Scientists have completed the genome sequence and analysis of a diploid cotton — Gossypium raimondii.

Conservation is concerned with the preservation of biological diversity at all levels, from genes to species, communities and ecosystems.  Yet conserving this biological richness is made difficult because it varies in complex ways at different scales …

Contrary to previous studies, new research shows that a method called blast chilling can affect pork tenderness. This discovery could change pork production and consumer choices at the grocery store.

Formosan subterranean termites could be in for a real headache. Scientists have identified species of roundworms, or “nematodes,” that invade the termite brains and offer a potential bio-based approach to controlling them.

A trawl of the genome of the deadly bacterium Bacillus anthracis has revealed a clutch of targets for new drugs to combat an epidemic of anthrax or a biological weapons attack. The targets are all proteins that are found in the bacteria but not in huma…

The forests of the coastal regions from California to British Columbia are renowned for their unique and ancient animals and plants, such as coast redwoods, tailed frogs, mountain beavers and the legendary Bigfoot (also known as Sasquatch). Whereas Big…

Coral Reefs has published online a study about an invasive species of brittle star. The species was previously restricted to Pacific waters, but surprisingly, growing populations have established themselves at distant points in the Atlantic. Its presen…

A study of Drosophila embryos found that parental methylated histones are not transferred to daughter DNA. Rather, after DNA replication, new nucleosomes are assembled from newly synthesized unmodified histones.

A new study has investigated how diseases are shared among species of primates with a view to predicting what diseases may emerge in humans in the future. The findings aim to help in the fight against these diseases by enabling scientists to develop tr…

Researchers have created an ultra-sensitive biosensor capable of identifying the smallest single virus particles in solution, an advance that may revolutionize early disease detection in a point-of-care setting and shrink test result wait times from we…

Biomembranes enclose biological cells like a skin. They also surround organelles that carry out important functions in metabolism and cell division. Scientists have long known in principle how biomembranes are built up, and also that water molecules pl…

In the deserts of central Australia lives a tough little fish known as the desert goby, and a new study is shedding light on the aggressive mating behaviour of smaller nest-holding males.