PLOS Biology
April 14, 2026
Neural signaling and heart formation
Neural signals influence vertebrate heart growth, but the contributions of specific neuronal peptides to this process are not well understood. Hannah Gruner, CJ Pickett, Bradley Davidson and colleagues show how tachykinin and Wnt pathways modulate cardiomyocyte progenitor proliferation in
Ciona robusta
, offering new insight into the role of neural cues in organ development.
Image credit: pbio.3003715
PLOS Biologue
Community blog for PLOS Biology, PLOS Genetics and PLOS Computational Biology.
PLOS BIOLOGUE
04/16/2026
Research Article
Dopamine, effort and learning
Dopamine has been implicated in both effort and reward learning, but how do these processes interact? Huw Jarvis, Trevor Chong and co-workers show through pharmacology and computational modeling that dopamine supports the relationship between effort and learning, offering new insights on how humans learn from the consequences of their actions.
Image credit: pbio.3003765
Recently Published Articles
Neural population dynamics and temporal context cells in macaque medial parietal cortex support temporal order memory
CiliaKB: A comprehensive knowledge base for cilia-associated genes
Structure of the human P2X3 receptor reveals the basis for subtype-selective inhibition by sivopixant
See all articles
Current Issue
March 2026
04/16/2026
Research Article
Circadian glucose rhythms
Circadian clocks are known to regulate metabolism, but the details of how they regulate glucose processing remains unclear. By integrating human metabolite profiling with isotope-tracing in
Drosophila
, Dania Malik, Pinky Kain, Seth Rhoades, Aalim Weljie and co-authors define daily rhythms in glucose utilization that are influenced by circadian timing. Don't miss
the Primer
by Yao Cai and Joanna Chiu.
Image credit: Pinky Kain
04/15/2026
Methods and Resources
Temporal transcriptomics of neural maturation
Aligning single-cell transcriptomic datasets along a shared temporal axis across studies, species, and model systems remains a fundamental challenge. Using meta-analytic models trained on millions of cell transcriptomes, Sridevi Venkatesan, Jesse Gillis and colleagues describe a transcriptomic measure of neurodevelopmental timing that is broadly applicable to different organisms and tissue types.
Image credit: pbio.3003757
04/14/2026
Discovery Report
Tempos that resonate with the receiver’s brain
Do animals have a favored tempo for communicating with each other? Guy Amichay, Vijay Balasubramanian and Daniel Abrams use a survey of published data to reveal a hotspot of 0.5-4 Hz for communication across distinct species and modalities, and hypothesize that this may be driven by biophysical commonalities among the receivers' neurons.
Image credit: pbio.3003735
04/13/2026
Research Article
The individuality of human brains
Do humans establish common knowledge from identical inputs? Dongning Liu, Muzhi Wang and Huan Luo use behavior and MEG to show that even based on identical local evidence, human brains construct stable, self-consistent, yet highly individual global rankings, highlighting the constructive nature of human cognition.
Image credit: Huan Luo and Dongning Liu
04/13/2026
Research Article
What drives biodiversity patterns?
Why do some clades contain far more species than others? By testing competing explanations across terrestrial vertebrates, Felipe Cerezer, David Storch and co-workers reveal that biodiversity patterns are most often shaped by long-term productivity-driven equilibrium dynamics.
Image credit: pbio.3003730
04/16/2026
Consensus View
Core reproducibility items in research
Evidence-based solutions are needed to help improve reproducibility in research. This Consensus View presents a consensus-based list of core reproducibility items for research.
Image credit: pbio.3003726
04/06/2026
Perspective
Improving research funding
The competitive research funding system is at a breaking point. Peter Kolarz argues that innovations to address this are needed on a grander scale than ever before, but this will not suffice; whole system transformation is required.
Image credit: Unsplash user Alexander Grey
03/26/2026
Formal Comment
A responsible authorship culture is needed
In this Formal Comment, representatives from PLOS, Nature and JAMA call for action on adopting a principle-based approach for a responsible authorship culture.
Image credit: Roli Roberts
03/23/2026
Unsolved Mystery
The cerebellum and cognition
The role of the cerebellum in motor functions is well understood, but why is it involved in working memory, language, social cognition, etc.? This Unsolved Mystery looks at the problems that have made it so difficult to answer this question.
Image credit: pbio.3003688
Collections
The many facets of immunometabolism
This PLOS Biology collection aims to shine a light on the many facets of immunometabolism, highlighting how molecular and cellular mechanisms impact diverse tissue and organismal functions and the exciting potential for leveraging immunometabolism for therapeutic interventions.
Cancer crosstalk across spatial and temporal scales
Recent technological advancements in omics have unveiled the mechanisms governing tumor progression across spatial and temporal scales. This collection reveals the complexities of the crosstalk between cancer cells and the tumor microenvironment.
The promises and challenges of neurotechnology
Neurotechnology offers unprecedented opportunities to treat neural disorders, restore brain function and enhance cognitive abilities. This collection explores the present and possible futures of neurotechnology to improve human health and cognition.
Decision making for conservation and biodiversity
Translating conservation and biodiversity research from the field into the real world is a complex problem. This collection discusses issues around economics, policy, and how to do research that answers questions that decision makers have.
Symbiosis across the tree of life
Symbiosis research has become a holistic and pervasive field with a mature theoretical basis. This collection showcases symbiotic relationships across the tree of life, exploring their evolutionary basis and underlying mechanisms.
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PLOS Biology | ISSN: 1545-7885 (online)