Dr. Arum Han, electrical and computer engineering professor and associate dean for research for the Texas A&M University College of Engineering, is leading organ-on-a-chip technology development efforts in the newly established $15.3 million National Institutes of Health (NIH)-supported center, which he says has the potential to significantly reduce or even replace animal testing in the future.

Researchers from the Cluster of Excellence “Balance of the Microverse” at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena and the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology – Hans Knöll Institute (Leibniz-HKI) have demonstrated for the first time that the microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii alters the activity of about one-third of its protein-coding genes even in response to moderate temperature changes. The study, published in the journal The Plant Cell, points to far-reaching consequences of climate change for aquatic ecosystems and the soil.

Myeloablative therapies such as radiation and chemotherapy damage not only hematopoietic cells but also the bone marrow (BM) niche—the specialized environment that supports BM cells. However, the mechanisms and therapeutic strategies for BM niche recovery after injury remain unclear. Now, researchers have identified the role of YAP/TAZ signaling pathway that regulates the BM niche and developed a novel small molecule that promotes niche recovery and thereby accelerates hematopoietic regeneration.

Xavier Trepat and his team at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) are key partners in ALIVE: Active Living Matter — Information, Vitality, and Emergence, an international research programme selected for funding through the first European edition of the Novo Nordisk Foundation Challenge Programme. Coordinated by the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, the project will receive 75 million DKK (around €10 million) over six years to uncover how information flows drive the emergence, organisation and function of living tissues.

The team constructed a hierarchical “herb–compound–target–disease” network that aligns with the holistic philosophy of TCM. This paradigm upgrades TCM intervention from single‑target modulation to network target regulation, scientifically interpreting the molecular logic of the “monarch‑minister‑assistant‑guide” compatibility principle and syndrome differentiation. It builds a foundational bridge between classical TCM theory and modern molecular biology.

Filter-feeding fin whales expel colossal volumes of water through baleen strainers in their mouths when dining on krill, but new research published in Journal of Experimental Biology shows that krill clogging the baleen could be a problem for the massive mammals, slowing water leaving their mouths to a 0.02m/s dribble unless they can keep the baleen clear. Then the whales can expel the water in just 31s to keep diving for dinner.