When DNA breaks, cells must repair it accurately to prevent harmful mutations. Researchers have discovered that during a key repair process called homologous recombination, the cell uses loops in its DNA structure to speed up the search for an intact copy of the damaged region. These loops act like shortcuts, allowing the repair machinery to scan along the chromosome in a directed way rather than randomly. This finding, published today in Science, reveals an unexpected function for chromatin loops—not just in organizing the genome, but also in helping maintain its integrity. “Homologous recombination is a key DNA repair process often linked to cancer, but ...

ITHACA, N.Y. -- A short interaction with a chatbot can meaningfully shift a voter’s opinion about a presidential candidate or proposed policy in either direction, new Cornell University research finds. The potential for artificial intelligence to affect election results is a major public concern. Two new papers – with experiments conducted in four countries – demonstrate that chatbots powered by large language models (LLMs) are quite effective at political persuasion, moving opposition voters’ preferences ...

Even small, open-source AI chatbots can be effective political persuaders, according to a new study. The findings provide a comprehensive empirical map of the mechanisms behind AI political persuasion, revealing that post-training and prompting – not model scale and personalization – are the dominant levers. It also reveals evidence of a persuasion-accuracy tradeoff, reshaping how policymakers and researchers should conceptualize the risks of persuasive AI. There is a growing concern amongst many that advances in AI – particularly conversational ...

Microscopic analysis of an unconventional throat bone helps resolve a long-standing debate in paleontology, researchers report, revealing evidence that Nanotyrannus lancensis – long thought by many to be a teenage Tyrannosaurus rex – was in fact a fully mature, distinct species of smaller tyrannosaurid. Because the fossil record is often fragmentary, it is difficult to discern the full range of distinct dinosaur species that lived in ancient ecosystems. This is made more challenging when trying to determine true new species from juveniles of known ones. One of the most ...

Inside human cells, biology has pulled off the ultimate packing job, figuring out how to fit six feet of DNA into a nucleus about one-tenth as wide as a human hair while making sure the all-important molecules can still function. To compress itself, DNA wraps around proteins to form nucleosomes that are linked together like beads on a string. These strings coil into compact chromatin fibers, which are further condensed inside the nucleus. It was unclear how this additional compaction process happened. Then, in 2019, HHMI Investigator Michael Rosen and his team at UT Southwestern Medical Center reported that synthetic nucleosomes created ...

Los Angeles, CA (December 4, 2025)—For decades, paleontologists argued over the lone skull used to establish the distinct species Nanotyrannus. Was it truly a separate species or simply a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex? A new paper published in Science has definitively shown that Nanotyrannus is, in fact, nearly fully grown and not an immature T. rex, at the same time revealing new insights into how these giant predators achieved such terrifying sizes so quickly.  A multi-institutional team, including Dinosaur Institute Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr. Zach Morris, examined the much-debated Nanotyrannus holotype—the specimen used to name ...

New study confirms Nanotyrannus holotype was diminutive, distinct species from T. rex New research from a team including the University of Nebraska State Museum’s Ashley Poust further moves a decades-long scientific debate toward a conclusion — the Nanotyrannus, a teacup variation of the T. rex, did exist. Poust and the team, led by Christopher Griffin of Princeton University, used a novel approach to determine maturity of the holotype of Nanotyrannus, a fossil skull at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. They examined the ceratobranchial, or hyoid bone, which was intact with the skull, and determined it was an adult when it ...

Astronomer Michael R. Blanton will join the Carnegie Science Observatories as its 12th director, overseeing astronomical research in Pasadena and telescope operations at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile, one of the world’s elite observing sites. Blanton joins Carnegie Science from New York University, where he is a Professor of Physics and the Director of the Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics. He succeeds John Mulchaey, who was named Carnegie Science President in late 2024. Blanton’s research has centered primarily on conducting large astronomical surveys to place ...

Tiny charming immune cells called microglia protect the central nervous system (CNS) in a multitude of ways: They provide innate immunity, shape neurodevelopment, maintain homeostasis and modulate neurological disorders. That functionality can be lost, however, when microglia acquire mutations. An concept to correct this by replacing the mutated microglia with genetically typical cells — now called microglia intervention strategy for therapy and enhancement by replacement, or MISTER — emerged five years ago and was successfully achieved in mice. This year, researchers successfully used the approach to halt a fatal neurological ...

In a paper publishing in the Cell Press journal Trends in Immunology on December 4, scientists and doctors highlight the importance of studying long COVID in the context of other post-acute infection syndromes or chronic illnesses. By analyzing historical accounts of other epidemics, they say, researchers can gain important perspective on the profound effects of these chronic illnesses—with the goal of informing ...

Clues contained in tree rings have identified mid-14th-century volcanic activity as the first domino to fall in a sequence that led to the devastation of the Black Death in Europe. Researchers from the University of Cambridge and the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO) in Leipzig have used a combination of climate data and documentary evidence to paint the most complete picture to date of the ‘perfect storm’ that led to the deaths of tens of millions of people, as well as profound demographic, economic, political, cultural and religious change. Their evidence suggests that a volcanic eruption – or cluster of eruptions – ...

Volcanic activity may have exacerbated the spread of the Black Death through medieval Europe, according to a study published in Communications Earth & Environment. The authors suggest that climatic cooling owing to volcanic activity, and a subsequent famine, led the Italian city states to import grain shipments from the Black Sea region that may have contained the plague bacterium, Yersinia pestis. The Black Death spread throughout Europe between 1347 and 1353 CE and had a mortality rate of up to 60% in some regions. Despite its long-lasting effects on the region, the reasons for the timing of its onset and spread are not well understood. Martin Bauch and Ulf Büntgen reviewed ...

About The Study: In this survey study of U.S. adults, overall trust in scientists as sources of cancer information was high. However, a clear ideological gradient suggests the need for tailored messaging and trusted messengers to reach politically diverse audiences with evidence-based cancer information.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Christopher W. Wheldon, PhD, email chris.wheldon@temple.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.46818) Editor’s ...

About The Study: The findings of this study suggest that adverse childhood experiences may increase youth obesity risk, but promotion of resiliency-focused skills may help improve pediatric weight trajectories among disproportionately impacted populations.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Shana Adise, PhD, email shana.adise@uga.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.47104) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other ...

Under Embargo Until Dec. 4 at 11 am EST CONTACT: Heide Aungst HAungst@som.umaryland.edu 216-970-5773 (cell) Researchers Identify Bacterial Enzyme that can Cause Fatal Heart Conditions with Pneumonia Infections The Enzyme Could Become a Target for Future Vaccines or Drug Therapies BALTIMORE, Dec. 4, 2025: Pneumonia is a disease that burdens the healthcare system with more that 1.2 million emergency room visits each year and more than 41,000 adult deaths in the United States. Worldwide, more than one million children under the age of five die of ...

Researchers at Helmholtz Munich, the Technical University of Munich and the LMU University Hospital Munich uncovered a mechanism that protects nerve cells from premature cell death, known as ferroptosis. The study provides the first molecular evidence that ferroptosis can drive neurodegeneration in the human brain. These findings open up new avenues for developing future therapies – particularly for severe early-onset childhood dementia. The Enzyme That Protects Nerve Cells Why do neurons die in dementia – and can this process be slowed down? An international team led by Prof. Marcus Conrad, Director of the Institute of Metabolism and Cell Death ...

“Persistent discrepancies by gender, race, and geography underline the importance of individualized cardio-oncology surveillance, equitable preventative initiatives, and focused public health interventions.” BUFFALO, NY — December 4, 2025 — A new research paper was published in Volume 12 of Oncoscience on November 7, 2025, titled “Temporal trends and disparities in sudden cardiac death among colorectal cancer patients: A nationwide study.” In this study, led by first author Eric Sanji of Magnolia Regional Health Center, researchers examined ...

Researchers at the University of Colorado Cancer Center have discovered a novel therapy combination that could offer new hope to ovarian cancer patients who do not respond to existing treatments. Conducted entirely at the University of Colorado Anschutz, this research has advanced from the laboratory to a Phase 1 clinical trial on the campus. The findings, published today in Cancer Research Communications, outline a promising strategy that combines a PARP inhibitor, a targeted drug used to treat certain types of ovarian cancer, with ...

PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA [December 4, 2025] — The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®)—an alliance of leading cancer centers that publishes free evidence-based, expert consensus-driven guidelines for cancer prevention and care—today announced the hiring of Renuka Iyer, MD, as the new Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for the organization. Dr. Iyer has a long history of leadership and innovation in oncology. She currently serves as a Professor of Oncology for Roswell Park Comprehensive ...

Los Angeles, CA – December 4, 2025 – Dr. Vadim Jucaud’s lab at the Terasaki Institute has introduced a new organ-on-a-chip platform that recapitulates age-dependent immune responses, offering a more accurate testing bed for evaluating cancer vaccine performance in older adults, the population most affected by cancer and often overlooked in traditional preclinical testing. Immunosenescence, the natural decline of the immune system with age, significantly reduces the effectiveness of cancer vaccines. Yet, despite its clinical importance, age-related immune decline is seldom incorporated into vaccine development pipelines. Current 2D ...

Europe is gobbling up almost 50 square metres of land and topsoil per second. And Norway tops the list of  European countries with the most land lost to construction per person, according to a study initiated by the Arena for Journalism in Europe and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, NRK. At the same time, we have never had access to more data and knowledge about nature and the ecosystems we are building on. "We are acquiring more and more ecological data as a basis for land-use planning. Then you would think that the decisions we make ...

In newly published research, Binghamton University doctoral student Elana Israel, MS ’22, explores which depressive symptoms largely affect children’s neural responses to feedback. Depression in parents can affect a child’s reward processing, or how their brains react to positive and negative feedback. Israel and Psychology Professor Brandon Gibb, director of the Mood Disorders Institute, explored whether a specific symptom of depression in parents known as anhedonia, a loss of interest or pleasure in things, may be specifically responsible for this link. The study will be included in ...

Ambiguous speech production is a common challenge for learners of a second language (L2), but identifying whether the problem lies in pronunciation or deeper linguistic processing is not always straightforward. A new study conducted by Professor Sylvain Detey from Waseda University, with Dr. Verdiana De Fino from IRIT, UT3, University of Toulouse & Archean Labs, France, and Dr. Lionel Fontan, Head of Archean Labs, France, sheds light on this distinction. Their study was published on October 30, 2025, in the journal Language Testing in Asia. The researchers sought to determine whether ambiguous speech errors made by Japanese learners of French could be better categorized through a combined ...

Advances in materials science have led to the development of “smart materials,” whose properties do not remain static but change in response to external stimuli. One such material is poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), or PNIPAM, a polymer gel that alters its solubility with temperature. The polymer contains hydrophilic amide groups and hydrophobic isopropyl groups. At low temperatures, the amide groups form strong hydrogen bonds with water, keeping the material well-swollen and soluble. However, as the temperature increases, these hydrogen bonds weaken while ...

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have rapidly emerged as one of the most promising frontiers in modern biology. These nano-sized messengers mediate communication between cells, tissues, and organs, influencing processes from immune signaling to cancer progression. Their growing diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic relevance has accelerated research worldwide. Yet one major limitation persists: the absence of efficient, scalable, and equipment-independent EV isolation methods. Existing techniques, including ultracentrifugation and size-exclusion chromatography (SEC), remain labor-intensive, instrumentation-heavy, and unsuitable for processing large-volume biofluids. To ...