Special Issues

Biology publishes Special Issues to create collections of papers on specific topics, with the aim of building a community of authors and readers to discuss the latest research and develop new ideas and research directions. Special Issues are led by Guest Editors, who are experts on the topic and all Special Issue submissions follow MDPI's standard editorial process. The journal’s Editor-in-Chief and/or designated Editorial Board Member will oversee Guest Editor appointments and Special Issue proposals, checking their content for relevance and ensuring the suitability of the material for the journal. The papers published in a Special Issue will be collected and displayed on a dedicated page of the journal’s website. Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies and Guest Editor responsibilities can be found here. For any inquiries related to a Special Issue, please contact the Editorial Office.

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Cell Self-Destruction (Programmed Cell Death), Immunonutrition and Metabolism (2nd Edition) submission deadline 15 Feb 2026 | 3 articles | Viewed by 6795 | Submission Open
Keywords: autoimmunity; cell self-destruction; infection; inflammation; immunonutrition; lipotoxicity; metabolism; programmed cell death
(This special issue belongs to the Section Immunology)
Gut Microbiota in Aquatic Animals Nutrition, Immunity, and Host–Microbe Interactions
edited by Qunlan Zhou
submission deadline 15 Feb 2026 | 2 articles | Viewed by 4030 | Submission Open
Keywords: gut microbiota; aquatic animal health; host– microbe interactions; functional probiotics; immunomodulation; nutrient metabolism; multi-omics integration; microbial ecology; environmental adaptation
(This special issue belongs to the Section Microbiology)
Synaptic Function and Energy Use
edited by
submission deadline 15 Feb 2026 | 1 articles | Viewed by 1127 | Submission Open
Keywords: presynapse; postsynapse; ATP; mitochondria; glia; pericyte; vasculature; fatty acids; ketone bodies; leptin; insulin; glucose; lactate
(This special issue belongs to the Section Neuroscience)
Plant Nutrition—Molecular Biology and Genetics
edited by Guohua Mi and
submission deadline 24 Feb 2026 | 1 articles | Viewed by 3416 | Submission Open
Keywords: plant nutrition physiology; root development and regulation; plant genetics; high-efficiency crop agronomy technologies
(This special issue belongs to the Section Plant Science)
Roles and Functions of Neurotrophins and Their Receptors in the Brain (2nd Edition) submission deadline 24 Feb 2026 | Viewed by 264 | Submission Open
Keywords: aging; behavior; learning; memory; mental disorders; neuroanatomy; neurobiology; neuronal plasticity; neurophysiology; synaptic plasticity
(This special issue belongs to the Section Neuroscience)
Physiology and Pathophysiology of Skin
edited by Seon-Pil Jin
submission deadline 28 Feb 2026 | 10 articles | Viewed by 29580 | Submission Open
Keywords: epidermal barrier; melanogenesis; wound healing; skin immunity; sensory perception; dermatitis; psoriasis; atopic dermatitis; autoimmune skin disorders; therapeutic approaches
(This special issue belongs to the Section Physiology)
AI Deep Learning Approach to Study Biological Questions (2nd Edition) submission deadline 28 Feb 2026 | 8 articles | Viewed by 15374 | Submission Open
Keywords: OpenCV; Mask RCNN; YOLO; U-Net; StarDist; ImageJ; MATLAB; image segmentation; image classification; locomotion trajectory analysis; volumetric prediction; plants; animals; protozoa; invertebrates; animal behavior; developmental biology; toxicology; zebrafish; medaka; daphnia
(This special issue belongs to the Section Bioinformatics)
De Novo Detection of Transposons
edited by Dongying Gao, and
submission deadline 28 Feb 2026 | 3 articles | Viewed by 13812 | Submission Open
Keywords: transposons; de novo detection; genome; evolution; activity; data analysis pipeline
(This special issue belongs to the Section Genetics and Genomics)
Nature's Pharmacy: Ethnobotanical Approaches to Medicinal Plant Research for the Discovery and Development of Potential Phytochemicals submission deadline 28 Feb 2026 | 6 articles | Viewed by 9127 | Submission Open
Keywords: medicinal plants; herbal medicine; ethnopharmacology; drug discovery; bioactive compounds; biological activity; molecular mechanism; signaling pathway
(This special issue belongs to the Section Plant Science)
Young Researchers in Ecology submission deadline 28 Feb 2026 | 5 articles | Viewed by 8694 | Submission Open
Keywords: adaptations to variable environments; biodiversity; biogeography; biotic interactions (e.g.; competition; predation parasitism; mutualism; amensalism; commensalism); community assembly; conservation; ecological management and restoration; ecological sustainability; ecosystem processes (productivity; decomposition; nutrient cycling); evolution; functional traits; global changes (e.g.; climate change; land use change; biological invasions; nitrogen deposition); landscape ecology; life histories; physiological ecology; population dynamics; protected areas; succession; trophic levels         TRANSLATE with x English Arabic Hebrew Polish Bulgarian Hindi Portuguese Catalan Hmong Daw Romanian Chinese Simplified Hungarian Russian Chinese Traditional Indonesian Slovak Czech Italian Slovenian Danish Japanese Spanish Dutch Klingon Swedish English Korean Thai Estonian Latvian Turkish Finnish Lithuanian Ukrainian French Malay Urdu German Maltese Vietnamese Greek Norwegian Welsh Haitian Creole Persian   //   TRANSLATE with COPY THE URL BELOW Back EMBED THE SNIPPET BELOW IN YOUR SITE Enable collaborative features and customize widget: Bing Webmaster Portal Back //     This page is in English   Translate to Simplified Chinese         Afrikaans Albanian Amharic Arabic Armenian Azerbaijani Bengali Bulgarian Catalan Croatian Czech Danish Dutch English Estonian Finnish French German Greek Gujarati Haitian Creole Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Icelandic Indonesian Italian Japanese Kannada Kazakh Khmer Korean Kurdish (Kurmanji) Lao Latvian Lithuanian Malagasy Malay Malayalam Maltese Maori Marathi Myanmar (Burmese) Nepali Norwegian Pashto Persian Polish Portuguese Punjabi Romanian Russian Samoan Simplified Chinese Slovak Slovenian Spanish Swedish Tamil Telugu Thai Traditional Chinese Turkish Ukrainian Urdu Vietnamese Welsh   Always translate English to Simplified Chinese Never translate English Never translate admin.mdpi.com
(This special issue belongs to the Section Ecology)
Bioavailability, Metabolism, and Health Effects of Phenolic Compounds
edited by and Alice Cattivelli
submission deadline 28 Feb 2026 | 3 articles | Viewed by 8341 | Submission Open
Keywords: phenolic compounds; gut microbiota; metabolism; cardiovascular diseases; cancer; anti-proliferative activity; bioavailability; bioaccessibility
(This special issue belongs to the Section Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
Nutraceutical and Bioactive Compounds in Foods
edited by and
submission deadline 28 Feb 2026 | 3 articles | Viewed by 7118 | Submission Open
Keywords: bioactive compounds; functional food ingredients; nutraceuticals; antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents; metabolic regulation; biotechnology in food science; gut microbiota interactions   This page is in English   Translate to Simplified Chinese         Afrikaans Albanian Amharic Arabic Armenian Azerbaijani Bengali Bulgarian Catalan Croatian Czech Danish Dutch English Estonian Finnish French German Greek Gujarati Haitian Creole Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Icelandic Indonesian Italian Japanese Kannada Kazakh Khmer Korean Kurdish (Kurmanji) Lao Latvian Lithuanian Malagasy Malay Malayalam Maltese Maori Marathi Myanmar (Burmese) Nepali Norwegian Pashto Persian Polish Portuguese Punjabi Romanian Russian Samoan Simplified Chinese Slovak Slovenian Spanish Swedish Tamil Telugu Thai Traditional Chinese Turkish Ukrainian Urdu Vietnamese Welsh   Always translate English to Simplified Chinese Never translate English Never translate admin.mdpi.com
(This special issue belongs to the Section Biotechnology)
RNA Biology and Roles in Diseases
edited by Nan Wu and
submission deadline 28 Feb 2026 | 2 articles | Viewed by 5039 | Submission Open
Keywords: RNA biology; diseases; circRNA; mRNA; non-coding RNA
(This special issue belongs to the Section Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
Molecular Basis of Metabolic Homeostasis
edited by Verónica Miksztowicz
submission deadline 28 Feb 2026 | 3 articles | Viewed by 3867 | Submission Open
Keywords: metabolic homeostasis; adipose tissue; liver diseases; cardiovascular disease TRANSLATE with x English Arabic Hebrew Polish Bulgarian Hindi Portuguese Catalan Hmong Daw Romanian Chinese Simplified Hungarian Russian Chinese Traditional Indonesian Slovak Czech Italian Slovenian Danish Japanese Spanish Dutch Klingon Swedish English Korean Thai Estonian Latvian Turkish Finnish Lithuanian Ukrainian French Malay Urdu German Maltese Vietnamese Greek Norwegian Welsh Haitian Creole Persian   //   TRANSLATE with COPY THE URL BELOW Back EMBED THE SNIPPET BELOW IN YOUR SITE Enable collaborative features and customize widget: Bing Webmaster Portal Back //
(This special issue belongs to the Section Cell Biology)
Animal Models of Autoimmune Diseases
edited by Feng Zhu and Keqiang Chen
submission deadline 28 Feb 2026 | 1 articles | Viewed by 2701 | Submission Open
Keywords: autoimmune disease; infection; innate immunity; inflammation; cancer risk; therapeutic target; adaptive immunity
(This special issue belongs to the Section Physiology)
Hope for the Forgotten: Tackling Endemic Parasitic Diseases with New Tools and Ideas
edited by Cecilia Perez Brandán
submission deadline 28 Feb 2026 | 3 articles | Viewed by 2313 | Submission Open
Keywords: parasitic diseases; neglected tropical diseases (NTDs); host– parasite interactions; virulence mechanisms; immune evasion; molecular pathogenesis; genomic adaptations; drug discovery; drug repurposing; vaccine development; diagnostic biomarkers; tropical medicine; endemic infections
(This special issue belongs to the Section Infection Biology)
The Role of Gut Microbiota in Human Metabolism and Disease submission deadline 28 Feb 2026 | 1 articles | Viewed by 1076 | Submission Open
Keywords: microbiota; bacteriome; fungiome; virome; cross-talk
Diabetes and Cardiovascular Diseases in the New Era
edited by Prashilla Soma and
submission deadline 28 Feb 2026 | 1 articles | Viewed by 700 | Submission Open
Keywords: metabolic dysregulation; endothelial dysfunction; inflammation; immune response; molecular signaling pathways; oxidative stress and vascular remodeling
(This special issue belongs to the Section Medical Biology)
Algal Stress Responses: Molecular and Ecological Perspectives
edited by
submission deadline 28 Feb 2026 | 1 articles | Viewed by 665 | Submission Open
Keywords: phytoplankton; stress; global changes
(This special issue belongs to the Section Ecology)
Advancements in Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Secretome
edited by Chiara Giannasi
submission deadline 28 Feb 2026 | Viewed by 438 | Submission Open
Keywords: mesenchymal stem cells; secretome; extracellular vesicles; conditioned medium; cell-free therapeutics; regeneration; immunomodulation; inflammation
(This special issue belongs to the Section Cell Biology)
Regulatory Mechanisms of Gene Expression and Its Regulatory Networks
edited by , and Ionara Rodrigues Siqueira
submission deadline 28 Feb 2026 | Viewed by 312 | Submission Open
Keywords: transcriptional regulation; gene regulatory networks; epigenetic mechanisms; non-coding RNAs; functional genomics; multi-omics integration; signaling pathways; systems biology; epidrugs; pharmaco-transcriptomics
(This special issue belongs to the Section Genetics and Genomics)
Uncovering the Intricate Relationship Between the Human Microbiome and Chronic Diseases
edited by
submission deadline 28 Feb 2026 | Viewed by 295 | Submission Open
Keywords: gut microbiome; oral microbiome; metabolomics; proteomics; inflammation; multi-omics; diet; cardiovascular diseases; type 2 diabetes mellitus
(This special issue belongs to the Section Medical Biology)
Photomorphogenesis and Stress Response Mechanisms Involving Light in Plants
edited by Ilektra Sperdouli
submission deadline 28 Feb 2026 | Viewed by 258 | Submission Open
Keywords: light quality and quantity; photoprotection; photoinhibition; chlorophyll; photoreceptors; abiotic stress; antioxidant defense; hormonal interactions; growth responses
(This special issue belongs to the Section Plant Science)
Effects of Ionizing Radiation on Biomolecular Systems
edited by Antonella Bertucci
submission deadline 28 Feb 2026 | Viewed by 178 | Submission Open
Keywords: biomarkers; ionizing radiation; omics; high-throughput; dose
(This special issue belongs to the Section Biophysics)
The Biology, Ecology, and Management of Plant Pests
edited by , , Suli Liu and Yuxin Zhou
submission deadline 1 Mar 2026 | 7 articles | Viewed by 6044 | Submission Open
Keywords: climate change; genetic diversity; life table; population dynamic; biomathematics; insect behavior; insect physiology; pest resistance; molecular mechanism; olfactory peripheral neurons; insecticide resistance; plant– pest– natural enemy; plant– insect-vector– pathogen; integrated pest management; pest monitoring and early warning
(This special issue belongs to the Section Ecology)
Physiological and Pathophysiological Responses to Biomaterials 2.0: From Nano- to Microscale Effects and Interactions submission deadline 31 Mar 2026 | 4 articles | Viewed by 12719 | Submission Open
Keywords: extracellular stimuli and physiological responses; plasma membrane interface; cell– material interactions; tissue– material interactions; tissue engineering; biomaterials; biomedical devices; in vitro models and on-chip/microfluidic systems; bioreactors; structure– function relationship
(This special issue belongs to the Section Physiology)
Proteomics and Human Diseases
edited by Lei Fang
submission deadline 31 Mar 2026 | 4 articles | Viewed by 10126 | Submission Open
Keywords: proteomics; clinical proteomics; human diseases; biomarker identification; therapeutic target; molecular mechanism; cancers; metabolic diseases; cardiovascular diseases; neurodegeneration diseases
(This special issue belongs to the Section Medical Biology)
How Epigenetics Shapes the Nervous System
edited by
submission deadline 31 Mar 2026 | 4 articles | Viewed by 8011 | Submission Open
Keywords: nervous system; epigenetics; DNA methylation; histone tail modifications; non-coding RNAs; neurological disorders; neurodegenerative diseases; biomarkers; environmental epigenetics
(This special issue belongs to the Section Neuroscience)
Advances in Biological Research of Chiroptera
edited by Jiang Feng, Ying Liu and
submission deadline 31 Mar 2026 | 8 articles | Viewed by 6774 | Submission Open
Keywords: individual development; ecolocation; powered flight; high-frequency hearing; pest control; bat ecosystem service; habitat suitability; evolutionary adaptations
(This special issue belongs to the Section Zoology)
Feeding Biology and Nutrition in Insects
edited by and Christopher W. Weldon
submission deadline 31 Mar 2026 | 3 articles | Viewed by 5542 | Submission Open
Keywords: diet; digestion; ecology; evolution; feeding; insects; mass-rearing; microbiome; nutrients; taste
(This special issue belongs to the Section Ecology)
The Emerging Role of Mitochondria in Neurobiology submission deadline 31 Mar 2026 | 1 articles | Viewed by 5375 | Submission Open
Keywords: mitochondrial dynamics; neurodegenerative diseases; neuronal bioenergetics; synaptic function; neurogenesis; neuronal plasticity
(This special issue belongs to the Section Neuroscience)
Pathophysiology of Testis
edited by María Susana Theas, and María Noel Galardo
submission deadline 31 Mar 2026 | 2 articles | Viewed by 4358 | Submission Open
Keywords: testis; infertility; aging; inflammation; spermatogenesis; steroidogenesis; energy balance
(This special issue belongs to the Section Physiology)
Microbial Life at the Extremes: From Environmental Diversity to Functional Insights submission deadline 31 Mar 2026 | 3 articles | Viewed by 3908 | Submission Open
Keywords: extremophiles; microbial diversity; functional adaptation; extreme environment; synthetic extreme environments; biosignatures TRANSLATE with x English Arabic Hebrew Polish Bulgarian Hindi Portuguese Catalan Hmong Daw Romanian Chinese Simplified Hungarian Russian Chinese Traditional Indonesian Slovak Czech Italian Slovenian Danish Japanese Spanish Dutch Klingon Swedish English Korean Thai Estonian Latvian Turkish Finnish Lithuanian Ukrainian French Malay Urdu German Maltese Vietnamese Greek Norwegian Welsh Haitian Creole Persian   //   TRANSLATE with COPY THE URL BELOW Back EMBED THE SNIPPET BELOW IN YOUR SITE Enable collaborative features and customize widget: Bing Webmaster Portal Back //     This page is in English   Translate to Simplified Chinese         Afrikaans Albanian Amharic Arabic Armenian Azerbaijani Bengali Bulgarian Catalan Croatian Czech Danish Dutch English Estonian Finnish French German Greek Gujarati Haitian Creole Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Icelandic Indonesian Italian Japanese Kannada Kazakh Khmer Korean Kurdish (Kurmanji) Lao Latvian Lithuanian Malagasy Malay Malayalam Maltese Maori Marathi Myanmar (Burmese) Nepali Norwegian Pashto Persian Polish Portuguese Punjabi Romanian Russian Samoan Simplified Chinese Slovak Slovenian Spanish Swedish Tamil Telugu Thai Traditional Chinese Turkish Ukrainian Urdu Vietnamese Welsh   Always translate English to Simplified Chinese Never translate English Never translate admin.mdpi.com
(This special issue belongs to the Section Ecology)
Animal Models of Gastrointestinal Diseases
edited by Yan Hu
submission deadline 31 Mar 2026 | 3 articles | Viewed by 3123 | Submission Open
Keywords: gastrointestinal diseases; animal models; digestive system; inflammatory bowel diseases; colorectal cancer; disease pathology; research methodologies; therapeutic interventions; clinical applications; translational research
(This special issue belongs to the Section Physiology)
Cardiovascular Autonomic Function: From Bench to Bedside—2nd Edition
edited by and
submission deadline 31 Mar 2026 | 3 articles | Viewed by 3016 | Submission Open
Keywords: dysautonomia; heart rate variability; autonomic function testing; cardiovascular autonomic function; autonomic neuroscience; syncope; orthostatic hypotension; baroreflex; autonomic molecular mechanisms
Aquatic Animal Pathogens and Immunity
edited by and Junsoung Kwak
submission deadline 31 Mar 2026 | 2 articles | Viewed by 2597 | Submission Open
Keywords: disease mechanism; diagnosis methods for emerging diseases; host– pathogen interaction; immune defense mechanism; vaccines; immunostimulants; disease control and prevention; therapy
(This special issue belongs to the Section Microbiology)
Gene–Environment Interactions in Evolutionary Developmental Biology
edited by Alexander Shingleton
submission deadline 31 Mar 2026 | 1 articles | Viewed by 2564 | Submission Open
Keywords: phenotypic plasticity; gene– environment interactions; genetic architecture of plasticity; mechanisms of phenotypic variation; anthropogenic stressors; evolution of plastic responses
(This special issue belongs to the Section Evolutionary Biology)
In Vitro 2.0—Improving the Cell Culture Environment for Biology
edited by
submission deadline 31 Mar 2026 | 2 articles | Viewed by 2445 | Submission Open
Keywords: in vitro technologies; microfluids; bioreactors; organoids; tissue engineering; lab-on-a-chip; life-support systems; symbioses
(This special issue belongs to the Section Cell Biology)
Biological Control and Molecular Biology of Bacterial Plant Diseases
edited by Lei Li and Xiaofeng Zhou
submission deadline 31 Mar 2026 | 1 articles | Viewed by 2311 | Submission Open
Keywords: bacterial plant diseases; biological control; plant pathogens; endophytes; genomic; transcriptomic; and proteomic studies of antagonistic or pathogenic bacteria interactions; pathogenic mechanism
(This special issue belongs to the Section Plant Science)
Gene Editing and Genetic Regulation: New Insight in Insect Sex Determination, Reproductive Development and Pest Control
edited by Honglun Bi
submission deadline 31 Mar 2026 | 1 articles | Viewed by 2285 | Submission Open
Keywords: insect gene editing; genetic regulation  ; CRISPR/Cas  ; gene drive  ; pest control; sex determination  ; reproductive development; insect sterile technique
(This special issue belongs to the Section Zoology)
Integrative Immunology of the Skin: Unraveling Molecular Networks in Allergy, Autoimmunity, and Inflammation
edited by and
submission deadline 31 Mar 2026 | Viewed by 346 | Submission Open
Keywords: skin immunology; allergy and autoimmunity; chronic inflammation; cytokine and molecular networks; neuroimmune and microbiome interactions; systems immunology; multi-omics and spatial biology
(This special issue belongs to the Section Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
Latest Biological Advances in Neuromuscular Diseases
edited by James P. Orengo
submission deadline 31 Mar 2026 | Viewed by 284 | Submission Open
Keywords: neuromuscular medicine; muscle disease; neuropathy; neurogenetics; neurological disorders; neurodegeneration; neurology
(This special issue belongs to the Section Neuroscience)
Molecular Insights into the Immune Contexture of Tumors
edited by and Guilherme Zweig Rocha
submission deadline 31 Mar 2026 | Viewed by 238 | Submission Open
Keywords: immunology; immune oncology; cancer; molecular biology; biomarkers; inflammation
(This special issue belongs to the Section Cancer Biology)
Advances in the Molecular Evolution of Free-Living and Plant Parasitic Nematodes
edited by
submission deadline 31 Mar 2026 | Viewed by 223 | Submission Open
Keywords: biodiversity; biogeography; criptic species; phylogenetics; sequencing
(This special issue belongs to the Section Zoology)
Signaling Mechanisms Controlling Cell Fate in Cancer
edited by Wittaya Chaiwangyen and
submission deadline 31 Mar 2026 | Viewed by 168 | Submission Open
Keywords: cell fate; cancer signaling; miRNA; p53; Wnt; apoptosis; proliferation; differentiation; therapy resistance; biomarkers
(This special issue belongs to the Section Cell Biology)
Bird Biology and Conservation submission deadline 15 Apr 2026 | 15 articles | Viewed by 22957 | Submission Open
Keywords: avian conservation; ecological modeling; GIS; spatial ecology; telemetry
(This special issue belongs to the Section Conservation Biology and Biodiversity)
Mitochondria: The Signaling Organelle
edited by
submission deadline 15 Apr 2026 | 4 articles | Viewed by 7929 | Submission Open
Keywords: mitochondria; signal transduction; homeostasis; metabolism; apoptosis; redox biology; organelle communication
(This special issue belongs to the Section Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
Microbial Drivers of Aquatic Ecosystem Function: From Genomes to Biogeochemical Cycles
edited by and Jinjun Kan
submission deadline 15 Apr 2026 | 1 articles | Viewed by 632 | Submission Open
Keywords: aquatic microbial ecology; harmful algal blooms; nutrient cycling; trophic interactions; omics technologies; ecosystem resilience; bioremediation; population dynamics in aquatic ecosystems
(This special issue belongs to the Section Marine and Freshwater Biology)
Maternal Adaptation in Physiological and Pathological Pregnancy (2nd Edition)
edited by and
submission deadline 15 Apr 2026 | Viewed by 241 | Submission Open
Keywords: pregnancy; maternal adaptation; placenta; cardiovascular system; immune system; complications of preg-nancy; early prediction
(This special issue belongs to the Section Developmental and Reproductive Biology)
Biology, Ecology, Management and Conservation of Canidae
edited by Alberto Meriggi and
submission deadline 30 Apr 2026 | 8 articles | Viewed by 22454 | Submission Open
Keywords: Canidae; biology; ecology; management; conservation; ecosystem; habitats; niches; biodiversity; physiology; reproduction
(This special issue belongs to the Section Conservation Biology and Biodiversity)
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