Exploring the microbial savanna: predator-prey interactions in the soil

Soil ecosystems consist of complex multi-trophic communities of predator and prey microbial species. This Comment proposes that integrative approaches are powerful for understanding predator-prey interactions and for revealing how these interactions shape population dynamics in soil communities.

Epi-regulate my brain: unlocking mechanisms of brain growth evolution

A new study sheds light on the mechanisms of cerebral cortex expansion during evolution.

The 'Anthropocene': alea iacta est : The proposal of the 'Anthropocene' as a new geological epoch has been submitted for formalization

The proposal of the ‘Anthropocene’ as a new geological epoch, characterized by the anthropization of the Earth System, has finally been submitted for formalization.

Growing old while staying young : The unique mechanisms that defy aging in plants

Although plants age like any other organisms, they have evolved to defy death for millennia and potentially forever.

Polymers, pastries, and penguins : An interview with Peter Barham, professor of physics, molecular gastronomy and conservation biology

An interview with Peter Barham about science, cooking and penguins.

On ice

The protection of the Arctic is now enshrined in a series of international treaties: But action is still needed, and scientists should lead it.

Deconvoluting gene and environment interactions to develop an "epigenetic score meter" of disease

Human health is determined both by genetics (G) and environment (E). This is clearly illustrated in groups of individuals who are exposed to the same environmental factor showing differential responses. A quantitative measure of the gene-environment interactions (GxE) effects has not been developed and in some instances, a clear consensus on the concept has not even been reached; for example, whether cancer is predominantly emerging from "bad luck" or "bad lifestyle" is still debated. In this article, we provide a panel of examples of GxE interaction as drivers of pathogenesis. We highlight how epigenetic regulations can represent a common connecting aspect of the molecular bases. Our argument converges on the concept that the GxE is recorded in the cellular epigenome, which might represent the key to deconvolute these multidimensional intricated layers of regulation. Developing a key to decode this epigenetic information would provide quantitative measures of disease risk. Analogously to the epigenetic clock introduced to estimate biological age, we provocatively propose the theoretical concept of an "epigenetic score-meter" to estimate disease risk.

Scratching the ocean surface: Researchers want to better understand the nature and dynamics of the abundant life living on and in the ocean's surface layers

Accelerating efforts to understand neuston, mysterious communities of organisms that reside on or near the ocean surface.

Evolutionary paths to mammalian longevity through the lens of gene expression

The natural variation in mammalian longevity and its underlying mechanisms remain an active area of aging research. In the latest issue of The EMBO Journal, Liu et al (2023) analyze gene expression levels in 103 mammalian species across three tissues, revealing tissue-specific associations between gene expression patterns and longevity. Remarkably, the study suggests that methionine restriction, a strategy shown to increase lifespan, may extend beyond artificial interventions and is similarly employed by natural selection.

Of Turing and zebras: Turing diffusion inspires applications in nature and beyond: Turing diffusion inspires applications in nature and beyond

The Turing diffusion model emerges as an explanation for pattern formation in many species and across biological scales.

Cognition: from the cosmos down to molecules - and back: The possible demise of humanity on Earth would be just a trivial episode in the grand story of the evolution of cognition in the cosmos: The possible demise of humanity on Earth would be just a trivial episode in the grand story of the evolution of cognition in the cosmos

The evolution of life, cognition and eventually human culture is not improbable but an inevitable result of the increasing entropy of the universe.

Stalking the link between reproduction and aging: After decades of research, it still remains a mystery whether and how reproduction drives the process of aging: After decades of research, it still remains a mystery whether and how reproduction drives the process of aging

The hypothesis that aging and number of offspring are linked with each other has attracted much attention and research, but evidence for it remains elusive.

A trashed treasure: Lignin could become a large and renewable source of organic compounds for the chemical industry to replace fossil fuel-based chemicals: Lignin could become a large and renewable source of organic compounds for the chemical industry to replace fossil fuel-based chemicals

Plant-based industries generate huge amounts of lignin waste that could be converted to useful bioproducts. Efforts to recycle lignin include GM plants, microbial cell factories and "lignin-first" approaches.

The fungal grid: Fungal communication via electrical signals has inspired the hypothesis of a Wood Wide Web of plants and fungi: Fungal communication via electrical signals has inspired the hypothesis of a Wood Wide Web of plants and fungi

The observation that soil-dwelling fungi seem to exchange information via electrical impulses has raised new interest about their interactions with plants and their ecological significance.

Climate change and public health: The effects of global warming on the risk of allergies and autoimmune diseases: The effects of global warming on the risk of allergies and autoimmune diseases

Global climate change and extreme weather events are associated with epigenetic modifications in immune cells, leading to the possible increased risk and prevalence of allergies and autoimmune diseases.

In viral games, refs go to the replay

After more than 2 years of intensive investigation, the direct ancestors of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) remain unidentified. Molecular epidemiology strongly supports a timeline marked by multiple, independent zoonoses in late 2019 (Pekar et al, 2022) solidifying the consensus hypothesis that close relatives of SARS-CoV-2 with high zoonotic potential were naturally circulating prior to the start of the pandemic (Andersen et al, 2020). Understanding where and when these ancestors acquired the genomic features that resulted in a virus with epidemic potential could enable the identification and mitigation of future pandemic viruses, even before the first human infection.

Ultimate sacrifice or opportunistic foraging?: The selective forces behind sexual cannibalism: The selective forces behind sexual cannibalism

The discovery of rare cases of males cannibalising females sheds new light on the selective forces behind sexual cannibalism in the animal kingdom.

Through an ecological lens: An ecosystem-based approach to zoonotic risk assessment: An ecosystem-based approach to zoonotic risk assessment

Public health strategies to mitigate the emergence of novel pathogenic viruses should implement longitudinal metagenomic surveillance of ecosystems experiencing biodiversity changes to identify generalist viruses.

Desert plants to stop desertification: To succeed, reforestation projects to reclaim once fertile lands need to consider the local abiotic, biotic, and social factors: To succeed, reforestation projects to reclaim once fertile lands need to consider the local abiotic, biotic, and social factors

Understanding the intricate relationship between plants, desert soils, and desert-specific microbiomes would increase the success chances for reforestation projects to reclaim lands lost to desertification.

Current developments in antibiotic discovery: Global microbial diversity as a source for evolutionary optimized anti-bacterials: Global microbial diversity as a source for evolutionary optimized anti-bacterials

In light of the pending antibiotic resistance crisis, we need to go back to nature and search for novel anti-bacterial compounds.

Combined measures: Progress against mosquito-borne diseases advances on three fronts: Progress against mosquito-borne diseases advances on three fronts

The fight against mosquito-borne diseases requires a combination of new vaccines, non-pharmaceutical interventions and novel strategies to target the mosquito vectors.

Harnessing the sun's power: Hybrid photosynthesis might become a key technology to address the energy crisis and food security challenges: Hybrid photosynthesis might become a key technology to address the energy crisis and food security challenges

Research on artificial photosynthesis has made considerable progress recently by combining natural and man-made systems for higher efficiency of solar energy conversion.

Filling an ARHGAP in our knowledge of human brain evolution

The human cerebral cortex has tripled in size since our divergence from a common ancestor with chimpanzees. This cortical expansion is driven by the increased proliferative capacity of radial glia (RG), a neural progenitor cell (NPC) population that generates cortical neurons. RG along the ventricular zone (VZ) produce neurons and also give rise to basal progenitors (BPs), which migrate to the embryonic subventricular zone (SVZ). Comparative studies suggest that the increased proliferative capacity of human NPCs involves cell-intrinsic mechanisms (Otani et al, 2016), and a number of human-specific genetic changes have recently been linked to NPC proliferation. In particular, overexpression studies in model organisms indicate that the human-specific gene ARHGAP11B is sufficient to increase BP abundance when introduced into the developing brain of non-human model organisms (Florio et al, 2015; Kalebic et al, 2018; Heide et al, 2020). However, studying human-specific mutations in a hominid genetic and developmental context, rather than in more divergent model organisms, could provide further insight into the evolutionary consequences and effect size of human mutations. Fischer et al (2022) now developed a novel organoid electroporation technique to establish the necessity and sufficiency of ARHGAP11B for BP proliferation in cells from humans and our closest living relative, chimpanzees (Fig 1).

Understanding redundancy and resilience: Redundancy in life is provided by distributing functions across networks rather than back-up systems: Redundancy in life is provided by distributing functions across networks rather than back-up systems

Understanding how evolution generates and maintains redundancy to cope with damage and loss of function in living systems could inspire applications from new therapies to resilient computer networks.

Fish faeces and ocean life: Better understanding marine carbon cycles could inform sustainable fishing policies: Better understanding marine carbon cycles could inform sustainable fishing policies

Better knowledge of marine carbon cycles, their effect on global warming, and the important role of fish in both, can convince politics to establish more sustainable fishery policies.

Biodiversity crisis or sixth mass extinction?: Does the current anthropogenic biodiversity crisis really qualify as a mass extinction?: Does the current anthropogenic biodiversity crisis really qualify as a mass extinction?

Human actions have caused an increasing number of species to go extinct. Do the available data support concerns about a new mass extinction event?