Cell Biology News

August 29, 2025

Top Headlines

Scientists Unlock Nature’s Secret to Superfast Mini Robots

Aug. 24, 2025 — Ripple bugs’ fan-like legs inspired engineers to build the Rhagobot, a tiny robot with self-morphing fans. By mimicking these insects’ passive, ultra-fast movements, the robot gains speed, control, and endurance without extra ...

Why Tiny Bee Brains Could Hold the Key to Smarter AI

Aug. 24, 2025 — Researchers discovered that bees use flight movements to sharpen brain signals, enabling them to recognize patterns with remarkable accuracy. A digital model of their brain shows that this movement-based perception could revolutionize AI and ...

Tiny Microbes May Secretly Rewire the Brain Before Birth

Aug. 19, 2025 — MSU researchers discovered that microbes begin shaping the brain while still in the womb, influencing neurons in a region critical for stress and social behavior. Their findings suggest modern birth practices that alter the microbiome may have ...

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 is difficult, however. UC Berkeley researchers ...

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 cancer cells. The bacteria act like Trojan horses, ...

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 bacteria and a modified viral replication system, ...

DNA from the Deep Reveals a Hidden Ocean “Superhighway”

Aug. 7, 2025 — Deep beneath the ocean's surface, a groundbreaking DNA study reveals that the deep sea is far more globally connected than once thought. By analyzing thousands of brittle stars preserved in museum collections, scientists discovered these ancient ...

These Butterflies Look the Same, but DNA Uncovered Six Hidden Species

Aug. 4, 2025 — Glasswing butterflies may all look alike, but behind their transparent wings hides an evolutionary story full of intrigue. Researchers discovered that while these butterflies appear nearly identical to avoid predators, they produce unique pheromones ...

Did Drunk Apes Help Us Evolve? New Clues Reveal Why We Digest Alcohol so Well

Aug. 1, 2025 — Ape behavior just got a name upgrade — “scrumping” — and it might help explain why humans can handle alcohol so well. Researchers discovered that African apes regularly eat overripe, ...

This Sugar Substitute Does More Than Sweeten — It Kills Cancer Cells

July 25, 2025 — Fermenting stevia with a banana leaf-derived probiotic turns it into a powerful cancer-fighting agent that kills pancreatic cancer cells while sparing healthy ones. The secret lies in a metabolite called CAME, produced through microbial ...

Scientists Just Discovered a Secret Code Hidden in Your DNA

July 21, 2025 — What scientists once dismissed as junk DNA may actually be some of the most powerful code in our genome. A new international study reveals that ancient viral DNA buried in our genes plays an active role in controlling how other genes are turned on ...

This Genetic Breakthrough Could Help Thousands of Species Cheat Extinction

July 21, 2025 — Gene editing may hold the key to rescuing endangered species—not just by preserving them, but by restoring their lost genetic diversity using DNA from museum specimens and related species. Scientists propose a visionary framework that merges ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:16pm EDT

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 ...

These “plastivore” Caterpillars Can Devour a Plastic Bag in Just 24 Hours

Aug. 27, 2025 — Scientists have discovered that waxworm caterpillars can break down polyethylene plastic, one of the most common and persistent pollutants on Earth. ...

Bumble Bees Balance Their Diets With Surprising Precision

Aug. 27, 2025 — Bumble bees aren’t random foragers – they’re master nutritionists. Over an eight-year field study in the Colorado Rockies, scientists uncovered that different bee species strategically balance ...

Extinct Human Relatives Left a Genetic Gift That Helped People Thrive in the Americas

Aug. 24, 2025 — Scientists have discovered that a gene called MUC19, inherited from Denisovans through ancient interbreeding, may have played a vital role in helping ...

Scientists Found the Missing Nutrients Bees Need — Colonies Grew 15-Fold

Aug. 23, 2025 — Scientists have developed a breakthrough food supplement that could help save honeybees from devastating declines. By engineering yeast to produce six essential sterols found in pollen, researchers ...

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 ...

Scientists Uncover the Lost Shelduck That Chose Walking Over Flight

Aug. 17, 2025 — Scientists have uncovered an extinct shelduck from the Chatham Islands that evolved shorter wings and stronger legs, adapting to a predator-free, windy environment. It vanished before the 19th ...

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 ...

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 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 ...

Can Humans Regrow Eyes? These Snails Already Do

Aug. 6, 2025 — Apple snails can fully regrow their eyes, and their genes and eye structures are strikingly similar to humans. Scientists mapped the regeneration process and used CRISPR to identify genes, including ...

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 ...

Crushing Vs. Slashing: New Skull Scans Reveal How Giant Dinosaurs Killed

Aug. 5, 2025 — Tyrannosaurus rex might be the most famous meat-eater of all time, but it turns out it wasn’t the only way to be a terrifying giant. New research shows that while T. rex evolved a skull designed ...

Scientists Just Cracked the Code to Editing Entire Chromosomes Flawlessly

Aug. 5, 2025 — A group of Chinese scientists has created powerful new tools that allow them to edit large chunks of DNA with incredible accuracy—and without leaving any trace. Using a mix of advanced protein ...

700,000 Years Ahead of Their Teeth: The Carbs That Made Us Human

Aug. 2, 2025 — Long before evolution equipped them with the right teeth, early humans began eating tough grasses and starchy underground plants—foods rich in energy but hard to chew. A new study reveals that this ...

Nature’s Anti-Aging Hack? Jewel Wasp Larvae Slow Their Biological Clock

Aug. 7, 2025 — Scientists discovered that jewel wasp larvae that undergo a developmental "pause" live longer and age more slowly at the molecular level by nearly 30%. This slowdown is tied to conserved ...

How AI Is Supercharging Plant Immunity to Fight Deadly Bacteria

July 30, 2025 — Scientists have used artificial intelligence to upgrade plant immune systems, potentially revolutionizing how crops like tomatoes and potatoes can defend against harmful bacteria. By reengineering ...

400-Million-Year-Old Fish Exposes Big Mistake in How We Understood Evolution

July 29, 2025 — A fish thought to be evolution’s time capsule just surprised scientists. A detailed dissection of the coelacanth — a 400-million-year-old species often called a “living fossil” — revealed ...

Clockwork from Scratch: How Scientists Made Timekeeping Cells

July 29, 2025 — Scientists at UC Merced have engineered artificial cells that can keep perfect time—mimicking the 24-hour biological clocks found in living organisms. By reconstructing circadian machinery inside ...

Stunning “wonder Reptile” Discovery Rewrites the Origins of Feathers

Aug. 9, 2025 — The newly described Mirasaura grauvogeli from the Middle Triassic had a striking feather-like crest, hinting that complex skin appendages arose far earlier than previously believed. Its bird-like ...

The Sugar That Sparked Life: Why Ribose Was RNA’s First Choice

July 23, 2025 — What made ribose the sugar of choice for life's code? Scientists at Scripps Research may have cracked a major part of this mystery. Their experiments show that ribose binds more readily and ...

New Study Cracks the “tissue Code” — Just Five Rules Shape Organs

July 16, 2025 — Scientists have uncovered a surprisingly simple “tissue code”: five rules that choreograph when, where, and how cells divide, move, and die, allowing organs like the colon to remain flawlessly ...

A Tiny Dinosaur Bone Just Rewrote the Origin of Bird Flight

July 24, 2025 — A tiny, overlooked wrist bone called the pisiform may have played a pivotal role in bird flight and it turns out it evolved far earlier than scientists thought. Fossils from bird-like dinosaurs in ...

The Secret Motor Protein That Slams Leaf Pores Shut—and Saves Crops

July 16, 2025 — Scientists have discovered that a protein once thought to be just a cellular "courier" actually helps plants survive drought. This motor protein, myosin XI, plays a critical role in helping ...

Brighter, Bolder, Hotter: Why Female Guppies Can't Resist Orange

July 10, 2025 — Male guppies that glow with more orange aren’t just fashion-forward — they’re also significantly more sexually active. A UBC study reveals that brighter coloration is linked to virility and is ...

What Happens When Bees Can’t Buzz Right? Nature Starts Falling Apart

July 8, 2025 — High heat and heavy metals dampen a bumblebee’s trademark buzz, threatening pollen release and colony chatter. Tiny sensors captured up-to-400-hertz tremors that falter under environmental stress, ...

MIT Scientists Just Supercharged the Enzyme That Powers All Plant Life

July 8, 2025 — Scientists at MIT have turbocharged one of nature’s most sluggish but essential enzymes—rubisco—by applying a cutting-edge evolution technique in living cells. Normally prone to wasteful ...

From Air to Stone: The Fig Trees Fighting Climate Change

July 6, 2025 — Kenyan fig trees can literally turn parts of themselves to stone, using microbes to convert internal crystals into limestone-like deposits that lock away carbon, sweeten surrounding soils, and still ...

Whispers in the Womb: How Cells “hear” to Shape the Human Body

July 7, 2025 — Scientists found that embryonic skin cells “whisper” through faint mechanical tugs, using the same force-sensing proteins that make our ears ultrasensitive. By syncing these micro-movements, the ...

How a Lost Gene Gave the Sea Spider Its Bizarre, Leggy Body

July 7, 2025 — Scientists have decoded the sea spider’s genome for the first time, revealing how its strangely shaped body—with organs in its legs and barely any abdomen—may be tied to a missing gene. The ...