Molecular Biology News

November 22, 2025

Top Headlines

Amazon Scorpion Venom Shows Stunning Power Against Breast Cancer

Nov. 18, 2025 Scientists are turning venom, radioisotopes, engineered proteins, and AI into powerful new tools against cancer. From Amazonian scorpions yielding molecules that kill breast cancer cells as effectively as chemotherapy, to improved fibrin sealants ...

A Tiny Worm Just Revealed a Big Secret About Living Longer

Nov. 14, 2025 Scientists studying aging found that sensory inputs like touch and smell can cancel out the lifespan-boosting effects of dietary restriction by suppressing the key longevity gene fmo-2. When overactivated, the gene makes worms oddly indifferent to ...

Brain-like Learning Found in Bacterial Nanopores

Nov. 11, 2025 Scientists at EPFL have unraveled the mystery behind why biological nanopores, tiny molecular holes used in both nature and biotechnology, sometimes behave unpredictably. By experimenting with engineered versions of the bacterial pore aerolysin, ...

Meet the Desert Survivor That Grows Faster the Hotter It Gets

Nov. 9, 2025 In Death Valley’s relentless heat, Tidestromia oblongifolia doesn’t just survive—it thrives. Michigan State University scientists discovered that the plant can quickly adjust its photosynthetic machinery to endure extreme temperatures that ...

Scientists Discover the Nutrient That Supercharges Cellular Energy

Nov. 3, 2025 Scientists uncovered how the amino acid leucine enhances mitochondrial efficiency by preserving crucial proteins that drive energy production. By downregulating the protein SEL1L, leucine prevents unnecessary degradation and strengthens the cell’s ...

Ancient Viruses Hidden Inside Bacteria Could Help Defeat Modern Infections

Nov. 3, 2025 Penn State scientists uncovered an ancient bacterial defense where dormant viral DNA helps bacteria fight new viral threats. The enzyme PinQ flips bacterial genes to create protective proteins that block infection. Understanding this mechanism could ...

How This Odd-looking Animal Outsmarted Aging

Oct. 20, 2025 Naked mole-rats seem to have found nature’s cheat code for longevity. Scientists discovered that small tweaks in one of their proteins make it better at fixing DNA damage, helping the animals resist aging. Even fruit flies with the same changes ...

Scientists Finally Read the Hidden DNA Code That Shapes Disease

Oct. 18, 2025 EMBL researchers created SDR-seq, a next-generation tool that decodes both DNA and RNA from the same cell. It finally opens access to non-coding regions, where most disease-associated genetic variants lie. By revealing how these variants affect gene ...

It’s Not Just Genes — Parents Can Pass Down Longevity Another Way

Oct. 6, 2025 Scientists studying tiny roundworms have uncovered how the secrets of a long life can be passed from parents to their offspring — without changing DNA. The discovery shows that when certain cellular structures called lysosomes change in ways that ...

First Living Cochlea Outside the Body Shows How Hearing Really Works

Sep. 30, 2025 Scientists have kept a tiny slice of cochlea alive outside the body, directly witnessing how hair cells amplify sound. The finding confirms a universal principle of hearing and could pave the way for long-sought treatments for hearing ...

Miscarriages, Down Syndrome, and Infertility All Linked to This Hidden DNA Process

Sep. 28, 2025 Human fertility hinges on a delicate molecular ballet that begins even before birth. UC Davis researchers have uncovered how special protein networks safeguard chromosomes as eggs and sperm form, ...

A Tiny Mineral May Hold the Secret to Feeding Billions Sustainably

Sep. 24, 2025 Rice, a staple for billions, is one of the most resource-hungry crops on the planet—but scientists may have found a way to change that. By applying nanoscale selenium directly to rice plants, researchers dramatically improved nitrogen efficiency, ...

Latest Headlines

updated 6:56am EST

A 2,000-Year Mystery in Chameleon Eyes Is Finally Solved

Nov. 19, 2025 Chameleons’ extraordinary ability to move their eyes independently stems from a previously overlooked anatomical marvel: long, tightly coiled optic nerves hidden behind their bulging eyes. Modern ...

Scientists Recover 40,000-Year-Old Mammoth RNA Still Packed With Clues

Nov. 15, 2025 Researchers have sequenced the oldest RNA ever recovered, taken from a woolly mammoth frozen for nearly 40,000 years. The RNA reveals which genes were active in its tissues, offering a rare glimpse ...

Scientists Uncover a Hidden Universal Law Limiting Life’s Growth

Nov. 11, 2025 Japanese researchers uncovered a universal rule describing why life’s growth slows despite abundant nutrients. Their “global constraint principle” integrates classic biological laws to show ...

Scientists Teach Bacteria the Octopus’s Secret to Camouflage

Nov. 3, 2025 Researchers at UC San Diego have figured out how to get bacteria to produce xanthommatin, the pigment that lets octopuses and squids camouflage. By linking the pigment’s production to bacterial ...

Scientists Stunned as Island Spider Loses Half Its Genome

Nov. 2, 2025 On the Canary Islands, scientists discovered that the spider Dysdera tilosensis has halved its genome size in just a few million years—defying traditional evolutionary theories that predict larger, ...

2 Million-Year-Old Teeth Reveal Secrets from the Dawn of Humanity

Nov. 1, 2025 For decades, Paranthropus robustus has intrigued scientists as a powerful, big-jawed cousin of early humans. Now, thanks to ancient protein analysis, researchers have cracked open new secrets hidden ...

Living Computers Powered by Mushrooms

Oct. 26, 2025 Scientists have found that mushrooms can act as organic memory devices, mimicking neural activity while consuming minimal power. The Ohio State team grew and trained shiitake fungi to perform like ...

MIT Scientists Discover Hidden 3D Genome Loops That Survive Cell Division

Oct. 24, 2025 MIT researchers discovered that the genome’s 3D structure doesn’t vanish during cell division as previously thought. Instead, tiny loops called microcompartments remain (and even strengthen) ...

This Tiny Butterfly Has the Most Chromosomes of Any Animal on Earth

Sep. 29, 2025 Scientists have confirmed that the Atlas blue butterfly carries the most chromosomes of any animal, with 229 pairs. Unlike duplication, its chromosomes split apart, reshaping its genome in surprising ...

Stunning Images Reveal How Antibiotics Shatter Bacterial Defenses

Sep. 29, 2025 Researchers have revealed how polymyxins, crucial last-resort antibiotics, break down bacterial armor by forcing cells to overproduce and shed it. Astonishingly, the drugs only kill bacteria when ...

Mushrooms Evolved Psychedelics Twice, Baffling Scientists

Sep. 24, 2025 Researchers found that magic mushrooms and fiber caps independently evolved different biochemical pathways to create psilocybin. This convergence shows nature’s ingenuity, but the reason why ...

Hidden Gene Trick Lets Ants Smell With Super Precision

Sep. 20, 2025 Researchers uncovered how ants keep their powerful sense of smell clear: by using a genetic safeguard that silences surrounding receptor genes. This discovery not only solves a decades-old puzzle but ...

Tiny Protein Pairs May Hold the Secret to Life’s Origin

Sep. 18, 2025 A team from the University of Illinois has uncovered surprising evolutionary links between the genetic code and tiny protein fragments called dipeptides. By analyzing billions of dipeptide sequences ...

Scientists Just Found the “master Switch” for Plant Growth

Sep. 16, 2025 Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have cracked open the secrets of plant stem cells, mapping key genetic regulators in maize and Arabidopsis. By using single-cell RNA sequencing, they ...

A Volcano Erased an Island’s Plants. Their DNA Revealed How Life Starts Over

Sep. 15, 2025 Volcanic eruptions on the remote island of Nishinoshima repeatedly wipe the land clean, giving scientists a rare chance to study life’s earliest stages. Researchers traced the genetic origins of an ...

NASA's Perseverance Rover Finds Clues to Ancient Mars Chemistry and Possible Life

Sep. 12, 2025 Mars’ Jezero Crater holds signs of ancient water and strange mineral reactions, some linked with organic compounds. With Perseverance’s samples and AI-refined mineral maps, scientists are closing ...

Surprising Giant DNA Discovery May Be Linked to Gum Disease and Cancer

Sep. 13, 2025 Scientists in Tokyo have uncovered “Inocles,” massive strands of extrachromosomal DNA hidden inside bacteria in human mouths. These giants, overlooked by traditional sequencing, could explain how ...

Tiny Skaters Beneath the Arctic Ice Rewrite the Limits of Life

Sep. 12, 2025 Hidden within Arctic ice, diatoms are proving to be anything but dormant. New Stanford research shows these glass-walled algae glide through frozen channels at record-breaking subzero temperatures, ...

A Tiny Embryo Fold Changed the Course of Evolution

Sep. 4, 2025 A small tissue fold in fly embryos, once thought purposeless, plays a vital role in stabilizing tissues. Researchers show that it absorbs stress during early development, and its position and timing ...

Cells “vomit” Waste in a Hidden Healing Shortcut That Could Also Fuel Cancer

Aug. 30, 2025 Scientists have uncovered a surprising new healing mechanism in injured cells called cathartocytosis, in which cells "vomit" out their internal machinery to revert more quickly to a stem ...

How Orangutans Thrive in Feast and Famine Without Gaining Weight

Sep. 9, 2025 Orangutans, humans’ close evolutionary relatives, have developed remarkable strategies to survive in the unpredictable rainforests of Borneo. A Rutgers-led study reveals that these apes balance ...

Scientists Recreate Life’s First Step: Linking Amino Acids to RNA

Aug. 28, 2025 Researchers demonstrated how amino acids could spontaneously attach to RNA under early Earth-like conditions using thioesters, providing a long-sought clue to the origins of protein synthesis. This ...

Scientists Unlock the Gene That Lets Bearded Dragons Switch Sex

Aug. 20, 2025 Two independent research teams have unveiled near-complete reference genomes of the central bearded dragon, a reptile with the rare ability to change sex depending on both chromosomes and nest ...

Trojan Horse Bacteria Sneak Cancer-Killing Viruses Into Tumors

Aug. 17, 2025 Scientists have engineered a groundbreaking cancer treatment that uses bacteria to smuggle viruses directly into tumors, bypassing the immune system and delivering a powerful one-two punch against ...

Scientists Just Found a Hidden Factor Behind Earth’s Methane Surge

Aug. 17, 2025 Roughly two-thirds of all atmospheric methane, a potent greenhouse gas, comes from methanogens. Tracking down which methanogens in which environment produce methane with a specific isotope signature ...

One Gene Completely Changed How These Flies Fall in Love

Aug. 17, 2025 By flipping a single genetic switch, researchers made one fruit fly species adopt the gift-giving courtship of another, showing how tiny brain rewiring can drive evolutionary ...

Scientists May Have Found the Tiny DNA Switch That Made Us Human

Aug. 15, 2025 Scientists at UC San Diego have discovered a small but powerful section of DNA, called HAR123, that could help explain what makes the human brain so unique. Instead of being a gene, HAR123 acts like ...

New “evolution Engine” Creates Super-Proteins 100,000x Faster

Aug. 8, 2025 Researchers at Scripps have created T7-ORACLE, a powerful new tool that speeds up evolution, allowing scientists to design and improve proteins thousands of times faster than nature. Using engineered ...

Great White Sharks Have a DNA Mystery Science Still Can’t Explain

Aug. 16, 2025 Once on the brink during the last ice age, great white sharks made a remarkable recovery globally, but their DNA reveals a baffling story. Classic migration explanations fail, leaving scientists with ...

Scientists Found the Gene That Makes Aussie Skinks Immune to Deadly Snake Venom

Aug. 6, 2025 Australian skinks have developed a remarkable genetic defense against venomous snake bites by mutating a key muscle receptor, making them resistant to neurotoxins. These tiny but powerful molecular ...