How this fungus influences the development of melanoma cells has for the first time been explained by the MicrobiomicsEHU group of the University of the Basque Country. The results pave the way for using antifungal therapies to complement conventional treatment to combat the most deadly skin cancer.

Using an aging clock, researchers from the University of Cologne have used the Caenorhabditis elegans model organism to demonstrate that nerve cells age differently. They identified both the causes of aging and molecules that keep the nervous system healthy in old age / Publication in ‘Nature Aging’

To the point:

Cellular energy threats: Presence of mercury was linked to inefficient fuel use during energy production in wild birds’ cells, while certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) may prevent protective responses to cell stress

Foraging shapes exposure: Older birds and males carried more mercury through diet, food choice and lifetime accumulation in a key component of the birds’ blood, however PFAS levels showed no such links, suggesting different contamination routes

Conservation questions: Scientists fear cell-level impacts may compound with those of other ocean threats like global heating and overfishing, raising critical questions about long-term effects on breeding and survival

Researchers in China validated the updated SOFA-2 score specifically in sepsis using data from a multicenter randomized trial. In more than 1000 ICU patients with sepsis, SOFA-2 produced score patterns closely matching the original SOFA and showed similar ability to distinguish ICU survivors from non-survivors. Machine-learning models that added five immune-related blood markers did not meaningfully improve prediction, underscoring the complexity of immune dysfunction in sepsis.

New pieces have been added to the puzzle of the evolution of some of the oldest fish that lived on Earth more than 400 million years ago.

In two separate studies, experts in Australia and China have found new clues about primitive lungfishes, the closest living relatives of land vertebrates.

As concerns rise about the effects of tiny plastic particles on human health, Flinders University researchers have led new research on whether nanoplastics can accumulate or cause damage in kidneys – our body’s major blood filtering system.

Their study, published in high-ranking international journal Cell Biology and Toxicology, calls for more investigations into the long-term risks, warning that high nanoplastics (NPs) particle ‘burden’ could seriously compromise kidney cell health and function.  

Early marine algae adapted their light-harvesting systems for weak blue-green light, suggesting how photosynthesis evolved.