Vanilla flavoring is widely used in food, pharmaceutics, and cosmetics. The primary source, Vanilla planifolia, however, is vulnerable to diseases, drought, and heat – stressors expected to become more frequent under climate change. Wild Vanilla species offer a genetic reservoir of crop wild relatives ensuring the future of the vanilla crop. Scientists have now examined how climate change could cause mismatches in habitat overlap of wild vanilla and their pollinating insects. “Climate change may lead to a reduced habitat overlap between Vanilla orchid species and their pollinators, resulting in plant-pollinator decoupling that negatively ...

A new study offers a stark reminder of how pervasive cell phone use while driving is for young people, as findings demonstrate teen drivers spend an average of 21.1% of each trip viewing their mobile behind the wheel.    In a questionnaire completed by more than 1,100 teen drivers across the US, the young motorists estimated that 26.5% of these glances were for two seconds or longer, a duration which dramatically increases their risk for a crash.  Results, published in the peer-reviewed journal Traffic Injury Prevention, show the most common reason for the distraction was entertainment (65%), followed by texting (40%) and navigation (30%).  “Distracted ...

A new study from Mass General Brigham researchers offers a stark reminder of how pervasive cell phone use while driving is among young people. The study team developed and disseminated a questionnaire to over 1,100 participants and conducted 20 interviews for high school students to identify the factors influencing them to engage in distracted driving. They  found an average of 21% of teen drivers drive distracted and share other insights behind the behavior. Their results are published in Traffic Injury Prevention.           ...

The intricate, hidden processes that sustain coral life are being revealed through a new microscope developed by scientists at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The diver-operated microscope — called the Benthic Underwater Microscope imaging PAM, or BUMP — incorporates pulse amplitude modulated (PAM) light techniques to offer an unprecedented look at coral photosynthesis on micro-scales.  In a new study, researchers describe how the BUMP imaging system makes it possible to study the health and physiology of coral reefs in their natural habitat, ...

Osaka, Japan – The benefits of urban green spaces in cities, in terms of ecological sustainability, climate modification, and human well-being, have been known for decades. More recently, additional economic and restorative payoffs from diverse and colorful plantings have been recognized. Now, a research team from Japan has developed a new method to identify vegetation color, structure, and seasonal changes in urban settings. In a study published in Landscape Ecology, researchers at The University of Osaka reveal an innovative approach to capture seasonal changes in urban plant species. This method combines artificial intelligence ...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — New research from UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center has uncovered an evolutionary change that may explain why certain immune cells in humans are less effective at fighting solid tumors compared to non-human primates. This insight could lead to more powerful cancer treatments. The study was published in Nature Communications. It revealed a tiny genetic difference in an immune protein called Fas Ligand (FasL) between humans and non-human primates. This genetic mutation makes the FasL protein vulnerable to being disabled by plasmin, a tumor-associated ...

A research team from Northwest University, China, has developed a breakthrough nano-composite hydrogel system to address the dual challenges of inflammation and cartilage damage in osteoarthritis (OA), a leading cause of joint disability worldwide. Published in Engineering, the study confirms that the dual-drug-loaded hydrogel promotes cartilage repair through synergistic immune regulation and chondrocyte differentiation, offering a novel therapeutic strategy for OA. OA is characterized by persistent inflammation and impaired cartilage regeneration, with existing treatments failing ...

The 2025 Guangci Laboratory Medicine Innovation and Development Conference was successfully concluded at Shanghai Qingsongcheng Hotel during June 5-8, 2025! With the theme of "Innovation, Guidance, and Development", this conference successfully brought together nearly 100 well-known experts and scholars at home and abroad, and carried out in-depth dialogues and collisions of ideas around the cutting-edge hotspots in the field of clinical and laboratory medicine. Through diversified academic exchanges, the conference has built a high-level technology sharing and achievement display platform for laboratory medicine ...

In May 2025, under the review of the Polish ICI World of Journals (Copernicus Index Database), LabMed Discovery magazine was officially included in the ICI World of Journals database. This marks an important step for LabMed Discovery on the international academic stage, and is also a high recognition of the journal's long-term efforts in improving academic quality and promoting academic exchanges.   ICI World of Journals is the world's third largest scientific journal database, which includes and evaluates 45,000 journals from more than 150 countries and regions. The database adopts strict review standards and conducts multi-dimensional ...

After rigorous evaluation and review, LabMed Discovery was officially included in China Open Access Journal Database (COAJ) in May 2025. This progress marks that LabMed Discovery has been officially recognized in terms of academic quality, publishing standards and open access. It is also another achievement of LabMed Discovery following being selected into the ICI international database this month. This proves the improvement of LabMed Discovery's academic communication and influence, and is of great significance in furthering the speed, breadth and visibility of the journal's international dissemination. We ...

A research team has evaluated the real-world impact of a community-based pneumococcal vaccination support program for older adults conducted in Sera Town, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. Their work is published in the Journal of Epidemiology on May 5, 2025. Pneumonia is one of the leading causes of death in Japan. Each year about 74,000 people die from pneumonia with 98 percent of these deaths occurring in people aged 65 and older. The bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae is the primary cause of pneumonia. In October 2014, Japan began a nationwide routine vaccination program for the elderly under ...

In the early 2000s the U.S. Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), a large randomized clinical trial, showed that intensive lifestyle modification was better than a medication called metformin at preventing at-risk patients from developing Type 2 diabetes. In a newly completed follow-up study, a team of researchers including Vallabh “Raj” Shah, professor emeritus in The University of New Mexico Departments of Internal Medicine and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at the School of Medicine, found that the health benefits from the lifestyle intervention persisted more than 20 years later.Molecular Biology at the School of Medicine In a paper published in The ...

Disrupted care during the covid-19 pandemic led to sharp increases in other non-covid causes of illness and death, particularly mental health disorders, malaria in young children, and stroke and heart disease in older adults, finds a study published by The BMJ today. For example, new cases of depressive disorders rose by 23% in 5-14 year-olds and malaria deaths rose by 14% in children under five years old from 2020-2021. The researchers say future responses to potential pandemics or other public health emergencies of international concern “must extend beyond infection control ...

The green transition will boost productivity across the UK economy, new research suggests. Researchers analysed the impacts of the low-carbon transition in power, transport and heating. With renewable energy now cheaper than fossil fuels in most of the world – and still getting cheaper – the findings show these three industries benefit directly from the transition. But the far larger knock-on effect is an economy-wide productivity boost, as all businesses gain from cheaper power, transport and heating. The research team – led by the universities of Exeter and Manchester – warn that this boost depends on cheaper ...

A new report from the University of East Anglia has raised concerns about the state of democracy around the world during 2024’s ‘Super Cycle’ of elections. Described by Time Magazine as the ‘Year of Elections’, 2024 saw 1.6 billion people head to the polls across 74 national elections in 62 countries - an unprecedented concentration of democratic activity in a single year. But a global report from the Electoral Integrity Project, released today, paints a mixed and often troubling picture of how those ...

“Forever chemicals” or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been widely used in consumer and industrial products for the better part of a century, but do not break down in the natural environment. One PFAS, perfluorohexanoic acid or PFHxA, is made up of a shorter chain of molecules and is thought to have less of an impact on human health. New research from the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Rochester suggests otherwise, finding that early life exposure to PFHxA may increase anxiety-related behaviors and memory deficits in male ...

Quantum sensing:  Researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, have developed a tunable system that paves the way for more accurate sensing in a variety of technologies, including biomedical diagnostics. The potential range of technologies is large, stretching from the largest scales – detecting gravitational waves in space over environmental monitoring to the tiny fluctuations in our own bodies – biomedical sensing for imaging and diagnostics in e.g. magnetic scanners. The result is now published in Nature. Quantum limit – this is where it gets really tricky Optical sensing ...

Wet wastes, including food waste and biomass, are promising candidates for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production due to their triglyceride content, which can be converted into biocrude via hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL). SAF precursors must meet criteria derived from conventional fuels (e.g. Jet A), including complete oxygen removal to prevent jet engine corrosion and a higher heating value (HHV) close to Jet A. Currently, no HTL-derived biocrude meets these. This study, with contributions from researchers at the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation ...

In a new communications landscape that feasts on polarization, the science community needs to rethink how it engages society in scientific discovery, controversy and policy. The authors of a report in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academies of Science (PNAS) argue that the standard communication model of disseminating the facts and assuming “the truth will prevail” is increasingly falling on deaf ears.  Instead, the science community needs to create a “collaboration model” that invites more public conversations, incorporates personal morals and values, creates a level playing field for input, and embraces uncertainty. Report ...

For economic and sustainable biomanufacturing, the oleaginous yeast Rhodotorula toruloides has emerged as a promising platform for producing biofuels and other valuable chemicals. However, its genetic manipulation has been limited by its high GC content and the lack of a replicating plasmid, necessitating gene integration. To address these challenges, researchers at the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI), a Department of Energy-funded Bioenergy Research Center, developed the RT-EZ toolkit ...

The ISSCR has selected five distinguished early career scientists to serve as new Early Career Editors for Stem Cell Reports, the peer-reviewed, open access, online journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR). During their term, Early Career Editors provide strategic advice, participate in the editorial review process, and receive mentorship from current editors. They join other Early Career Editors currently working with the journal. The new Early Career Editors are: Harsha Devalla, Ph.D., Amsterdam University Medical ...

College students who want help overcoming high-risk drinking could benefit from a two-pronged approach that combines an individual-focused psychological theory with social network analysis. That’s according to a new study from Texas A&M University School of Public Health Assistant Professor Benjamin Montemayor and former doctoral student Sara Flores, both in the Department of Health Behavior. High-risk drinking is defined as drinking resulting in a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or higher, the legal threshold for intoxication in the United ...

Forensic pathologists play a unique role in monitoring and responding to public health threats and advancing our understanding of human disease and injury, according to a new review article published July 3 in The New England Journal of Medicine. Recognizing that there is little understanding about this key medical subspecialty among the public and even among physicians, the journal asked several forensic pathology leaders to write an overarching review of the field. “Many people may picture forensic ...

Researchers at McMaster University, Cleveland Clinic and Case Comprehensive Cancer Center have uncovered how a protein long associated with Alzheimer’s disease helps lung cancer spread to the brain – a discovery that offers hope that existing Alzheimer’s drugs could be repurposed in preventing cancer’s spread. The study, published in Science Translational Medicine on July 2, 2025, details how the protein (BACE1) is instrumental in the development of brain metastases – tumours that ...

Women who see themselves as having lower social status are more likely than other people to show early signs of heart stress linked to future disease risk, according to a new study led by researchers at McGill and Concordia universities. “One in three women in North America die from heart disease. Yet, women are less likely to receive important cardiac interventions or therapies than men. This highlights the need to rethink how we assess cardiovascular risk in women,” said co-lead author Dr. Judy Luu, Assistant Professor in McGill’s Department of Medicine ...