A $21 million gift from philanthropist Thea Berggren to the University of Chicago will establish the Berggren Center for Quantum Biology and Medicine, launching a bold scientific field that merges quantum technology with biology to transform the future of medicine. This pioneering, interdisciplinary effort seeks to harness the power of quantum engineering — capable of the most sensitive measurements known to science — to peer inside the human body in unprecedented ways. The goal is to unlock insights into biology and disease that were previously out of reach, ...

Tests in 1,225 patients with the most deadly form of skin cancer reveal for the first time a genetic trait among most of those who did not respond to the latest cancer treatments, known as immune checkpoint inhibitors. Metastatic melanoma, as the disease is formally named, kills nearly 10,000 Americans annually. While the drugs have proven highly successful in treating metastatic melanoma and several other cancers, the therapies are known to not work for almost half of those who are prescribed them, usually after initial chemotherapy or surgery have failed ...

Physicists at the University of Oxford have successfully simulated how light interacts with empty space—a phenomenon once thought to belong purely to the realm of science fiction. The simulations recreated a bizarre phenomenon predicted by quantum physics, where light appears to be generated from darkness. The findings pave the way for real-world laser facilities to experimentally confirm bizarre quantum phenomena. The results have been published today (5 June) in Communications Physics. Using advanced computational modelling, a research team led by the University of Oxford, working in partnership with the Instituto Superior Técnico in the University of Lisbon, ...

Stroke survivors with depression or anxiety who attend talking therapy sessions are more likely to recover from their psychological symptoms, finds a new study by UCL researchers. The first of its kind study, published in Nature Mental Health, analysed data from all 1.9 million patients who attended NHS Talking Therapies for Anxiety and Depression services in England between 2012 and 2019, including 7,597 stroke survivors. More than one in three stroke survivors experience depression or anxiety. Without appropriate mental health treatment, ...

A team at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC), led by Jorge Alegre-Cebollada, has developed an innovative method, called TEVs-TTN, for studying the specific mechanical functions of proteins through their controlled cleavage, a process that renders the proteins unable to sense and transmit mechanical force. The study results extend knowledge about the development of muscular diseases. The study, published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, demonstrates that interrupting mechanical transmission by the protein titin precipitates muscular diseases. This finding opens new routes to understanding muscular dystrophies and other diseases ...

Two major environmental shifts have triggered global transformations in large herbivore communities. A new study with researchers from the University of Gothenburg show how these ecosystems remained remarkably resilient despite extinction and upheaval. From mastodons to ancient rhinos and giant deer, large herbivores have been shaping Earth’s landscapes for millions of years. A new study, published in Nature communications, shows how these giants responded to dramatic environmental shifts – and how their ecosystems found ways to stay together, even as species disappeared. An ...

The idea of the front brake light has been around for some time, but no vehicle manufacturer has as yet implemented it. A research team led by Ernst Tomasch from the Institute of Vehicle Safety at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) in collaboration with the Bonn Institute for Legal and Traffic Psychology (BIRVp) has now analysed their effect on road safety in an accident reconstruction study. The analysis of 200 real accidents at road junctions showed that – depending on the reaction time of road ...

The gender gap in education doesn’t always disadvantage women. In countries like Estonia, Iceland, or Sweden, women outperform men in key indicators such as tertiary education and lifelong learning. But that, too, is a gender gap. That’s the starting point for researchers at the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH), who have developed a mathematical model to support European education authorities in improving performance and reducing gender disparities, regardless of which group is underperforming. “In many European ...

Birmingham spin-out Linear Diagnostics has been awarded £1m funding to finalise the development of a rapid test for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), in partnership with the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre (HRC) in Diagnostic and Technology Evaluation and the North East Innovation Lab, part of Newcastle Hospitals.  Linear is developing a low-cost, accurate, near-patient diagnostic platform, that aims to diagnose infection from a single sample faster than any commercially available alternative.  The funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Invention for Innovation programme covers a three-year package ...

Geneva, 5 June 2025 – Tech sector carbon emissions continued their rise in recent years, fueled by rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and data infrastructure, according to Greening Digital Companies 2025. The report, produced by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) -- the UN agency for digital technologies -- and the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA), tracks the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, energy use, and climate commitments of 200 leading digital companies as of 2023, the most recent year for which full data is available. While the annual report calls ...

Scientists with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History have discovered that a bacterial probiotic helps slow the spread of stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) in already infected wild corals in Florida. The findings, published today in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, reveal that applying the probiotic treatment across entire coral colonies helped prevent tissue loss. The new treatment provides a viable alternative to antibiotics, which only offer temporary protection and also run the risk of creating resistant strains of SCTLD. “The goal of using the probiotics is to get the ...

Wheat production is threatened by a major fungal disease: yellow rust. Researchers at the University of Zurich have found traditional wheat varieties from Asia that harbor several resistance-conferring genes. They may serve as a durable source of yellow rust resistance in commercial varieties in the future, highlighting the importance of genetic diversity for food security. Yellow rust, also known as stripe rust, is caused by a fungal pathogen named Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici. The plant disease affects around 88% of global bread wheat production ...

Osaka Metropolitan University researchers have gained clearer insights into the natural behavior of medaka, small fish that are useful as model organisms in the lab. Specially Appointed Dr. Yuki Kondo and Professor Satoshi Awata of the Graduate School of Science conducted continuous 24-hour observations of medaka raised in an environment close to their natural habitat and verified when the fish begin their reproductive behavior. Medaka spawning behavior in a natural environment begins around 1 a.m. and peaks between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. In addition, courtship behavior was frequently observed ...

Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, shifting tectonic plates - these are all signs that our planet is alive. But what is revealed deep inside the earth surprises laymen and scientists alike: Almost 3000 kilometres below the Earth's surface, solid rock is flowing that is neither liquid, like lava, nor brittle like solid rock. This is shown by a new study by geoscientists led by Motohiko Murakami, Professor of Experimental Mineral Physics at ETH Zurich. The study has just been published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment. Half a ...

What does it take for a company to last for centuries? Ask most business analysts, and you’ll hear about innovation, financial acumen, or strategic pivots. But new research suggests another key to organizational survival: environmental sustainability. In a study recently published in Frontiers in Organizational Psychology, an international team of researchers reveals a robust link between organizations’ longevity and their commitment to environmentally sustainable business practices. The findings challenge the assumption that younger, more agile companies ...

A new study from Toho University reveals that female earwigs exhibit a similar pattern of exaggerated forceps growth as males, suggesting that both sexes may have evolved these traits through sexual selection. Do larger male elk have proportionally larger antlers? The answer is no. In fact, larger individuals tend to have disproportionately larger antlers—a phenomenon known as positive allometry. This pattern, where certain body parts grow disproportionately large relative to body size, is observed not only in mammals ...

A baby's makeup of gut bacteria — their microbiome — which starts to form as soon as they are born, could help protect against viral infections later in childhood, a new study suggests. As part of the largest study of UK baby microbiomes to date, researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and University College London (UCL) found that babies with a specific mix of gut bacteria at one week old, which was only found in some babies born vaginally, were less likely to be hospitalised for viral lower respiratory tract infections (vLRTI) in the first two years of life. This research, published today ...

The sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT-2) inhibitor drug dapagliflozin, widely used to treat type 2 diabetes, also shows improvements for patients with progressive liver disease, finds a clinical trial from China published by The BMJ today. The results show that treatment with dapagliflozin improved metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) - a condition where excess fat accumulates in the liver, leading to inflammation - and liver fibrosis (a build up of scar tissue) compared ...

Giving a P2Y12 inhibitor anti-clotting drug to patients with coronary artery disease is associated with lower rates of cardiovascular death, heart attack and stroke compared with traditional aspirin, with no increased risk of major bleeding, finds a study published by The BMJ today. P2Y12 inhibitors are often given to patients alongside aspirin (“dual therapy”) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) - a procedure to widen or unblock a coronary artery - to help prevent cardiovascular events including heart attack and stroke. After several months, patients ...

(Vienna, Austria, Thursday 5 June 2025) New 100-week data from the ongoing Phase 1/2 study of zigakibart, an investigational anti-APRIL monoclonal antibody, reinforce its potential as a disease-modifying treatment for IgA nephropathy (IgAN). Findings presented today at the 62nd ERA Congress demonstrate sustained proteinuria remission, stable kidney function, and a reassuring safety profile.1 IgAN is the most common form of glomerular disease worldwide and a frequent cause of chronic kidney disease. Its pathogenesis is marked by inflammation and progressive kidney damage, which can lead to kidney failure.² Many patients are unaware they have the condition until significant kidney ...

(Vienna, Austria, Thursday 5 June 2025) A major international study, being presented today at the 62nd ERA Congress, reveals that the long-accepted survival advantage of deceased-donor kidney transplantation does not extend equally to every patient and every donor organ.1,2 A large-scale analysis, drawing on data from the European Renal Association (ERA) Registry, examined five-year survival outcomes in 64,013 wait-listed adults across Catalonia, Denmark, France, Norway, and the UK who began dialysis between 2000 and 2019. Using a robust target trial emulation (TTE) framework designed to mirror ...

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remains one of the most aggressive and deadly forms of blood cancer, even as treatments have advanced in recent years. Standard approaches like high-dose chemotherapy and bone marrow transplants can extend life but often come at the cost of severe side effects — and many patients still relapse due to drug-resistant cancer cells. A research team led by Natasha Kirienko at Rice University is working to change that by turning the cancer cells’ own energy ...

A study of almost 1000 pregnant women in Zimbabwe found that a daily dose of a commonly used, safe and inexpensive antibiotic may have led to fewer babies being born early. Among women living with HIV, those who received the antibiotic had larger babies who were less likely to be preterm.   One in four live-born infants worldwide is preterm (born at 37 weeks’ gestation or before), is small for gestational age, or has a low birth weight. The mortality rate for these small and vulnerable newborns is high, with prematurity now the leading cause of death among ...

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) reveals that the largest diphtheria epidemic in Western Europe for 70 years, which broke out in 2022 among migrants and in 2023 spread to other vulnerable populations in several European countries, is the result of contaminations occurring during migratory travel or in destination European countries, and not in the countries of origin. However, the geographical area and conditions of these initial contaminations are still unknown. A genetic link has also been established between the strain that circulated during the 2022 epidemic and an epidemic that occurred in Germany in 2025, suggesting ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4:00 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 2025 MINNEAPOLIS — While many people with neuromuscular diseases currently face a future without a cure, a new study finds that a personalized exercise and coaching program could improve their fitness and overall health. The study is published on June 4, 2025, online in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study looked at people with a variety of neuromuscular diseases that cause muscle weakness and loss, including ...