Creation of a comprehensive genetic representation for more than 2.5 billion people across the Middle East and South Asia could make a major contribution towards advancing precision medicine, a publication in Nature Medicine reveals. Traditional genetic research has mainly relied on linear reference genomes, which is like having a single, standard version of human DNA that scientists compare everyone's genetic information against. This works well for studying individual genetics but does not capture all the complexities and differences found in diverse populations. The Arab Pangenome Reference (APR) takes a different approach. Instead of relying on just one ...

Study: World’s critical food crops at imminent risk from rising temperatures Global food security could be notably impacted by a marked decline in crop diversity if temperatures rise by more than 1.5°C, reveals new research. Global warming is already reshaping our daily lives, with storms, floods, wildfires and droughts around the world. As temperatures continue to rise, a third of global food production could be at risk. Now, a new study in Nature Food offers a more precise picture of exactly where and how warming will affect our ability to grow food. Researchers at Aalto ...

Boron, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen: these four elements can form chemical triple bonds with each other due to their similar electronic properties. Examples of this are the gas carbon monoxide, which consists of one carbon and one oxygen atom, or the nitrogen gas in the earth's atmosphere with its two nitrogen atoms. Chemistry recognizes triple bonds between all possible combinations of the four elements – but not between boron and carbon. This is astonishing because there have long been stable double bonds between boron and carbon. In addition, ...

OTTAWA, Ontario, Canada, 4 March 2025 – In a comprehensive Genomic Press Interview published today in Brain Medicine, psychiatry resident Dr. Nicholas Fabiano reveals how a personal injury transformed into groundbreaking research on the intersection of physical and mental health. The interview showcases Dr. Fabiano's innovative work in lifestyle psychiatry and his mission to bridge the historical divide between physical and mental wellness. "The arbitrary line we have drawn between mental and physical health is one of the biggest mistakes in medicine," Dr. Fabiano explains in the interview. His perspective was profoundly shaped by a broken bone due to ...

OTTAWA, Ontario, Canada, 4 March 2025 – In a comprehensive Commentary published today in Brain Medicine (https://doi.org/10.61373/bm025c.0020), researchers discuss alarming new evidence about microplastic accumulation in human brain tissue, providing critical insights into potential health implications and prevention strategies. This Commentary examines findings from a groundbreaking Nature Medicine article by Nihart et al. (2025) on bioaccumulation of microplastics in decedent human brains (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-024-03453-1). The ...

MONTREAL, Quebec, Canada, 4 March 2025 - In a comprehensive Genomic Press Interview, distinguished neurologist and geneticist Dr. Guy A. Rouleau, OC, OQ, FRCPC, FRSC, FAAN, outlines his transformative vision for accelerating neurological disease research through open science principles. As Director of The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital) and Chair of McGill University's Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Dr. Rouleau is spearheading a revolutionary approach to scientific collaboration that could fundamentally change how brain disease research is conducted worldwide. "We must be honest and ...

LONDON, UK, 4 March 2025 - In a comprehensive Genomic Press Viewpoint (review) article, researchers are shining a spotlight on a revolutionary approach to tackling neuroendocrine tumours (NETs), a rare but increasingly prevalent form of cancer. Published in Brain Medicine today, a peer-reviewed article titled "Alpha particle therapy for neuroendocrine tumours: A focused review" explores how targeted alpha therapy (TAT) could redefine treatment for patients where surgery is not an option. Authored by Dr. Kalyan M Shekhda, Dr. Shaunak Navalkissoor, and Emeritus ...

GUELPH, Ontario, Canada, 4 March 2025 – In an exclusive Genomic Press Interview, Dr. Melissa Perreault reveals how her research is reshaping neuroscience by merging cutting-edge science with Indigenous knowledge. As a professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Guelph and a member of the Royal Society of Canada, Dr. Perreault’s work spans neurobiology, ethical research practices, and the therapeutic potential of psychedelics—all while championing Indigenous representation in STEM. Raised in a low-income, single-parent household, she was the first in her family to attend university. As she navigated academia, she encountered ...

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have discovered that what was previously thought to be a unique seaweed species of bladderwrack for the Baltic Sea is in fact a giant clone of common bladderwrack, perhaps the world's largest clone overall.  The discovery has implications for predicting the future of seaweed in a changing ocean. In the brakish waters of the Baltic Sea, bladderwrack is the dominant seaweed species as it is one of the few seaweed species that can tolerate low salinity. The ...

Mycoplasmas, including bacteria that cause pneumonia in humans, are generally nonmotile, but Mycoplasma mobile, as the species name suggests, has been found in the gills of fish and seems to move by gliding along surfaces. The molecular structure that allows it to do so has for the first time been uncovered by a collaborative research group led by Osaka Metropolitan University Professor Makoto Miyata of the Graduate School of Science. The OMU-led research team has been working since 1997 to clarify M. mobile’s motility mechanisms. ...

One-third of Canadian adults aged 55 or older are nutritionally at risk, potentially leading to increased hospital stays, more emergency visits and physician consultations for possible infections, a new study found. The University of Waterloo researchers assessed data from more than 22,000 community-dwelling adults aged 55 and over from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. After an initial evaluation, they followed up with participants up to three years later to track their health-service use over the previous year.  Researchers used the SCREEN-8 tool (Seniors ...

Reliable and accurate monitoring of CO2 emissions is a cornerstone of effective climate change mitigation strategies. While traditional methods largely depend on ground-based measurements and bottom-up inventories, these approaches are often resource-intensive and prone to errors. Satellite Technology has emerged as a promising alternative, but the challenge remains in distinguishing anthropogenic emissions from natural processes. The long atmospheric lifetime of CO2 makes it difficult to pinpoint localized sources of emissions and track changes over time. Additionally, natural emissions and background concentrations ...

The teaching and research section is the fundamental organizational unit for teaching and research in a university, and the virtual teaching and research section (VTRS) is a crucial exploration for the digital transformation of new basic teaching organization construction in the information age. However, this new type of organization transcends university and spatial boundaries, and motivating participants and sustaining their engagement is a key challenge in VTRS operation. The VTRS for database courses (VTRS-DB) proposes an open community-based operating model, founded on the core concepts of "openness, dedication, competition, and orderliness." ...

Six out of every ten people globally lack access to safe medical oxygen, resulting in hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths each year and reducing quality of life for millions more, an international report co-authored by the University of Auckland has found. Associate Professor Stephen Howie from the University’s Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences (FMHS) was an adviser to the Lancet Global Health Commission on Medical Oxygen Security and co-author of its report Reducing global inequities in medical oxygen access released 18 February. A key finding shows global access to medical oxygen is highly inequitable. Five billion ...

In a crowning achievement, the University of Auckland Business School is one of the best in the world, successfully gaining triple crown accreditation - a mark of excellence held by only one percent of business schools globally.   The Business School was the first in Australasia to attain triple crown status in 2004, a recognition it has maintained for two decades. Triple crown status is achieved if a business school can meet the strict requirements of three international accreditation bodies – the Association to Advance ...

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) is a leguminous plant that can form a symbiotic relationship with rhizobia in the soil. Rhizobia convert nitrogen in the atmosphere into ammonia, providing nitrogen nutrition for leguminous plants. However, due to the low effectiveness of rhizobia in the soil, common bean has one of the lowest nitrogen fixation efficiencies among food legumes. Some studies have shown that pre-inoculating common bean seeds with elite rhizobial strains can enhance nitrogen fixation, thereby promoting the plant growth of common bean and increasing the grain yield. As one of the most important food legumes in Ethiopia, the grain yield of common bean is quite low, because of the lack ...

In recent years, with the increasing openness and internationalization of research, the risks of inappropriate exploiting openness of research have become more apparent. With the growing importance of research security, the issue of how to safely promote cutting-edge research and international collaboration while respecting research freedom is becoming more important in many countries. The Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) organizes the symposium aiming to create an opportunity to deepen discussion on efforts necessary to protect research freedom. The symposium will consist of ...

Rutgers Health researchers have made discoveries about brown fat that may open a new path to helping people stay physically fit as they age. A team from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School found that mice lacking a specific gene developed an unusually potent form of brown fat tissue that expanded lifespan and increased exercise capacity by roughly 30%. The team is working on a drug that could mimic these effects in humans. “Exercise capacity diminishes as you get older, and to have a technique ...

Aqueous organic flow batteries (AOFBs) hold promise for renewable energy integration and electricity grid storage due to their inherent safety, as well as the availability of naturally abundant and synthetically tunable organic redox-active molecules (ORAMs). However, challenges such as low energy density, poor stability at high concentrations, and high synthesis costs hinder their commercial viability.  Developing ORAMs that offer both high energy density and ultra-stable cycling performance is essential for advancing stationary energy storage ...

The extensive loss of biodiversity represents one of the major crises of our time, threatening not only entire ecosystems but also our current and future livelihoods. As scientists realise the magnitude and scale of ongoing extinctions, it is vital to ascertain the resources available for conservation and whether funds are being effectively distributed to protect species most in need. A team of researchers from the School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong (HKU), addressed these questions in a recent paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), USA, by compiling information ...

A research team led by Professor Jia Pan and Professor Yifan Evan Peng from the Department of Computer Science and Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering under the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), in collaboration with the researcher at Australian National University, has recently developed a groundbreaking neuromorphic exposure control (NEC) system that revolutionizes machine vision under extreme lighting variations. Published in Nature Communications, this biologically inspired system mimics human peripheral vision to achieve unprecedented speed and robustness in dynamic perception environments. Traditional automatic exposure (AE) ...

Inspired by the natural Bouligand structure, researchers have been developing advanced materials for applications in impact-resistant bioplastics, ceramic armor, and biomimetic alloy composites. Most existing materials are still composed of single-scale brittle units despite the progress in improving the plasticity of materials. The lack of hierarchical active interfaces and autonomous response capabilities limits their ductility and overall functionality. Therefore, researchers aim to develop Bouligand-structured materials with multi-level active ...

Proteins in cells are highly flexible and often exist in multiple conformations, each with unique abilities to bind ligands. These conformations are regulated by the organism to control protein function. Currently, most studies on protein structure and activity are conducted using purified proteins in vitro, which cannot fully replicate the complex of the intracellular environment and maybe influenced by the purification process or buffer conditions. In a study published in Journal of the American Chemical Society, a team led by Prof. WANG Fangjun ...

Researchers from the Zhang Liye Laboratory have developed a groundbreaking tool that revolutionizes the way researchers design primers for detecting pathogens. This new pipeline, which scans entire genomes to identify the most effective primer sets, could significantly enhance the speed and accuracy of diagnosing infectious diseases. The findings, published on 15 Feb 2025 in Frontiers of Computer Science, address a critical challenge in quantitative PCR (qPCR) primer design. Unlike existing software that requires manual selection of specific genes or regions, this new tool automatically ...

Research into immunotherapy against cancer typically focuses on better recognition of cancer cells by the body's own immune system. Researchers at Amsterdam UMC and Moffitt Cancer Center have taken a different approach. They investigated how cancer affects the energy management of a patient’s T cells and showed for the first time that contact with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) cells leads to a serious energy crisis in these cells. These findings are published today in Cellular & Molecular Immunology, building on a publication earlier this month in Blood Advances. ...