Hepatitis B virus-induced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a major global health burden, and new therapeutic and diagnostic approaches are urgently needed. Emerging research highlights the crucial role of circular RNAs (circRNAs) in disease progression, offering promising avenues for early detection and innovative treatments. These non-coding RNA molecules, known for their stability and regulatory functions, are proving to be pivotal in tumor biology and immune response modulation.

Two species of worms have retained remarkably similar patterns in the way they switch their genes on and off despite having split from a common ancestor 20 million years ago, according to a new study reported in Science. When gene expression did diverge between the two worms, the changes were more likely to occur in specialized cell types. For example, expression patterns in cells involved in basic functions like muscle or gut tended to be conserved, while expression patterns in more specialized cells involved in sensing and responding to the worm’s environment were more likely to diverge. Researchers were able to compare development in every single cell of these two different organisms.

Long believed to be a single, globally distributed species drifting freely across the open ocean, the bluebottle – also known as the Portuguese man o’ war – has now been revealed to be a group of at least four distinct species, each with its own unique morphology, genetics, and distribution.

When West Virginia University biology undergraduate student Isabella Tuzzio tested fish from central Appalachian streams, her research revealed microplastics in every fish she sampled. Tuzzio said her results from the study, which was the first of its kind in Appalachia, suggest significant environmental risks, as well as potential risks to human health.

Using adult human cells to produce novel multicellular organisms, researchers find that the cells express both ancient genes, which are shared with our predecessors as far back as single celled organisms, and embryonic genes. They also reverse age-related modifications to DNA. The studies may lead to insights into regenerative medicine