Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) and the Regional Centre for Biotechnology, Faridabad, have developed and tested a new class of fluorescent probes that enable scientists to visualise xylem, the specialised tissue responsible for transporting water and minerals through plants. The work, published in Plant and Cell Physiology, introduces a faster, more specific and sensitive staining method than conventional dyes, creating avenues to strengthen research on plant development, vascular biology, and crop resilience.

The new Nature Immunology study shows that human lung tissue serves as a "reservoir" for a large number of tissue-resident memory T cells (T_RM cells). These cells stand ready to combat a surprising range of viruses, bacteria, and even deadly fungal pathogens.

New research led by UMC Utrecht shows that school closures during a pandemic outbreak are most effective when they are carefully targeted. The study, published in Nature Communications, demonstrates that the right strategy depends on which age groups are driving transmission at different stages of an outbreak. This study provides guidance for authorities, allowing them to make smart and informed decisions regarding school closures in case of a pandemic outbreak.

EMBL and collaborators developed ‘spatialproteomics’, an open-source software that helps researchers analyse complex tissue images and understand how cells are organised within tumours. The tool streamlines a workflow that was previously fragmented, taking users from raw microscopy images through cell segmentation, annotation, and spatial analysis, to biological insight in one unified framework. In studies of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the software revealed distinct spatial patterns in tumour and immune cells that helped distinguish between slow-growing and aggressive samples. Spatialproteomics could be useful in studies across many cancers, inflammatory diseases, and in tissues where spatial organisation matters.

Social amoebae are unicellular organisms that act in concert, requiring extensive communication. Pierre Stallforth and colleagues studied modes of communication among cells of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum, using fluorescent labeling and various imaging techniques. The authors found that, in addition to signaling molecules drifting from cell to cell freely or inside membrane vesicles, the amoebae also create tunneling nanotubes that physically connect the membranes of cells. 

How do blood vessels form to reliably supply the body with oxygen and nutrients? A research team at the University of Basel has uncovered a key mechanism by which cells join to build new blood vessels. Their study reveals how pushing and pulling forces enable individual vessel segments to connect and form a continuous blood vessel. The findings deepen our understanding of vascular development and provide a foundation for the development of vascularized organoids.