Highlights

  • Body size and urban survival

    A global study of 30,000 species reveals how body size affects whether wildlife thrives or struggles in cities.

    Corey T Callaghan, Diana E Bowler ... Thomas Merckx
    Research Article

  • Pikas power yak pastures

    Plateau pikas play a role in enhancing weight gains in yaks, by suppressing toxic plants and improving the availability and quality of palatable forage.

    Zhiwei Zhong, Bingbo Ni ... Zhibin Zhang
    Research Article

  • Re-evolving traits

    Hybridization chain reaction and confocal imaging reveal latent ocelli gene regulatory network expression in ant workers, with a role in partial re-evolution of caste-specific traits.

    Angelly Vasquez-Correa, Johanna Arnet ... Ehab Abouheif
    Research Article

  • Publish-review-curate at eLife

    eLife is rethinking how research is reviewed and published.

    Timothy E Behrens, Yamini Dalal, Diane M Harper
    Editorial

  • AI in research communication

    eLife has partnered on a number of projects harnessing AI for improving human and machine reader engagement with research.

    Inside eLife

  • Science under threat

    How should the scientific community respond to ideological attacks on science?

    Humberto J Debat
    Feature Article
We liked the idea of having an open 'conversation' with the reviewers during the process, and having the chance to polish the manuscript by following the editors and reviewers’ recommendations without the threat of rejection.

Patrick Allard, UCLA and eLife author

Researchers explain why they published in eLife

Latest research

    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology

    A simplified and highly efficient cell-free protein synthesis system for prokaryotes

    Xianshengjie Lang, Changbin Zhang ... Wenfei Li
    A streamlined seven-component cell-free expression platform simplifies reaction design while maintaining high productivity and enabling robust synthesis of challenging proteins for diverse applications.
    1. Ecology

    Small mammalian herbivores at moderate densities facilitate livestock growth by improving vegetation composition in grasslands

    Zhiwei Zhong, Bingbo Ni ... Zhibin Zhang
    At moderate densities, small mammalian herbivores can enhance livestock weight gains by suppressing toxic plants and improving both the abundance and nutritional quality of palatable forage in rangelands.
    1. Neuroscience

    Cortical layer 6b mediates state-dependent changes in brain activity and effects of orexin on waking and sleep

    Elise J Meijer, Marissa Mueller ... Zoltan Molnar
    Layer 6b neurons shape state-dependent brain rhythms and responses to orexin, revealing an underappreciated cortical mechanism that may help explain disrupted sleep-wake regulation in neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders more broadly.
    1. Plant Biology

    A molecular glue in plants: The lectin domain of LecRK-I.9 creates persistent plasma membrane – cell wall connections

    Denise S Arico, Ugo Segura ... Hervé Canut
    Not revised
    Reviewed Preprint v1
    • Important
    • Solid
    • Incomplete
    1. Neuroscience

    Hilar mossy cells control structural and functional organization in the dentate gyrus

    Corwin R Butler, Connor R Squellati ... Eric Schnell
    Not revised
    Reviewed Preprint v1
    • Important
    • Convincing
    1. Neuroscience

    Correctness is its own reward: bootstrapping error signals in self-guided reinforcement learning

    Ziyi Gong, Fabiola Duarte ... John Pearson
    Not revised
    Reviewed Preprint v1
    • Important
    • Solid
    1. Neuroscience

    A theory of multi-task computation and task selection

    Owen Marschall, David G Clark, Ashok Litwin-Kumar
    Not revised
    Reviewed Preprint v1
    • Valuable
    • Solid
    1. Developmental Biology

    Cellular basis of accelerated whole-tooth regeneration

    Talha Mubeen, Haowen He ... Jeffrey T Streelman
    Revised
    Reviewed Preprint v2
    Updated
    • Valuable
    • Solid
    1. Cell Biology

    Synergistic effects of deleting the tyrosine phosphatases Shp1 and Shp2 on megakaryopoiesis and thrombopoiesis in mice

    Elsa Barré, Marc-Damien Lourenco-Rodrigues ... Alexandra Mazharian
    Revised
    Reviewed Preprint v2
    Updated
    • Important
    • Convincing
    1. Ecology

    Stage-specific threats reveal the inadequacy of adult-centered conservation

    Yan-Fang Song, Yong-Le Wang ... Wei-Wei Zhou
    In complex life cycle taxa, the relationship between functional traits and threat status varies across developmental stages, making adult‑based threat predictions insufficient to reflect risks faced during other life stages.
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Magazine

  1. Point of View: Scientific writing is not a murder mystery

    Charlotte A Dodson
    1. Neuroscience

    Visual Categorization: How monkeys carve up the visual world

    Binxu Wang
    1. Cell Biology

    Stress: How to give cells an identity crisis

    Paige Dillon, Julie Hollien
    1. Epidemiology and Global Health

    Malaria Prevention: Using mathematical models to optimise mosquito net distribution

    Carlos A Prete Jr
    1. Plant Biology

    Mixotrophy: An updated view of glucose pathways in cyanobacteria

    José Manuel García-Fernández
  6. Mountain gorilla

    Episode 104: July 2026

    1. Cell Biology
    2. Developmental Biology

    Organ Development: Following your heart as it takes shape

    Alexandra Trouilloud, Nicole C Dubois
  8. See more Magazine articles

Categories

  1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
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  4. Chromosomes and Gene Expression
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  9. Evolutionary Biology
  10. Genetics and Genomics
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  12. Medicine
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  19. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
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