News by Subject Biology

A meta-analysis of nearly 300 studies of soil biodiversity in Amazonian forests found that the abundance, biomass, richness and diversity of soil fauna and microbes were reduced following deforestation.

A new Duke University-led study finds that the loss of marsh-edge salt grasses and mangroves due to disturbances such as heavy oiling from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill doubles the rate of shoreline erosion in hard-hit marshes.

New findings provide insights about how the intestine maximizes nutrient uptake, while at the same time protecting the body from potentially dangerous microbes.

Researchers from the Stowers Institute for Medical Research have discovered a new function of ribosomes in human cells that may show the protein-making particle's role in destroying healthy mRNAs, the messages that decode DNA into protein.

Until now, researchers have assumed that the growth of solid tumors originates from cancer stem cells characterized by specific surface markers, which develop in a fixed, hierarchical order. In a joint interdisciplinary project led by the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH), researchers now show that cancer cells of glioblastomas -- conspicuously aggressive solid brain tumors -- manifest developmental plasticity and their phenotypic characteristics are less constrained than believed.

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have developed a new test that can easily and simply measure common stress hormones using sweat, blood, urine or saliva. Eventually, they hope to turn their ideas into a simple device that patients can use at home to monitor their health.

Determining how one species becomes distinct from another has been a subject of fascination dating back to Charles Darwin. New research led by Carnegie's Matthew Evans and published in Nature Communications elucidates the mechanism that keeps maize distinct from its ancient ancestor grass, teosinte.