Oct. 31, 2025--Researchers at the Columbia University Fertility Center reported the first successful pregnancy using an AI-guided method they developed to recover sperm in men with azoospermia, in which ejaculate contains little or no sperm.  The case is described in a research letter published in The Lancet.  Male factors account for approximately 40% of couples with infertility. Of those, about 10-15% of men with infertility have azoospermia.    “A semen sample can appear totally normal, but when you look under the microscope you discover just a sea of cellular ...

A sweeping new study has uncovered global patterns in how bacteria thrive and interact within lakes and reservoirs, offering new insights into the invisible forces that sustain freshwater ecosystems. The research, led by scientists from Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, analyzed hundreds of samples from around the world to understand how geography, temperature, and nutrients shape bacterial communities in water and sediments. Freshwater ecosystems are vital sources of drinking water, biodiversity, and economic activity, yet they are increasingly threatened by pollution, eutrophication, and climate change. Microorganisms, though microscopic, play a central role in ...

Researchers from the University of Toronto have uncovered how the hidden architecture of wood can give rise to biochar materials as strong as mild steel. Their new study reveals that the direction in which biochar is measured can make its hardness vary by more than twenty-eight times, opening the door to a new generation of sustainable carbon materials for use in energy devices, filters, and structural applications. Biochar, a carbon-rich material produced by heating biomass in the absence of oxygen, has long been valued for its environmental ...

Professor Lijia Wang's group at East China Normal University, in collaboration with Academician Yong Tang of the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, developed a nickel (II)-catalyzed asymmetric [2+2] cyclobutanization reaction. By introducing a flexible "antenna" structure into the traditional chiral BOX ligand, they successfully achieved efficient asymmetric cyclobutanization of indole-derived heterocyclic enamines with methylene malonates. Based on this method, the team completed a concise asymmetric synthesis of seven ...

Max Planck Digital Library and BioOne announced the signing of a three-year agreement to bring the flagship BioOne Complete aggregation to 84 Max Planck Society Institutes. Notably, this agreement includes the full term of BioOne’s Subscribe to Open (S2O) pilot from 2026 through 2028, supporting shared goals of sustainable open access and equitable scholarly communications. BioOne’s Subscribe to Open pilot brings together 71 journals from 54 societies, museums, and research organizations worldwide into a conditional open access framework —representing ...

A new study by a large international team of conservation scientists and artists explores how growing synergies between conservation and the arts can unveil many mutual benefits and fresh approaches to intractable conservation problems. “These collaborations can generate new knowledge, attract funding, boost visibility, and even catalyze behavioural change”, says Ivan Jarić, researcher from the University of Paris-Saclay in France and the Czech Academy of Sciences, and lead author of the study. “By working ...

When Sean Fletcher walked into Sam Biswas’ Medical and Molecular Sciences (MMSC) lab at the University of Delaware College of Health Sciences during the summer of his first year, he had no research or laboratory experience.  Two years later, the senior honors medical diagnostics major has published a paper as a first author after uncovering new insights into how human papillomavirus (HPV) functions on a molecular level.  In a study recently published in Virology Journal, Fletcher and co-authors Biswas, professor of MMSC, and Esther Biswas-Fiss, professor and chair of MMSC, used bioinformatics to pinpoint conserved ...

Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn have discovered how a small, naturally occurring RNA molecule in the kidney activates a mutated immune receptor, triggering a chain reaction. In cooperation with Nanyang Technological University Singapore and the University Hospital Würzburg, among others, the study provides an explanation for how a point mutation in the immune receptor RIG-I transforms the body's defense system into a self-destructive force and causes severe organ-specific autoimmune diseases. The results have now been published in the journal Science Immunology. RIG-I is an important ...

New research from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) uncovers unique genetic signatures in cancer patients of non-European ancestry; identifies social adversity as a potential risk factor for higher rates of triple-negative breast cancer among Black women; shows a web-based system could help head-and-neck cancer survivors report their concerns; and finds adding immunotherapy can boost the effectiveness for hard-to-treat follicular lymphomas. Study uncovers unique genetic signatures in cancer patients of non-European ancestry In the era of personalized oncology, it’s becoming increasingly important to ...

The announcement was made in early October in Denver, USA, during the 11th edition of the conference, and marks the first time Portugal will host this prestigious international event. The proposal, coordinated by Dr. Nunes, was selected by an international panel of experts and received enthusiastic support from global institutions, including several regional chapters of the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER). “Ecosystem restoration lies at the heart of tackling the climate and biodiversity crises, ...

Hybrid electrocatalysts can produce green hydrogen, for example, and valuable organic compounds simultaneously. This promises economically viable applications. However, the complex catalytic reactions involved in producing organic compounds are not yet fully understood. Modern X-ray methods at synchrotron sources such as BESSY II, enable catalyst materials and the reactions occurring on their surfaces to be analysed in real time, in situ and under real operating conditions. This provides insights ...

LA JOLLA, CA—Nearly 40 years after HIV was first identified, the virus continues its devastating march across the globe. Today, 38 million people live with HIV, and each year brings 1.5 million new infections and 650,000 more deaths—while nearly 10 million people still lack access to life-saving medicines. Despite decades of intensive research and remarkable progress in treatment, one goal remains frustratingly out of reach: a vaccine that provides lasting protection. Now, a team of scientists at Scripps Research has been awarded a $6.9 million five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to address this specific challenge. Led by Bryan Briney, associate ...

SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 30, 2025 – Myriad Genetics, Inc., (NASDAQ: MYGN), a leader in molecular diagnostic testing and precision medicine, today announced a post-hoc analysis of the Precision Medicine in Mental Health Care (PRIME) study showed that treatment informed by the GeneSight® test led to faster initial remission and response in patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Further, the post-hoc analysis showed that this benefit persisted over six months with no evidence of changing over time. “Every single day matters to someone suffering from depression; patients want to get back to feeling like themselves as quickly ...

A research team led by the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) and collaborating with the Biomedical Research Institute of A Coruña (INIBIC), as well as other international research groups, has developed pioneering technology that enables human kidney organoids to be produced in a scalable manner. This technology allows the organoids to be combined with pig kidneys outside the body and then transplanted back into the same animal to evaluate their viability. This breakthrough study, published in the journal Nature Biomedical ...

Critical concerns regarding the security and privacy of information transmitted within Internet of Medical Things systems have increased greatly, since these systems manage and generate substantial amounts of sensitive private data. Current traditional security methods have not yet adapted to evolving cyber threats, making the need for data security in medical settings crucial. Recently, a security framework based on blockchain technology and distributed reinforcement learning has been developed to address these challenges. The new framework ...

Nowadays, compute-intensive programs, like those for training artificial intelligence and machine learning models, are used extensively. Modern compilers use vectorization techniques to exploit parallel processing capabilities to improve the performance of such programs. A group of scientists from the University of Southern California, Cisco AI Research, and Intel Labs designed a data-driven, graph-based learning framework for automatic vectorization called autograph, which utilizes deep reinforcement learning to have an intelligent agent learn an optimal policy. Autograph greatly outperformed other approaches across ...

Plankton are the invisible engines of life on Earth, producing much of the planet’s oxygen and forming the foundation of the oceanic food chain. They are also incredibly diverse, with tens of thousands of species described so far, and many more waiting to be discovered. Among them, protists,  tiny, single-celled organisms, stand out for their extraordinary diversity and evolutionary significance, yet for decades, scientists could study them only through genomic data, as reliable imaging methods were lacking.  During the COVID-19 pandemic, EMBL Group Leader Gautam Dey received a Zoom call from his ...

A new international study led by researchers from Aarhus University and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) reveals that small bats can be just as efficient predators as lions – and often more successful. To find out how fringe-lipped bats (Trachops cirrhosus), miniature carnivores from the forests of Panama, hunt in the wild, the research team equipped 20 of them with miniature “backpacks” – biologging tags that recorded every movement and sound, including those from the surrounding environment. The data revealed something remarkable: these bats hunt large prey such as frogs, birds and ...

Recent federal legislation requires the 40 states that have expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act to start implementing work requirements in their Medicaid programs by January 2027. But a new University of Michigan study suggests that those requirements may work against their intended purpose. The requirements mean people with low incomes will need to prove they’re working, or have a specific reason not to work, in order to keep their Medicaid health coverage. If they do not meet deadlines or submit the right information, they could lose their coverage for health care. But ...

About The Study: In this cross-sectional study, structural racism was associated with inequities in neighborhood cardiovascular health, highlighting opportunities for place-based prevention efforts. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Wayne R. Lawrence, DrPH, MPH, email wayne.lawrence@nih.gov. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2025.3864) Editor’s Note: Please see ...

About The Study: This cross-sectional study found an increase in glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) prescriptions, with notable differences across subpopulations by insurance type, sex, and age. Tirzepatide and semaglutide grew the fastest, possibly due to their superior glycemic, weight loss, and guideline-emphasized cardiorenal benefits. Although GLP-1RAs are generally covered for type 2 diabetes (T2D), coverage for obesity is limited (e.g., Medicare excludes anti-obesity drugs). Off-label semaglutide (for T2D) use in the obesity-only group underscores access barriers. Corresponding Authors: To ...

About The Study: This cross-sectional study found that frequent use of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) (greater than 75% sensor wear) was associated with improved glycemic control compared with infrequent or no use of CGM. These findings suggest that clinicians should monitor CGM use at 6 months, identify potential therapeutic obstacles, and encourage continuous use of CGM.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Irl B. Hirsch, MD, email ihirsch@uw.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.39278) Editor’s ...

Robotic palpation for in situ tissue biomechanical evaluation is crucial for disease diagnosis, especially in luminal organs. However, acquiring real-time information about the tissue’s interaction state and physical characteristics remains a substantial challenge. While commercial surgical robotic systems have integrated tactile feedback, the absence of tactile intelligence and autonomous decision-making limits the surgeon’s ability to comprehensively assess tissue mechanics, hindering the efficient detection of abnormalities. Endoscopic ...

Nonlinear optical dynamics—intensity-dependent response of light upon interaction with materials under high-intensity light sources—are of huge significance in modern photonics, findings applications in fields ranging from lasers, amplifiers, modulators, and sensors to the study of topics including quantum optics, nonlinear system dynamics, as well as light-matter interactions. In recent years, nonlinear optical effects such as Kerr and electro-optic effects have found use in microresonator-based optical frequency combs, or “microcombs.” ...

Despite enormous progress in the past two decades, the intentional control of bionic prostheses remains a challenge and the subject of intensive research. Now, scientists at the Medical University of Vienna and Imperial College London have developed a new method for precisely detecting the nerve signals remaining after an arm amputation and utilising them to control an artificial arm. The study results, published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, could form the basis for the development of the next generation of prostheses. As ...