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Biology in news

Biology as it reaches the news: DNA, RNA and proteins, cells, evolution and fossils, animal behaviour, the brain, immunity and ageing. Prelims has asked how plant and animal cells differ and what B cells and T cells do in the body.

Showing 2 of 5 subjects, those that changed from 16 to 31 July 2026.Show all

Prelims

DateResultOne lineSource
26 Jul 2026ContactSeekAn AI tool that predicts where a DNA base editor touches DNA, making editors more preciseThe Hindu, 26 Jul 2026
15 Jul 2026A gene watched jumping between speciesAn RNA intron tracked moving from a predatory bacterium into the archaeon it attacksThe Hindu, 15 Jul 2026
5 Jul 2026CAR-T therapy for solid tumoursA therapy aimed at the protein GPNMB, found on rare sarcomas and some kidney cancersThe Hindu, 5 Jul 2026: CAR T-cell therapy 'sees' solid tumours thanks to protein (opens in a new tab)

Prelims

Zoopharmacognosy is self medication by animals, such as apes applying chewed leaves to wounds, and geophagy, the deliberate eating of clay, is one form of it.

What changed

  1. 24 Jul 2026New subjectalso in news

    • Zoopharmacognosy is self medication by animals. Orangutans apply chewed Dracaena leaves to sore muscles, and chimpanzees swallow leaves of Desmodium gangeticum, known in India as shalaparni. Geophagy is the deliberate eating of clay.

    The Hindu, 24 Jul 2026: Zoopharmacognosy — when animals medicate themselves (opens in a new tab)

Also filed elsewhere

  • Epigenetics · on Genomics, gene editing and cell therapy

    A gene is a stretch of DNA whose sequence of bases spells out one protein, and Mendel's rules have each of its two copies passed on unchanged and independently.