Life Science News

RSS

Organic Flour May Contain Fewer Pesticides, but What About Other Contaminants?

Researchers testing 96 wheat flours sold in France found pesticide residues or a pesticide synergist in 26% of samples and at least one mycotoxin in 76%, with seven recorded exceedances of European reference thresholds. Conventional flours were more likely to contain pesticide residues, while organic flours had higher concentrations of several mycotoxins and trace metals, raising questions about food safety across different farming and processing systems.

22 Oct 2026

New DNA Test Detects Listeria in Ice Cream and Reveals How It Survives Freezing

Researchers developed a PMA-ddPCR assay to detect and quantify potentially viable Listeria monocytogenes in ice cream, identifying the pathogen in two of 500 commercial samples and demonstrating good agreement with conventional culture-based measurements. The method also supported predictive models of bacterial growth under different temperature conditions, while experiments showed that the pathogen could survive 240 days of frozen storage without substantial changes in population levels.

21 Oct 2026

Scientists Analyzed 28,724 Food Safety Alerts and Found a Surprising Limit to AI

Researchers analyzed 28,724 European food safety notifications from 2019 to 2025 and found that accounting for the direction of country-to-country alert links improved predictions, while more complex machine learning models offered little additional benefit. Simpler network measures performed just as well at identifying future notification links, highlighting the importance of careful model evaluation and targeted food safety surveillance.

21 Oct 2026

Touchlight Announces Leadership Transition, with Will Downie Appointed Interim CEO

Touchlight today announces that Karen Fallen is stepping down as CEO and that the Board of Directors has appointed Will Downie as Interim Chief Executive Officer.

From Touchlight 21 Oct 2026

Metabolic Reprogramming Enhances Gamma Delta CAR T Solid Tumor Clearance

By turning a patient's own immune cells into stronger cancer-fighting cells, CAR T-cell therapy has transformed how some blood cancers are treated. But it's been harder to extend this approach to solid tumors, including cancer that has spread to the bone.

21 Oct 2026

Listen Up: 18 Years of Whale Calls Reveal Key Habitat of Mysterious Species

In a boost for the conservation of one of the world's most elusive and least-understood whale species, researchers analyzing more than 18 years of underwater acoustic recordings collected off northwest Australia have discovered that Omura's whales are most likely to be found in warm, food-rich waters.

20 Oct 2026

Clinician-Led Approach Could Give Doctors a Control Dial for Cell Therapies

A clinician-led research team has developed a gene-editing platform that could give doctors more control over cell therapies, making them more practical for patients with complex immune conditions.

20 Oct 2026

Regular Hot Baths Could Alleviate Common Circulatory Disease

A regular soak in a hot bath could help to improve a common painful circulatory disease, with this strategy being studied by researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University, thanks to funding from the British Heart Foundation.

20 Oct 2026

Millions of Older Australians Exposed to Overlapping Medication Risks

An estimated 2.3 million older Australians are being dispensed multiple medicines associated with falls and fractures, while more than 1.2 million are receiving combinations linked to kidney-related side effects, according to new research from Adelaide University.

20 Oct 2026

Study Details Genetic Divergence Between Astrocytomas and Oligodendrogliomas

Treatment-resistant brain cancers develop different mutations as they become more aggressive, according to new research from Yale School of Medicine.

20 Oct 2026

Collective Cell Migration Establishes Tissue Scale Planar Cell Polarity

From the hairs on our arms to the microscopic sensory structures of the inner ear, many tissues in the body are built with a clear sense of direction.

20 Oct 2026

UIC Researchers Develop Bio-Kirigami Platform for Complex Tissue Engineering

If you’ve ever created a snowflake by folding, cutting and unfolding a piece of paper, you’ve practiced the art of kirigami. Like origami, kirigami has inspired innovations far beyond the elementary school classroom, with applications ranging from deployable structures for spacecraft to semiconductors.

20 Oct 2026

Functional Genomics Platform Connects Candidate Genes to Pest Defense Phenotypes

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) supplies dietary protein, livestock feed, and income in tropical and subtropical regions, while its nitrogen-fixing ability adds agricultural value. Genome sequencing has provided researchers with numerous candidate genes, and genetic transformation has enabled studies of traits such as drought and heat tolerance.

20 Oct 2026

Dendritic Cell STING Activation Licenses Cytotoxic T Lymphocyte Priming

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have transformed cancer care, yet only a subset of patients benefit. A major barrier is tumor microenvironment (TME) heterogeneity: "hot" tumors are enriched with cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) and respond better, while "cold" tumors lack T-cell infiltration or are shielded by immunosuppressive barriers.

20 Oct 2026

Cold Responsive Transcription Factor Binding Overlaps Open Chromatin at Gene Promoters

Rice originated in subtropical environments, yet its cultivation has expanded into regions where low temperatures threaten growth, development, and yield. Japonica rice generally tolerates cold better than indica rice, and researchers have linked this adaptation to changes in stress-responsive gene expression. Much attention has focused on C-repeat binding factors, a group of transcription factors that help coordinate plant cold responses.

20 Oct 2026

Stable Isotope Carbon Tracing Proves Uncoupling Inhibits De Novo Purine Synthesis

Mitochondrial serine catabolic pathway (MSCP), also called serine, glycine, and one-carbon metabolism, is essential for cancer cells to produce amino acids, one-carbon units, and reducing equivalents.

20 Oct 2026

Live Organelle Imaging Catches Early Neuronal Stress Before Cell Death

Scientists studying amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and other neurological diseases are getting unprecedented views inside brain cells, using powerful new microscopes to uncover changes that may begin long before neurons die.

20 Oct 2026

In Situ Plasmonic Nanostructure Growth Enables Label Free Bacterial SERS Analysis

A research team led by Senior Researcher Minyoung Lee and Principal Researcher Sunggyu Park of the Advanced Bio and Healthcare Materials Research Division at the Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS), headed by President Chul-jin Choi, has developed a label-free surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) analysis technology that rapidly detects extremely low concentrations of viable bacteria by directly growing plasmonic metal nanostructures on and around bacterial cells.

20 Oct 2026

Study Details Mechanisms Driving Irreversible Fungal Cell Wall Fusion

The fusion of two cells is a decisive event in the sexual reproduction of many organisms. In fungi, cells must not only bring their membranes together and merge them, but also locally open their protective cell wall.

20 Oct 2026