When cells proliferate, genomic DNA is precisely duplicated once per cell cycle. Abnormalities in this DNA replication process can cause alterations in genomic DNA, promoting cellular ageing, cancer, and genetic disorders. Therefore, understanding how cells replicate their DNA is crucial for elucidating fundamental biological processes, diseases, and even evolution. Traditionally, DNA replication has been studied in microorganisms such as E. coli and yeast. In these organisms, the location where DNA replication begins (replication origin) is determined by a specific DNA sequence. However, in most eukaryotic cells, including human cells, the DNA sequence itself ...

[Vienna, 02 December, 2025] — A new study analyzing over 100 cities across Asia, Africa, and Latin America has quantified the stark consequences of urban sprawl on water and sanitation access, finding that how cities grow might determine whether hundreds of millions of people have access to these basic necessities. The analysis, conducted by researchers at the Complexity Science Hub (CSH) and the World Bank, examined infrastructure data and economic indicators, including information on the footprint of 183 million buildings and 125,000 household surveys, to understand the relationship between urban form and access to clean water and sanitation. The ...

A research team led by the South China Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with multiple domestic and international research institutions, has made progress in investigating forest diversity patterns across China. The findings were published in Nature Ecology & Evolution on December 2. China is recognized by Conservation International as one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries. To effectively meet its commitments under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, it is crucial for China to clarify the fine-scale spatial patterns ...

On 2 December 1995 the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) blasted into space – on what was supposed to be a two-year mission.  From its outpost 1.5 million km away from Earth in the direction of the Sun, SOHO enjoys uninterrupted views of our star. It has provided a nearly continuous record of our Sun’s activity for close to three 11-year-long solar cycles.   "It is testament to the ingenuity of our engineers, operators and scientists, and to international ...

  People who persistently carry Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) in their nose have fewer species of other bacteria, while certain bacteria may help to prevent S. aureus colonisation.  These are the findings of the largest-ever study of the nasal microbiome, published today (2 December) in Nature Communications. Researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, University of Cambridge, Imperial ...

Inequities in how bereavement is experienced and supported among people of Black British and Black Caribbean heritage in England has been revealed in a new study led by the University of Bristol. The research, published in Death Studies today [2 December], calls for widespread changes to improve bereavement experiences and access to support for Black British and Black Caribbean communities. People from Black and other minoritised ethnic communities in the UK are known to face persistent health and social care inequities, including barriers to accessing bereavement ...

In a study published in Nature Communications, researchers from Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) and the University of Surrey tested two ultra-thin, sheet-like materials with a honeycomb structure – graphene and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). While graphene is electrically conductive – making it a key contender for future electronics, sensors and batteries – h-BN, often called ‘white graphite’, is a high-performance ceramic material and electrical insulator.  Researchers found that this subtle difference completely changes how water interacts ...

A spiral galaxy, shaped much like our Milky Way, has been found in an era when astronomers believed such well-formed galaxies could not yet exist. Two astronomers from India have identified a remarkably mature galaxy just 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang—a discovery that challenges our understanding of how galaxies form and evolve. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a powerful telescope capable of detecting extremely faint light from the early Universe. Using JWST, researchers Rashi Jain and Yogesh Wadadekar ...

The brain doesn’t just recognise the human voice. A study by the University of Geneva (UNIGE) shows that certain areas of our auditory cortex respond specifically to the vocalisations of chimpanzees, our closest cousins both phylogenetically and acoustically. This finding, published in the journal eLife, suggests the existence of subregions in the human brain that are particularly sensitive to the vocalisations of certain primates. It opens a new window on the origin of voice recognition, which could have implications ...

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, 2 December 2025 -- In a revelatory Genomic Press Interview published today in Brain Medicine, Dr. Paul Lucassen, full professor at the University of Amsterdam and leader of the Brain Plasticity group, shares his scientific journey that helped transform our understanding of how adult brains adapt to challenge and change. His research, spanning topics like apoptosis, neurogenesis, (early life) stress, rodent work, human brain tissue and diseases like depression and dementia, carries implications for those affected by these disorders globally. From ...

Humanity had a dream: the alien world we hope to call home Since humanity’s first steps on the Moon, the aspiration to extend human civilization beyond Earth has been a central objective of international space agencies, targeting long-term extraterrestrial habitation. Among the celestial bodies within our reach, Mars is considered our next home. The Red Planet, with its stark landscapes and tantalizing similarities to Earth, beckons as the frontier of human exploration and settlement. But establishing a permanent foothold on Mars remains one of humanity’s boldest dreams and the most formidable scientific and engineering challenge. The Red Planet, once draped in a thick ...

Tsukuba, Japan—Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic, progressive inflammatory disease characterized by fibrosis and bile duct stricturing, which ultimately leads to cirrhosis and liver failure. PSC is strongly associated with both types of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), namely, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. However, the patient population in Asia is relatively small, and no large-scale studies have previously examined the prevalence and clinical course of PSC in this region. To address this gap, the research team conducted a multinational collaborative ...

Carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) is a type of volatile organic compound (VOC) that was once widely used as a refrigerant and cleaning agent, but is now strictly regulated due to its toxic properties. However, its environmental impact remains a concern and recent reports indicate that CCl₄ emissions have been detected in some countries. Therefore, the development of CCl₄ decomposition technology is critical, and holds promise for its application in decomposing and neutralizing various VOCs. In search of a probable solution, Professor Kenji Okitsu and graduate student Aerfate Abulikemu from Osaka Metropolitan University’s Graduate School ...

BONN, GERMANY, 2 December 2025 -- A landmark review published today in Genomic Psychiatry challenges researchers to fundamentally reconsider how the field measures and conceptualizes biological aging. Dr. Dan Ehninger, who leads the Translational Biogerontology Laboratory at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, and Dr. Maryam Keshavarz present a systematic analysis arguing that widely used proxies for aging, including lifespan extension, epigenetic clocks, frailty indices, and even the celebrated hallmarks of aging framework, may conflate genuine modifications of aging trajectories with simpler age-independent effects on physiology. The ...

A Curtin University-led study has found that where Australians live has a measurable influence on their body weight, with local food environments and neighbourhood design playing a big part in shaping health outcomes. The research tracked the same Australians across 14 years and discovered that people who move to a new area gradually adopt part of the typical weight profile of their new community, showing that “place” itself contributes to differences in weight across the country. Lead author PhD candidate Michael Windsor, from the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, said the findings ...

Sweat contains a wealth of biological information that, with the help of artificial intelligence and next-generation sensors, could transform how we monitor our health and wellbeing, a new study suggests. The study, published in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis, examines sweat's potential for real-time monitoring of hormones and other biomarkers, medication doses, and early detection of diseases such as diabetes, cancer, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. “Collecting sweat is painless, simple ...

Nashville, TN & Williamsburg, VA – 24 Nov 2025 – A new study published in Artif. Intell. Auton. Syst. delivers the first systematic cross-model analysis of prompt engineering for structured data generation, offering actionable guidance for developers, data scientists, and organizations leveraging large language models (LLMs) in healthcare, e-commerce, and beyond. Led by Ashraf Elnashar from Vanderbilt University, alongside co-authors Jules White (Vanderbilt University) and Douglas C. Schmidt (William & ...

As summer festivals and youth gatherings return in full swing, new research from Flinders University is revealing the hidden health risks that come with multi-day events, and how to avoid them. A comprehensive review led by public health experts to identify and understand the risks that occur at multi-day events reveals that infectious disease outbreaks and foodborne illnesses are the most common public health threats at youth-focused mass gatherings. The global study examined 19 multi-day events attended predominantly by young people, ranging from music festivals and cultural ...

Researchers from the University of Adelaide’s Davies Livestock Research Centre (DLRC) have described the most complete cattle genome yet, in a study that will lead to improvements in Wagyu breeding and result in better beef marbling. “We have presented a near complete cattle genome that is 16 per cent longer than the current reference genome,” said Dr Lloyd Low, from the DLRC and senior author of the study published in Nature Communications. “This new Wagyu genome provides a much more complete and accurate view of the genetic blueprint behind one of the world’s most ...

HONOLULU, Dec. 1, 2025 — One of the many benefits of electric vehicles is that they are much quieter than traditional gasoline-powered vehicles. In some cases, though, they are too quiet. Automakers are required to design their vehicles so they emit sounds at low speeds to alert pedestrians to their presence. However, aside from some basic regulations regarding volume, automakers are free to choose whatever noise they wish their vehicles to emit. This freedom gives researchers a unique opportunity to design custom sounds to maximize their effectiveness. Graduate ...

HONOLULU, Dec. 1, 2025 — How would you react if you overheard the voice of a long-lost friend or old co-worker? Chances are, just the sound of their voice will bring back memories of times you spent together. Humans are not the only animals that can remember the voices of their old acquaintances. Elephant seals, too, can remember the calls of their rivals even a year later. Caroline Casey, research scientist and adjunct professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, will present her team’s research on elephant seal memory Monday, Dec. 1, at 2:45 p.m. HST as part of the Sixth ...

A University of Cambridge-led team has analysed giant anaconda fossils from South America to deduce that these tropical snakes reached their maximum size 12.4 million years ago and have remained giants ever since. Many animal species that lived 12.4 to 5.3 million years ago, in the period known as the ‘Middle to Upper Miocene’, were much bigger than their modern relatives due to warmer global temperatures, extensive wetlands and an abundance of food. While other Miocene giants - like the 12-metre caiman (Purussaurus) and the 3.2-metre giant freshwater turtle (Stupendemys) - have since gone extinct, anacondas (Eunectes) bucked the trend by surviving as a giant species. Anacondas ...

MIAMI, FLORIDA (DEC. 1, 2025) – A new generation of targeted treatments and gentler chemotherapy options for older adults with a new diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is driving better survival and cure rates. Led by Mikkael Sekeres, M.D., M.S., chief of the Division of Hematology at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, the updated 2025 American Society of Hematology (ASH) AML treatment guidelines, appear Dec. 1, 2025, in the journal Blood Advances.In addition, the updated guidelines will be presented Dec . 7 at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual ...

Microbiomes, the communities of microorganisms that live in and around us, play a vital role in everything from human health to soil fertility and climate regulation. But studying these tiny life forms, especially outside the human body, presents a major challenge: how do scientists share complex data across such a wide range of environments and disciplines? To help solve this problem, a team of nearly 250 researchers from 28 countries has developed a new set of guidelines called STREAMS, short for Standards for Technical Reporting in Environmental and host-Associated Microbiome Studies. STREAMS builds on ...

Artificial intelligence systems that are designed with a biologically inspired architecture can simulate human brain activity before ever being trained on any data, according to new research from Johns Hopkins University. The findings, published in Nature Machine Intelligence, challenge conventional approaches to building AI by prioritizing architectural design over the type of deep learning and training that takes months, costs billions of dollars and requires thousands of megawatts of energy.  “The way that the AI field is moving right now is to throw a bunch of data at the models and build compute resources the size of small cities. That ...