In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, many households wiped down groceries with disinfectant before putting them away. Hand sanitizer was in short supply. With little information on how the virus spread – people became more cautious of germs from other people. A new University of California San Diego study suggests that humans may not be alone in changing behavior after experiencing a disease threat.

 

A new study shows that barn owls crossed the Atlantic Ocean from Europe to the Caribbean islands, where they diversified and evolved into giant forms, less than two million years ago. They've since dispersed from the Caribbean to the Galápagos and from the Caribbean to the mainland American continents. 

A research team from FIU revealed an unprecedented decline in fishes, crustaceans and squid after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of America.  

Gail A. Cornwall, Ph.D., a professor at the School of Medicine Department of Cell Biology and Biochemistry at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC), received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s ­Transformative Research Award from the NIH Common Fund’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research program. Cornwall is one of only six researchers in the United States to earn the award in the 2026 grant cycle.

Cephalopods, like the octopus, have specialized arms and suckers, but how these structures evolved from the simple bodies of their mollusk ancestors remains a mystery. Researchers from the University of Tokyo compared gene activity during embryonic development of cuttlefish, octopus and snail body parts. They found that several genes associated with appendage patterning showed expression along developing cephalopod arms, but no comparable patterns in developing suckers. Developing suckers instead expressed Ets1, a gene associated with early embryonic development in mollusks. The findings suggest cephalopods evolved suckers by reusing existing genes in new ways. 

The molecular mechanisms linking a high calorie diet to cognitive impairment remain unclear. Researchers at Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan, investigated this association in mice, finding that the diet reduced nuclear protein PQBP1 expression, disrupting the alternative splicing of genes involved in synaptic function. This was associated with synaptic abnormalities and cognitive impairment. Treatment with pioglitazone or AAV-PQBP1 recovering PQBP1 amount improved synaptic and cognitive outcomes in mice, highlighting PQBP1-dependent RNA splicing as a potential therapeutic target.

The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) today opens its international symposium celebrating the 20th anniversary of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technology, bringing together scientists, clinicians, and innovators from around the world to reflect on two decades of transformative discoveries and explore the future of stem cell research and regenerative medicine.

The three-day symposium, held Oct. 20–22 in Kyoto, Japan, is organized in partnership with the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) and co-sponsored by the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine (JSRM).

The extraordinary response to the symposium underscores the strength and momentum of stem cell science worldwide. Registration reached capacity twice, even after the ISSCR expanded the meeting to a larger venue to accommodate growing demand. This remarkable level of interest reflects both the profound impact of iPSC technology over the past two decades and the expanding opportunities ahead, from fundamental discoveries in human biology to advances in disease modeling, drug discovery, clinical translation, and the development of stem cell-based therapies.

In a boost for the conservation of one of the world's most elusive and least-understood whale species, researchers analysing more than 18 years of underwater acoustic recordings collected off northwest Australia have discovered that Omura's whales are most likely to be found in warm, food-rich waters.