EurekAlert! News by Subject: Biology - News by Subject: Biology

Biology

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 31-Dec-2025 10:11 ET (31-Dec-2025 15:11 GMT/UTC)

Henna’s hidden healing: Treating fibrosis with a chemical derived from Lawsonia inermis

Osaka Metropolitan University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The henna tree is commonly used for making henna dye. Now, a new study suggests that the same pigments that change your skin or hair that distinctive orange-red color could be used for another purpose: treating liver disease.

Journal: Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy
Funder: The Osaka City University Glocal hub of wisdom and wellness filled with smiles, The Osaka City University Strategic Research Grant 2017 for young researchers, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grant for Research Program on Hepatitis from AMED

Discovering six new bat species is a treat for museum researchers

Royal Ontario Museum
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Just in time for Halloween, six new bat species have been discovered by researchers from the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), Field Museum in Chicago, and Lawrence University in Wisconsin. This nocturnal – and slightly spooky – group of mammals is incredibly diverse, and the discovery adds to the thousands of known bat species.

Journal: Zootaxa
Funder: Royal Ontario Museum Governors Fund

In spring, bats grow “bolder” and more willing to confront rats in the struggle for food

Tel-Aviv University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study from the School of Zoology at Tel Aviv University reveals that fruit bats employ a variety of strategies in their competition with other animals for food.

Journal: BMC Biology

Cockroach infestation linked to home allergen, endotoxin levels

North Carolina State University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Eliminating cockroaches via pest control leads to declines in home allergen and endotoxin levels.

Journal: Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology Global
Funder: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, NIH/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Making yeast more efficient 'cell factories' for producing valuable plant compounds

University of California - San Diego
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers have discovered a way to make yeast cells more efficient “factories” for sustainably producing valuable plant compounds, which could be used to help plants defend against disease, repel pests, attract pollinators, and withstand environmental stresses such as drought and heat.

Journal: Science Advances
Funder: NIH/National Institutes of Health

Powered by mushrooms, living computers are on the rise

Ohio State University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Fungal networks may be a promising alternative to tiny metal devices used in processing and storing digital memories and other computer data, according to a new study.

Journal: PLOS One

Fight or flight—and grow a new limb

Harvard University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study shows how axolotls regenerate limbs by activating stem cells throughout the body—not just the injury site. This systemic response is triggered by the sympathetic nervous system—the iconic “fight or flight” network—and raises the intriguing possibility that these mechanisms might one day be manipulated to regenerate human limbs and organs.

Journal: Cell