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Biology

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 10-Jul-2025 07:10 ET (10-Jul-2025 11:10 GMT/UTC)

Unlocking dopamine’s hidden role: Protective modification of Tau revealed

Peking University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Peking University, March 19, 2025: The research group led by Prof. Wang Chu from the College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering at Peking University published a research article entitled “Quantitative Chemoproteomics Reveals Dopamine’s Protective Modification of Tau” in Nature Chemical Biology (DOI:10.1038/s41589-025-01849-9). Using a novel quantitative chemoproteomic strategy, the team uncovered a protective role of dopamine (DA) in regulating the function of the microtubule-associated protein Tau. This discovery deepens our understanding of dopamine’s physiological and pathological roles in the human brain.

Journal: Nature Chemical Biology

Nursery of the blood: how stem cells calm the body’s immune response

Goethe University Frankfurt
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Our blood consists of many cell types that develop through different stages from a precursor type – the blood stem cell. An international research team led by Universitätsmedizin Frankfurt and Goethe University has now investigated the developmental pathways of blood cells in humans. The results yielded a surprise: Even stem cells possess surface proteins that enable them to suppress the activation of inflammatory and immune responses in the body. This finding is particularly relevant for stem cell transplants, applied for the treatment of e.g. leukemia.

Journal: Nature Communications

Potential risk biomarkers found for schizophrenia resulting from cannabis use

University of the Basque Country
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The UPV/EHU study, recently published in the journal Scientific Reports, has analysed and compared the fatty acids in the blood of individuals with schizophrenia, of those with cannabis use disorder and of those with both diagnoses, with the aim of shedding light on new biomarkers and improving the understanding of the biological relationship between the two disorders. The study also offers a powerful tool for identifying new biomarkers.

Journal: Scientific Reports

Home sweet home: some great hammerhead sharks stick to the perfect neighborhood in the Bahamas instead of migrating

Frontiers
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Great hammerhead sharks are slow to grow and slow to reproduce, which makes them very vulnerable to overfishing — worldwide populations have shrunk and genetic diversity is dangerously low. To conserve these sharks, identifying the habitats they use and when they use them is critical. Scientists tagging and tracking sharks near Andros Island in the Bahamas have now discovered that although some sharks travel to the east coast of the US, others prefer to stick closer to home, living in the warm waters around Andros and returning to the same sites year after year.

Journal: Frontiers in Marine Science
Funder: Saving the Blue, Warner Bros. Discovery, Fahlo, Storm Story, David and Carol Lackland Family Foundation

Green recipe: Engineered yeast boosts D-lactic acid production

Osaka Metropolitan University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers have engineered yeast to efficiently convert methanol into D-lactic acid, a key compound for biodegradable plastics and pharmaceuticals. By optimizing gene and promoter combinations, they achieved the highest reported yield to date, offering a sustainable alternative to petroleum-based production. Their findings advance eco-friendly chemical manufacturing.

Journal: Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts
Funder: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

Galapagos birds exhibit ‘road rage’ due to noise

Anglia Ruskin University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study has discovered that birds in the Galápagos Islands are changing their behaviour due to traffic noise, with those frequently exposed to vehicles showing heightened levels of aggression.

During trials involving traffic noise, Galápagos yellow warblers (Setophaga petechia aureola) increased the duration of their songs, increased the minimum frequencies of their songs (to reduce overlap with the traffic noise), and birds living close to roads displayed increased physical aggression.

The research is published in the journal Animal Behaviour and is led by experts from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) in Cambridge, England, and the Konrad Lorenz Research Centre at the University of Vienna.

Journal: Animal Behaviour

Rice University's Beason-Abmayr honored with Arthur C. Guyton distinguished educator award

Rice University
Grant and Award Announcement

Beth Beason-Abmayr, a respected educator and champion of innovative teaching, has been awarded the Arthur C. Guyton Distinguished Educator Award by the American Physiological Society. The national honor recognizes outstanding contributions to physiology education and will be presented at the American Physiology Summit in Baltimore this spring.