05/05/2025
Research Article
Uneven vaccination coverage is thought to decrease disease control, but this has never been quantified empirically. This study on fine-grained data of 20 years of dog vaccination in Tanzania, by Elaine Ferguson, Katie Hampson and co-workers, shows that reducing coverage gaps lowers rabies incidence, while high regional connectivity drives continued transmission.
Image credit: Felix Lankester
Current Issue March 2025
05/02/2025
Research Article
Agricultural diseases are a major threat to sustainable food production. This study of wheat powdery mildew (caused by the fungus Blumeria graminis), by Jigisha Jigisha, Fabrizio Menardo and co-authors, shows that the population structure can be largely predicted by prevailing wind patterns and reveals genes that have been under selection in the recent past. Also read the Primer by Sergio Latorre.
Image credit: pbio.3003097
05/01/2025
Short Reports
Many intracellular bacteria breach vacuolar membranes to replicate in the host cytosol, but the precise mechanisms remain unclear. Léa Swistak, Matthijn Vos, Jost Enninga and colleagues show that the human pathogen Shigella flexneri uses its type three secretion system to physically damage endomembranes through mechanoporation to initiate cytosolic access.
Image credit: pbio.3003135
04/30/2025
Preregistered Research Article
To protect an individual's privacy, facial features are removed before data-sharing of human neuroimaging data. Céline Provins, Oscar Esteban and co-workers show that this procedure affects the quality ratings given by human raters but not automated image quality metrics, highlighting the importance of using non-defaced images for quality control measures.
Image credit: pbio.3003149
04/29/2025
Research Article
Mutations outside the spike protein in SARS-CoV-2, which are likely to impact viral properties, are currently understudied. Hannah Kubinski, Hannah Despres, Emily A. Bruce and co-authors show that a nucleocapsid protein mutation in the Delta variant enhances viral growth in vitro and in vivo by increasing viral genome encapsidation.
Image credit: pbio.3003115
04/29/2025
Methods and Resources
Despite recent advances in green genetically encoded calcium indicators (GECIs), developments in red-shifted GECIs have been slower. Shihao Zhou, Qiyu Zhu, Minho Eom, Shilin Fang and colleagues engineer a new soma-localized red GECI called SomaFRCaMPi that exhibits improved accuracy and sensitivity for in vivo neuronal imaging.
Image credit: pbio.3003048
04/18/2025
Editorial
Vaccines have saved millions of lives, yet their importance and safety is repeatedly in question. This editorial argues that we cannot let disinformation campaigns get in the way of global public health.
Image credit: Unsplash user Ed Us
04/15/2025
Perspective
Gene drive can modify or suppress plant populations, offering solutions to challenges associated with globalization and climate change. Bruce Hay discusses how self-limiting gene drive methods provide a controlled, reversible path forward.
Image credit: pbio.3003148
04/15/2025
Unsolved Mystery
Did human language evolve via a gestural or a vocal route? This Unsolved Mystery discusses evidence suggesting that fetal auditory development and learning in the womb are important evolutionary factors in the dominance of vocal communication.
Image credit: pbio.3003141
04/14/2025
Perspective
Filoviruses continue to re-emerge in Africa, causing localized public health emergencies. Andrea Marzi highlights the importance of taking a holistic approach to protect against filoviruses, discussing possible strategies to achieve cross-protection.
Image credit: pbio.3003142
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.
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 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.
PLOS Biology is 20 and we are celebrating with a collection that contains articles that look back at landmark studies that we published, others that look past and future, and others discussing how publishing and open science have evolved and what is to come.
.
This collection explores engineering strategies to help us adapt plants to a changing climate, including breeding techniques, genome engineering, synthetic biology and microbiome engineering.
May 11 - 16
Meet Associate Editor Melissa Vazquez Hernandez (mvazquezhernandez@plos.org)
May 13 - 17
Meet Senior Editor Luke Smith (lsmith@plos.org)
May 18 - 23
Meet Editor in Chief Nonia Pariente (npariente@plos.org)
May 26 - 28
Meet Associate Editor Melissa Vazquez Hernandez (mvazquezhernandez@plos.org)
June 16 - 20
Meet Senior Editor Roli Roberts (rroberts@plos.org)
Connect with Us