ScienceDaily: Plants & Animals News

People who have a critical attitude toward factory farming or who pay attention to their health in everyday life are more likely to turn to meat substitutes. Concern for the environment, on the other hand, appears to play no role in this decision.

Mammals can't typically regenerate organs as efficiently as other vertebrates, such as fish and lizards. Now, scientists have found a way to partially reset liver cells to more youthful states -- allowing them to heal damaged tissue at a faster rate than previously observed. The results reveal that the use of reprogramming molecules can improve cell growth, leading to better liver tissue regeneration in mice.

New research explores the spillover of myxoma virus from European rabbits to Iberian hares. In addition to shedding new light on species-jumping viruses, the study shows that the protein permitting the species jump from rabbits to hares may help improve myxoma as a cancer-fighting agent.

Until now, measures to protect climate and biodiversity have often been developed in parallel. However, this is now considered outdated because many approaches can protect both climate and biodiversity. Scientists have now assessed the role of the potential future global biodiversity targets (Post-2020 Action Targets for 2030) for climate protection and found that about two thirds of these targets can also help to slow climate change.

The National Highway 715, which passes through the Kaziranga National Park in Northeast India, is notorious for its roadkill. With protected habitats on both sides of the road, many animals cross it on a daily basis to feed and breed.

Microplastics are a pathway for pathogens on land to reach the ocean, with likely consequences for human and wildlife health, according to a new study. This study connects microplastic pollution in the ocean with land-based, diseases-carrying pathogens. The study, published April 26 in the journal Scientific Reports, is the first to connect microplastics in the ocean with land-based pathogens

A research group has discovered a completely unknown type of cell death that takes place in the guts of the common fruit fly. The new process, coined 'erebosis' by the researchers is thought to play a role in gut metabolism. The findings necessitate a revision of the conventional concept of cell death, and at the same time, overturn the previously established theory of tissue homeostasis in the gut.