The difference between the number of men and women listed as authors on scientific papers and inventors on patents is at least partly attributable to unacknowledged contributions by women scientists.

Surprising epigenetic effect relies on snippets of RNA packaged within sperm

In a recent study published in Cell Metabolism, a research paper provides the first evidence that sperm microRNAs act as carriers of epigenetic information, enabling the intergenerational transmission of paternal exercise capacity and metabolic health, thereby exerting profound effects on offspring development.

ALT: a close up of a cricket walking on the ground .

Postdoctoral fellow in the Division of Molecular Biology, Laboratory for Evolutionary Genetics. Fixed-term contract: 2 years and 4 months Number of positions: 1

Carolina Ortiz Movliav, a PhD student at the University of Greifswald, has won the Best Oral Presentation Award at the 35th European Congress of Arachnology for her work “Winter warming inc...

Sexual cannibalism (SC), where one mating partner consumes the other in the context of mating, is especially prevalent among spiders. However, the evolution of SC in spiders is still not fully unders...

Chromosomal inversions are ubiquitous across the Tree of Life, with genome-wide studies revealing a bias toward smaller inversions, yet research has disproportionately focused on large, supergene-like inversions linked to discrete phenotypes. This limits our understanding of inversions' roles in trait evolution, as their size affects their potential functional impact. Investigation of smaller inversions and multi-inversion genotypes is crucial to elucidate their role in shaping continuous traits and evolutionary adaptation. Addressing this requires a shift towards a systematic study of smaller inversions and the use of experimental assays and functional annotation to identify the evolutionary forces driving different genomic trait architectures.

Background Dietary shifts are major evolutionary steps that shape ecological niches and biodiversity. The beetle family Coccinellidae, commonly known as ladybirds, first transitioned from a fungivorou...