May 15, 2026
05/08/2026
research article
Most of the genetic variants associated with complex traits are located outside genes, limiting functional interpretation. Genetic colocalisation helps identify candidate causal genes by testing whether the same variant influences a complex trait and the expression of a nearby gene (eQTL).
Image credit: Reales et al
Current Issue April 2026
05/04/2026
research article
During embryonic development, specific families of transcription factors pattern the early embryo to lay down and define the body and organ structure. However, the mechanisms governing the onset of the expression of these developmental transcription factors in less well understood. KAT6A is thought to promote gene expression by acetylation histone proteins.
Image credit: Lucas K.
04/30/2026
research article
Insulin signaling is a diverse actor that regulates many processes essential for life from growth and development, aging, cognition, among many others. However, how insulin signaling regulates myriad processes across tissues within an organism is poorly understood. Simple models, like the nematode worm C. elegans, highlight the diversity of insulin signaling function.
Image credit: Joel Filipe
04/06/2026
research article
The general stress response (GSR) in foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes is important for environmental stress response and for host entry, but GSR is also highly variable across wild isolates.
Image credit: Wu et al
04/03/2026
research article
A key open question in evolution of development (evo-devo) is the evolvability of complex phenotypes. Developmental system drift (DSD) contributes to evolvability by exploring different genotypes with similar phenotypic outcome, but with mutational neighbourhoods that have different, potentially adaptive, phenotypes. The authors investigated the potential for DSD in plant development using...
Image credit: van de Jagt, Oud, Vroomans
03/30/2026
research article
Bacillus subtilis is a Gram-positive model bacterium found in diverse ecological niches such as soil, marine environments, and the human gut. As such, B. subtilis cells fine-tune metabolic pathways by monitoring signals indicating the presence of nutrients and stressors.
Image credit: Suits et al
03/13/2026
opinion
Darwin’s theory of evolution describes how mean trait values change in response to natural selection over generations. But if mean trait values are subject to natural selection, what about the amount of variation...
Image credit: Pawel Czerwinski
03/11/2026
research article
Bumble bees (Bombus spp.) display remarkable color pattern diversity and convergence driven largely by...
Image credit: Dabak et al
02/12/2026
research aricle
Many people experience chills when listening to music, reading poetry, or viewing art. Yet not everyone feels these reactions in the same way. These differences provide a window into how our brains and bodies respond to art, revealing individual variation in emotional experiences.
Image credit: Europeana
01/22/2026
research article
The authors establish the broad conservation of chromatin states and their association with transcription in land plants.
Image credit: Shukla et al
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