Molecular biology explores the tiny machinery inside living cells, revealing how genetic instructions are read, copied, and turned into the proteins that keep us alive. This field acts as a bridge between the static code of DNA and the dynamic processes that drive growth, disease, and life itself, offering insights into everything from cellular repair to the development of new medicines.

On Gist.Science, we track every new preprint uploaded to bioRxiv in this category to make these complex discoveries accessible to everyone. Our team processes each submission to provide both clear, plain-language explanations and detailed technical summaries, ensuring you can grasp the core findings without getting lost in dense academic jargon.

Below are the latest molecular biology papers freshly processed from bioRxiv, ready for you to explore and understand.

📄 molecular biology

Sex-Dependent Epigenomic and Transcriptomic Reprogramming Links Maternal Obesity to Cardiac Remodeling in Adult Offspring

This study demonstrates that maternal obesity induces persistent, sex-dependent epigenetic and transcriptomic reprogramming in the offspring heart, leading to severe pathological cardiac remodeling in males but adaptive responses in females.

Wilson, T. D., Philips, E. A., Alharithi, Y. J., Broberg, C., Vanderpool, J., Rakshe, S., Fei, S. S., Davis, B. A., Koch (…)2026-07-08
📄 molecular biology

SELECT-seq allows Pre-Sequencing Enrichment of SNP Edits in One-Pot Single-Cell Whole-Transcriptome Sequencing

The paper introduces SELECT-seq, a rapid, one-pot single-cell workflow that integrates SNP-specific enrichment with whole-transcriptome sequencing to efficiently establish causal genotype-phenotype relationships without laborious cloning steps.

Iwama, S., Gitterman, D., Brendler-Spaeth, T., Waters, A. J., Robertson, H., Strauss, M., Adams, D., Cooper, S. E., Wu (…)2026-07-08
📄 molecular biology

PQBP1 couples HIV-1 capsid recognition to cGAS recruitment through conformational remodeling

This study reveals that HIV-1 capsid binding induces long-range conformational remodeling in the intrinsically disordered protein PQBP1, shifting its structural ensemble to a state competent for recruiting cGAS and thereby linking viral capsid recognition to innate immune activation.

Allen, D. S., Manna, A., Beusch, C. M., Zhang, T.-h., Ganser-Pornillos, B. K., Piacentini, J., Oh, S., Prabhu, S., Mehta (…)2026-07-08
📄 molecular biology

Systematic engineering and machine learning analysis of intrinsic terminators reveal crucial nucleotides directly upstream of the terminator hairpin.

This study demonstrates that inserting an adenosine nucleotide directly upstream of an intrinsic terminator's hairpin significantly enhances protein production and reduces read-through in *E. coli*, a finding validated through systematic engineering and a predictive machine learning model.

Koster, C. C., Terlouw, B., Nieuwkoop, T., Creutzburg, S. C. A., Martin-Pascual, M., Paredes Barrada, M., Kopsiaftis, P. (…)2026-07-07
📄 molecular biology

Nitrogen-Responsive Extracellular Proteomics Reveals Evidence for a Novel Heterocyst-Specific Protein Secretion Pathway in Anabaena

This study utilizes comparative extracellular proteomics to reveal a nitrogen-responsive secretion profile in *Anabaena*, providing the first evidence of a novel, heterocyst-specific protein export pathway that challenges the classical signal peptide model and offers new avenues for engineering sustainable photosynthetic protein production.

Nawaz, T., He, P., Gu, L., Young, J., Zhou, R.2026-06-10
📄 molecular biology

Targeting of immune cells by human adenoviruses: CD46 receptor density influences entry of chimaeric Ad5F35 into natural killer cells

This study demonstrates that the chimeric adenovirus Ad5F35 can efficiently transduce primary human natural killer cells by targeting the CD46 receptor, with transduction efficiency directly correlating to cell-surface CD46 density, which is significantly lower in lymphocytes than in epithelial cells.

Barr, T., Aktar, E., Drake, S. L., Karwatka, M., Wilson, E. B., Hughes, R., Blair, G. E., Cook, G. P.2026-06-10
📄 molecular biology

Enhanced Target Binding by Leritrelvir Restores Dimerization of Mpro Mutants and Mitigates Drug Resistance

This study demonstrates that the antiviral drug leritrelvir effectively overcomes resistance to nirmatrelvir by restoring the dimerization of SARS-CoV-2 main protease mutants through tighter binding, thereby maintaining superior inhibitory and cellular antiviral efficacy against resistant variants.

Huang, X., Kuzmic, P., Zhang, S., Guzman, C. A. R., Chen, X., Gui, J., Li, Q., Yan, S., Zou, B., Niu, C., Zhao, Y., Lin (…)2026-06-10