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

Biology

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 21-Dec-2025 10:11 ET (21-Dec-2025 15:11 GMT/UTC)

Simulations reveal protein "dynamin" constricts cell membranes by loosening its grip

National Institutes of Natural Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Computer simulations revealed the detailed mechanism of how the protein "dynamin" works to form small vesicles within cells.

While dynamin uses GTP hydrolysis energy to change shape, it was unclear how this leads to membrane constriction. Simulations showed that instead of simply tightening, dynamin "loosens" (expands) at a certain stage to generate the force needed to narrow the surrounding membrane tube.

This study provides a clearer explanation for membrane deformation and vesicle formation processes in cells, offering insights for artificial nano-device design.

Journal: The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
Funder: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B), Grant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Areas (A), Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)

Patch offers hope to save frog populations

La Trobe University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

La Trobe University academics have developed a non-invasive way to monitor hormones in frogs in an important step towards protecting the vulnerable animals from extinction.

Journal: Frontiers in Conservation Science
Funder: a Trobe University Rapid Synergy grant, Australian Research Council

Humans rank between meerkats and beavers in monogamy ‘league table’

University of Cambridge
Peer-Reviewed Publication

First study to analyse rates of full vs half siblings in a range of mammals provides new evidence for monogamous behaviour in humans compared to other animals.

Journal: Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences

University of Maryland School of Medicine names distinguished scientist and academic leader Gerald M. Wilson, PhD, as Chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

University of Maryland School of Medicine
Business Announcement

University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Dean Mark T. Gladwin, MD today announced the appointment of Gerald M. Wilson, PhD, as Chair of the School’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, effective December 15, 2025. Dr. Wilson, a distinguished scientist and educator, brings more than two decades of leadership and internationally recognized research in RNA biochemistry and cancer mechanisms to this role. As part of the appointment, he will be endowed as the John F.B. Weaver Professor in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Male bonobos track females’ reproductive cycle to maximize mating success

PLOS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Male bonobos can decipher females’ unreliable fertility signals, allowing them to focus their efforts on matings with the highest chance of conception, according to a study by Heungjin Ryu at Kyoto University, Japan, and colleagues publishing December 9^th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology.

Journal: PLOS Biology

How microtubules take part in cellular signal processing

Paul Scherrer Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Microtubules perform an active role in communication within the cell by transmitting received signals to the cell's functional units. Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and the Department of Biomedicine at the University of Basel have now, for the first time, structurally elucidated how these protein strands of the cytoskeleton accomplish this. Their findings could help make it possible to intervene in this communication and, for example, prevent tumour growth. The study was published in the scientific journal Cell.

Journal: Cell

Announcing the third cohort of the Hevolution/AFAR new investigator awards in aging biology and geroscience research

American Federation for Aging Research
Grant and Award Announcement

The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) and Hevolution Foundation are pleased to announce the third cohort of theHevolution/AFAR New Investigator Awardees in Aging Biology and Geroscience Research. This grant program enables junior investigators with labs in the US and Canada, and with at least three years of independent research, to advance research projects in basic biology of aging, as well as geroscience projects that translate advances in basic research on aging biology from the laboratory to the clinic, paving the way for healthspan-expanding therapeutics and treatments. $6,750,000 will support eighteen investigators selected to receive this three-year award of $375,000 (total).

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