Life Sciences & Biology

Accurately identifying bodily fluids at crime scenes is vital to aid forensic examinations and obtain information for use in criminal proceedings. However, collecting viable material for analysis can be challenging, especially if samples are difficult to access or the amount is minute. Dr Lamyaa Almehmadi and Professor Igor K Lednev at the University at Albany, State University of New York, USA, have introduced a new technique to assist in analysing bloodstains for forensic examination without compromising sample integrity.

Challenging the established RNA-World Model, Dr Terrence Deacon of the University of California, Berkeley, provides an exciting new approach to understanding biological processes and the emergence of information in biological systems.

Despite our increasing scientific understanding of biological processes, the fundamental nature of life itself remains one of science’s most profound mysteries. While we can easily recognise living things, defining precisely what makes something ‘alive’ has proven remarkably challenging. Dr Yunus Çengel from the University of Nevada is pioneering a radical new way of thinking about life – not as an emergent property that arises from complex chemical systems and passively qualifies matter, but as an ‘agency’ that actively controls and governs matter, much like the laws and forces of physics that govern the physical world as the ‘agency of physics’.

Neanderthals, our closest extinct human relatives, have often been portrayed as brutish and primitive compared to modern humans. But new research is shedding light on their true capabilities. Eboni Westbury from the Australian National University is part of a team investigating how Neanderthals adapted and thrived in challenging Ice Age environments. Their work at the Abric Pizarro rock shelter in Spain reveals new insights into the complex behaviours and survival skills of these ancient people.

Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is a severe and often fatal viral disease of cats which poses significant diagnostic challenges for veterinarians. Dawn Dunbar from the University of Glasgow is leading a research study with the goal of applying machine learning to revolutionise the diagnosis of FIP. By leveraging routinely collected clinical laboratory data, this innovative approach may pave the way for more accurate and timely diagnoses, ultimately improving outcomes for affected cats and their owners.

All living things are comprised of cells, and to function, most of them use oxygen to break down food molecules to obtain chemical energy, a process known as cell respiration. Critical to this is the macromolecule cytochrome c, but this redox haemoprotein also boasts a diverse set of functions beyond respiration. Professor Irene Díaz-Moreno and Professor Miguel A. De la Rosa, both leading members of cicCartuja’s Biointeractomics Research Group at the University of Seville, are using cutting-edge investigational tools to study the full ‘interactome’ of this multifunctional molecule.

Dr Wolfgang Quapp and Professor Dr Josep Maria Bofill from the University of Leipzig and Universitat de Barcelona, respectively, are leading voices in the newly emerged sector of mechanochemistry. Their fascinating work reveals how external forces can manipulate molecular behaviour and influence chemical reactions.

DNA methylation is a key epigenetic process. Conventional methods for analysing methylation have been cumbersome or technically unfeasible. Professor Andrew Adey at Oregon Health and Sciences University is developing high-throughput workflows that analyse the methylome with single-cell granularity.

How far would you be willing to go to save an endangered species? Would you consider burning part of a forest as a solution? As unconventional as it may sound, conservationists sometimes resort to such measures to restore lost habitats. One remarkable example is the efforts to save eastern collared lizards – and indeed the entire biological community in which they live – in the Ozarks, spearheaded by American geneticist and statistician Professor Alan Templeton of Washington University in St Louis, USA.

The impressive tusks found on proboscideans (the order of mammals that includes elephants, woolly mammoths, and mastodons) are like time capsules, preserving detailed records of their bearers’ lives in the form of growth layers and chemical traces. Frozen in time for thousands of years, these layers can unlock secrets about the lives of long-extinct relatives of modern elephants. Dr Michael Cherney and Professor Daniel Fisher from the University of Michigan used innovative techniques to extract and analyse steroid hormones preserved in woolly mammoth tusks. This ground-breaking work opens new avenues for exploring the biology and behaviour of extinct species.

Living organisms function through a complex interplay of cellular mechanisms. The movement of charged atoms across cell membranes is key to diverse processes like cell growth and electrical signalling in the brain, and channels in these membranes open and close to allow charged atoms to pass through. Dr Michael Green and Alisher M. Kariev at the City College of the City University of New York challenge current models of channel opening and closing to provide a more complete understanding of this crucial and widespread biochemical process.

The importance of tRNA goes beyond its role in protein translation. tRNA is the molecule that ‘learned to code’ – its primordial emergence led to the genetic code and life itself. Professor Zachary Frome Burton of Michigan State University and Professor Lei Lei of the University of New England have reportedly solved tRNA evolution – proposing a theorem that sheds new light on the origin of life.

Around 1.5 billion years ago, our single-celled ancestor had a fateful snack – it engulfed another bacterium. The engulfed organism initially lived within the other, but slowly transformed over generations to give rise to mitochondria – an important organelle found in the cells of Eukaryotes. Interestingly, mitochondria have DNA that is passed exclusively from one parent onto their offspring. In most organisms, including us, that parent is the mother. Why we only inherent maternal mitochondrial DNA is one of the oldest unanswered questions in evolutionary biology. Dr Madeleine Beekman of the University of Sydney has explored this topic deeply, proposing new theories to explain why we are more related to our mother than our father.