A new review in SCIENCE CHINA Life Sciences maps how different types of RNAs regulate growth, development, and stress responses in plants. The authors synthesize decades of research and provide a roadmap for harnessing RNA-based strategies to address food security and sustainable agriculture in a changing climate.

Researchers observed an anomalous splitting of image-potential states on higher-order topological Bi(111). By tuning film thickness and substrate screening, they linked the splitting to a radial active electric field and the development of Bi(111) surface states. The anomaly provides a possible spectroscopic signature of a monopole-like topological magnetoelectric response.

A new review traces the development of carbohydrate-based medicines originating from marine organisms, from early bioactivity studies to approved products and current clinical trials. It links structural features such as sulfation, molecular weight and branching with therapeutic use, and outlines the production, quality-control, mechanistic and pharmacokinetic challenges that still limit clinical translation.

Four years of monitoring after the 2019 Brumadinho tailings dam collapse show that Brazil's Paraopeba River has not returned to a stable state. Bottom-dwelling invertebrate communities were reshuffled continuously at every site, and the reaches that received tailings show no sign of settling. Tributaries held most of the species, including many found nowhere else, and act as reservoirs that resupply the damaged channel. Protecting them is now the priority for restoring the basin.

In the International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, researchers have solved a rigid manufacturing compromise between geometric complexity and magnetic performance by laser 3D-printing, successfully weaving metal powders into intricate and highly responsive magnetic devices.

A research team led by Prof. ZHOU Xuyu from the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in collaboration with researchers from Beijing Ditan Hospital and Capital Medical University, has identified ANKRD11 as a key regulator that reduces the activity of CD8⁺ T cells during chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and cancer. The researchers found that ANKRD11 suppresses the AP-1 signaling pathway, which usually helps CD8⁺ T cells mount effective responses against infections and tumors.

In a major step forward in wearable technology, researchers have used machine learning to reveal how stretching flexible materials impacts their electrical performance. The study shows that pulling a material in one direction can boost conductivity by over 50%, while pulling it in another can hinder it, providing a crucial design guide for future electronic skin and sensors.

A review of over 200 studies reveals that bacteria—especially when partnered with plants—can effectively break down herbicide and petroleum hydrocarbon pollution. The research highlights promising new techniques including rhizoremediation, metagenomics, and CRISPR, while showing that herbicides are generally easier for bacteria to degrade than petroleum hydrocarbons.

In the International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, researchers paired an ultrafast picosecond laser with a recurrent neural network that acts as an automated optical sculptor to address an enduring dilemma: devices sensitive enough to register a faint arterial pulse usually max out under moderate contact, while sensors built for heavy loads fail to detect gentle touch.