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

Biology

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 2-Jan-2026 12:11 ET (2-Jan-2026 17:11 GMT/UTC)

25-Sep-2025

FAU awarded US EPA grant to integrate genetics in Florida bay sponge restoration

Florida Atlantic University
Grant and Award Announcement

The project will transform sponge restoration in Florida Bay using advanced genetic tools to build ecological resilience. By analyzing genetic diversity in four key sponge species, the research aims to strengthen restoration efforts that currently rely on clonal transplants with limited adaptive potential. This marks the first genetic assessment of sponge recovery in the region, with broad implications for ecosystem health and fisheries. Sponges are essential to water quality, habitat structure, and the survival of economically important species like the spiny lobster.

Funder: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

25-Sep-2025

How dense is it inside living cells?

Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Just as life pulsates in big vibrant cities, it also prospers in crowded environments inside cells. The interior of cells is densely packed with biomolecules like proteins and nucleic acids. How is all this material distributed within a cell and what regulates its distribution? In a recent study published in Nature Communications researchers measure subcellular densities across a wide range of organisms. Their aim is to better understand biomolecular processes ranging from yeast cells to human cells.

Journal: Nature Communications

24-Sep-2025

Crnic Institute breakthrough maps how Down Syndrome biology changes with age

University of Colorado Anschutz
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a groundbreaking new study published in Nature Communications, researchers from the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome (Crnic Institute) at the University of Colorado Anschutz discovered important differences in the physiological changes observed in over 300 individuals with Down syndrome across the lifespan.

Journal: Nature Communications

24-Sep-2025

AI engineers nanoparticles for improved drug delivery

Duke University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have developed a platform that combines automated wet lab techniques with artificial intelligence (AI) to design nanoparticles for drug delivery. The approach could help researchers deliver difficult-to-encapsulate therapeutics more efficiently and effectively.

Journal: ACS Nano
Funder: NIH/National Institutes of Health, U.S. National Science Foundation

24-Sep-2025

Here’s what morning sickness during pregnancy really means

University of California - Los Angeles
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A UCLA study has found that “morning sickness” symptoms, including nausea, vomiting and aversions to certain foods and smells, are linked to the body’s natural, but complex, immune response during pregnancy. The study could have workplace implications for pregnant women, helping to widen recognition that these symptoms are healthy and normal, both reducing stigma and paving the way for common-sense workplace accommodations.

Journal: Evolution Medicine and Public Health

24-Sep-2025

Landmark discovery reveals how chromosomes are passed from one generation to the next

University of California - Davis
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Chromosomes in egg cells within fetal ovaries must be spliced and sorted perfectly. A new landmark study from UC Davis shows how protecting Holliday junctions allows this to happen.

Journal: Nature
Funder: NIH/National Institutes of Health, NIH/National Institute of General Medical Sciences, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

24-Sep-2025

Microplastics have been found for the first time in the endangered Indus River dolphin, with fibers and other particles found in the GI tracts of each of five stranded individuals

PLOS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Microplastics have been found for the first time in the endangered Indus River dolphin, with fibers and other particles found in the GI tracts of each of five stranded individuals

Journal: PLOS One