form the viral replication complex. 3CD also acts as a switch between genome copying and protein synthesis. This highly conserved mechanism across all seven enteroviruses in the study presents a stable target for developing broad-spectrum antiviral drugs that could disrupt this essential interaction and prevent replication.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Michigan have created the world’s smallest fully programmable, autonomous robots: microscopic swimming machines that can independently sense and respond to their surroundings, operate for months and cost just a penny each. Barely visible to the naked eye, the robots are smaller than grains of salt and could advance medicine, manufacturing and more.

Large phytoplankton blooms north of the Hawaiian Islands have been seen in satellite imagery as vast swirls of color nearly every summer, but their origin and ecosystem dynamics have remained mysterious. A recent investigation revealed the confluence of conditions that support the explosion of photosynthetic microbes and the cascade of responses within the microscopic marine world. The highly multidisciplinary study offers the first comprehensive look at the anatomy of these massive biological events

In a study published in Nature Methods, researchers from the Bioluminescent Brain Hub based at Brown described a bioluminescence tool it recently developed. Called the Ca2+ BioLuminescence Activity Monitor  — or “CaBLAM,” for short — the tool captures single-cell and subcellular activity at high speeds and works well in mice and zebrafish, allowing multi-hour recordings and removing the need for external light.

CSHL postdoc Miguel Santo Domingo Martinez and colleagues in the Lippman lab have used CRISPR gene editing to produce more compact goldenberry crops, making them easier to grow and harvest. The development could help bring this tasty fruit to farms and grocery stores around the globe.

A new study led by researchers at Penn State has uncovered several instances of wood warblers passing color-related genes to other wood warbler species, including those that are not closely related. This glimpse into the hidden evolutionary dynamics of these songbirds may help explain why some species display certain colors as well as how the group diversified into so many different species in such a relatively short evolutionary time, the researchers said.

Roundworms recently discovered in Great Salt Lake are new to science. A new study by University of Utah biologists characterizes D. woaabi, the first of two nematode species collected from the lake's microbialites

How do intermittent events like hurricanes impact natural selection? A University of Rhode Island professor and colleagues are studying natural selection in the Anolis lizard to see how the species has weathered hurricanes in the southeastern U.S. Their research shows hurricanes are a source of natural selection, favoring traits that enhance the lizard’s clinging ability in strong winds.

Astronomers discovered a new exoplanet hidden in decade-old data. Planet is bound to binary stars, which orbit each other every 18 days. Planet is six times closer to its stars than other directly imaged planets orbiting binary systems.