Current Issue | PLOS Biology

We all grow older and are affected by age-related declines in health and cognitive function. In recent years, large investments have been made in aging research to identify interventions that slow down the process or even try to reverse it; however, no potential anti-aging solutions have yet emerged that have had a significant impact. As we reach the halfway point in the UN Decade of Healthy Aging, the time seems ripe to look at what we know about the biological processes that underlie aging and how they could be harnessed in the future. This collection of articles explores different aspects of the aging process, highlighting the research underpinning our current knowledge and looking towards the future of the field. Articles cover topics including rejuvenation, aging across the life course, the influence of sex and aging on the immune system, the aging microbiome, ovarian aging, stem cells in the aging brain, and medical advances in longevity. The image shows “The three ages of woman” (“Die drei Lebensalter der Frau”) by Gustav Klimt. Mair et al. 2026

Image Credit: Gustav Klimt

Editorial

Do you want to live forever? Lessons learned from the biology of aging

William B. Mair, Ines Alvarez-Garcia

PLOS Biology: published May 29, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003835

Essays

Remembrance of things past: Towards a life-course biology of aging

Sara Alam, Linda Partridge, Nazif Alic

PLOS Biology: published May 26, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003794

The problem with one-size-fits-all medicine: Biological sex and the aging immune system

Clayton Baker, Victor A. Ansere, Cossette I. Sanqui, Bérénice A. Benayoun

PLOS Biology: published May 11, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003763

From germline immortality to somatic rejuvenation: Unlocking the ovarian blueprint for longevity

Priscila Chiavellini, Vittorio Sebastiano

PLOS Biology: published May 26, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003804

Unsolved Mystery

Immune surveillance and microbial escape in the aging host: Why does the microbiome lose its balance?

Siqi Liu, Flávio Silva Costa, Dario Riccardo Valenzano

PLOS Biology: published May 20, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003815

Perspectives

Harnessing the stem cell potential in the human hippocampus to limit cognitive aging

Susmit Mhatre, Darcie L. Moore

PLOS Biology: published May 22, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003787

Beyond survival: Redefining successful aging in the era of medical complexity

Karin Modig, Marcus Ebeling

PLOS Biology: published May 14, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003784

Beyond reproduction: The ovary as a systemic regulator of female health and aging

Jennifer L. Garrison

PLOS Biology: published May 27, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003800

Research Articles

Targeted sequencing enhances detection of pangolin trafficking hotspots and dynamics of both domestic and global trade markets

Sean P. Heighton, Jérôme Murienne, Mukesh Thakur, Alain Didier Missoup, Wirdateti Wirdateti, Chabi Sylvestre Djagoun, Sery Bi Gonedelé, Gabriel Ngua Ayecaba, Brice Roxan Momboua, Flobert Njiokou, Anne-Lise Chaber, Helen C. Nash, Barbora Černá Bolfíková, Sylvain Dufour, Guy T. Gembu, Ayodeji Olayemi, Jordi Salmona, Amaia Iribar, Yves Cuenot, Philippe Gaubert

PLOS Biology: published May 7, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003762

Incorporating variation in death times improves predictions of ectotherm responses to stressful temperatures

Garrison W. Bullard, Lauren B. Buckley, Joel G. Kingsolver

PLOS Biology: published May 21, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003623

Surveillance on California dairy farms reveals multiple possible sources of H5N1 influenza virus transmission

A. J. Campbell, Meredith Shephard, Abigail P. Paulos, Matthew D. Pauly, Michelle N. Vu, Chloe Stenkamp-Strahm, Kaitlyn Bushfield, Betsy Hunter-Binns, Orlando Sablon, Emily E. Bendall, William J. Fitzimmons, Kayla Brizuela, Grace E. Quirk, Nirmal Kumar, Brian McCluskey, Nishit Shetty, Linsey C. Marr, Jenna J. Guthmiller, Jefferson J. S. Santos, Scott E. Hensley, Edith S. Marshall, Kevin Abernathy, Adam S. Lauring, Blaine T. Melody, Marlene K. Wolfe, Jason Lombard, Seema S. Lakdawala

PLOS Biology: published May 5, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003761

Environmental uncertainty shapes human effort learning

Rong Bi, Jan Grohn, Patricia L. Lockwood, Miriam C. Klein-Flügge, Lilian Weber

PLOS Biology: published May 7, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003791

Past and present goals are represented concurrently during visual search

Damian Koevoet, Dirk Van Moorselaar, Edward Awh, Stefan Van der Stigchel

PLOS Biology: published May 4, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003779

Flexible goal learning involves coordinated population activity in dCA1 and medial orbitofrontal cortex

Jiasong Li, Lingwei Tang, Xinhang Wei, Yumin Chen, Haibing Xu

PLOS Biology: published May 29, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003824

Ultrasound neuromodulation reveals distinct roles of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and anterior insula in learning

Nomiki Koutsoumpari, Johannes Algermissen, Siti Nurbaya Yaakub, Hanneke EM den Ouden, Nadege Bault, Elsa Fouragnan

PLOS Biology: published May 5, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003767

Olfactory bulb-cortex oscillations encode perceived odor intensity rather than concentration

Frans Nordén, Irene Zanettin, Mikael Lundqvist, Artin Arshamian, Johan N. Lundström

PLOS Biology: published May 29, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003810

Encoding performance of cortical neurons critically depends on their morphological and neurophysiological properties

Omer Revah, Fred Wolf, Michael J. Gutnick, Andreas Neef

PLOS Biology: published May 14, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003789

The anti-neural role of BMP signaling is a consequence of its ancestral function in dorsoventral patterning

Paul Knabl, June F. Ordoñez, Juan Daniel Montenegro Cabrera, Daniel Abed-Navandi, Roland Halbauer, Oliver Link, Tim Wollesen, Grigory Genikhovich

PLOS Biology: published May 21, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003803

Redundant and distinct mechanisms suppress innate immune activation during SARS-CoV-2 infection

Fuchun Zhou, Sivakumar Periasamy, Nathaniel D. Jackson, Wan Sze Cheng, Ruben Soto Acosta, Aarti Tripathi, Kritika Kedarinath, Philipp A. Ilinykh, Chengjin Ye, Shailendra Chauhan, German Nudelman, Elena Zaslavsky, Haiping Hao, Steven G. Widen, Luis Martinez-Sobrido, Stuart C. Sealfon, Alexander Bukreyev

PLOS Biology: published May 20, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003808

A non-canonical JAK/STAT pathway promotes viral replication through the lipoprotein receptor-related protein in ticks

Yan Xu, Wenbo Zeng, Guodian Xiong, Zhenhua Zheng, Jingwen Wang

PLOS Biology: published May 21, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003797

Mannose-binding lectin 2 secreted by hepatocellular carcinoma cells recruits and activates natural killer cells to reshape an immune-activated microenvironment

Hangyu Liao, Jun Yang, Lei Cai, Luhao Chi, Chunming Wang, Yuyan Xu, Juncheng Xie, Kunling Chen, Jingyuan Pei, Zesheng Jiang, Mingxin Pan, Liang Zhao

PLOS Biology: published May 20, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003793

Cryptococcus neoformans adapts to host CO₂ concentrations via metabolic and stress-response remodeling

Laura C. Ristow, Emma E. Blackburn, Andrew J. Jezewski, Xiaorong Lin, Damian J. Krysan

PLOS Biology: published May 5, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003561

USP39 promotes antiviral defense through post-transcriptional control of RIG-I and stabilization of STING

Jiazheng Quan, Xibao Zhao, Shaoying Chen, Hongrui Li, Wei Chen, Qianqian Di, Xunwei Li, Jiajing Zhao, Han Wu, Jin Chen, Yue Xiao, Zherui Wu, Weilin Chen

PLOS Biology: published May 11, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003796

Environmental redox conditions and strain variation define phenazine-mediated antagonism in co-infecting bacteria

Katlyn Todd, Olivia Schneider, Joshua M. Lawrence, Josefina L. Aronoff, Bartosz Witek, Valerie Velázquez-Colón, Verónica Santana-Ufret, Nicole L. Anderson, Krista Gunter, Moraima Noda, Ryan F. Relich, Lifan Zeng, Dominique H. Limoli, Christopher Whidbey, Jay Vornhagen

PLOS Biology: published May 20, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003809

The KMT2F histone methyltransferase interacts with the RNA polymerase I machinery to promote ribosomal RNA transcription

Kaisar Ahmad Lone, Amit Mahendra Karole, Geethanjali Ravindran, Shweta Tyagi

PLOS Biology: published May 7, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003785

Acoustic delivery of indocyanine green via biosynthetic gas vesicles for tumor photothermal therapy

Jiaqi Zhang, Licong Huang, Shuhui Wang, Jingwen Ding, Yuping Yang, Chenhui Li, Ping Zhao, Qian Li, Fei Yan

PLOS Biology: published May 13, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003786

Structured water molecules drive activation and G protein selectivity in the GPR174 receptor

Ying-Jun Dong, Kun Xi, Ya-Zhi Zhang, Jian-Heng Xue, Dan-Dan Shen, Shao-Kun Zang, Ruozhu Zhao, Hai Qi, Chunyou Mao, Wei-Wei Wang, Yan Zhang

PLOS Biology: published May 7, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003447

Short Reports

Premotor cortex hemodynamic responses primarily reflect perceptual rather than specific motor aspects of decision making

Jeff Boucher, Shihab Shamma, Yves Boubenec

PLOS Biology: published May 13, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003768

Type II tRNA cleavage by SLFN14 endoribonuclease variants linked to inherited thrombocytopenia drives global translational repression

Chengchao Ding, Xinyi Ashley Liu, Fushun Zhang, Saori Uematsu, Shu-Bing Qian, Yan Xiang

PLOS Biology: published May 29, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003830

Structural basis for hemoglobin scavenging by CD163 reveals mechanism of ligand promiscuity

Richard X. Zhou, Matthew K. Higgins

PLOS Biology: published May 14, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003788

Methods and Resources

An anatomical and connectivity atlas of the tree shrew brain to bridge rodent and primate neuroanatomy

Xiaojia Zhu, Rui Bi, Haotian Yan, Qiyu Wang, Lin Li, Hongli Li, Long-Bao Lv, Cirong Liu, Yong-Gang Yao

PLOS Biology: published May 4, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003773

Discovery Report

Symbiotic bacteria may support calcium carbonate precipitation in the Gulf toadfish

Anthony M. Bonacolta, Tristan Kravitz, Rocío Mozo, Lydia J. Baker, Rachael M. Heuer, Martin Grosell, Javier del Campo

PLOS Biology: published May 18, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003764

Update Article

The Pseudomonas aeruginosa ribonuclease Ribocin cleaves eukaryotic ribosomes at helix 69 to inhibit host translation

Alejandro Vasquez-Rifo, Denis Susorov, Emily H. Sholi, Gabriel Demo, Yasaman Jami, Jihui Sha, James A. Wohlschlegel, Andrei Korostelev, Victor Ambros

PLOS Biology: published May 20, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003790

Editorial Note

Editorial Note: The Signal Sequence Coding Region Promotes Nuclear Export of mRNA

The PLOS Biology Editors

PLOS Biology: published May 26, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003822

May 2026

Cover

Aging: from cellular mechanisms to organismal physiology

Editorial

Related Articles

Essays

Related Articles

Related Articles

Related Articles

Unsolved Mystery

Related Articles

Perspectives

Related Articles

Related Articles

Related Articles

Research Articles

Short Reports

Related Articles

Methods and Resources

Discovery Report

Update Article

Related Articles

Editorial Note

Related Articles