Scientists who built the first synthetic eukaryotic genome share hard-won lessons that could accelerate engineering of crops, medicines and industrial organisms.

Renowned molecular biologist Yunsun Nam, Ph.D., Professor in the Departments of Biochemistry and Biophysics and the Doris and Bryan Wildenthal Distinguished Chair in Medical Science at UT Southwestern Medical Center, is the recipient of the 2026 Edith and Peter O’Donnell Award in Biological Sciences from TAMEST. She was chosen for her groundbreaking research into how RNAs and proteins interact at the molecular level – providing key insights for gene regulation, cancer biology and RNA-based therapeutics.

Red-backed shrikes fly thousands of kilometres to reach Africa – and they do so with astonishing precision. Aided by new technology, researchers at Lund University in Sweden have been able to track the birds’ journeys in detail. It turns out that they may have a more complex genetic migration programme than researchers have previously been able to show.

Researchers at Beijing Tiantan Hospital analyzed 101 glioma cases involving the brain’s motor pathway and found that one-third of patients developed permanent paralysis after surgery. High tumor grade, pre-operative motor deficits, and larger tumor volume were key predictors. The work underscores the need for precise imaging and careful surgical planning to maximize survival while safeguarding motor function.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) imposes a substantial clinical and societal burden, yet currently approved symptomatic therapies do not modify the underlying disease biology. Recently, three anti-amyloid monoclonal antibodies (aducanumab, lecanemab, and donanemab) have demonstrated robust amyloid clearance. Their clinical effects are statistically significant but modest, underscoring the need for broader, biologically informed strategies. Guided by the 2024 Alzheimer’s association ATNIVS biomarker framework, a team form Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University synthesizes disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) targeting amyloid (A), tau (T), neurodegeneration (N), inflammation (I), vascular injury (V), and α-synuclein (S), summarizing the candidate therapies for each target, explain the mechanisms of action and pivotal clinical trial results. The review is currently published on the journal Medicine Plus.

Colorectal cancer is considered a disease of old age, but young adults are increasingly affected. The research network “PerMiCCion”, led by Prof. Gianni Panagiotou at the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology (Leibniz-HKI) and the University of Jena, is investigating why this is the case and what role the microbes in the gut play. The consortium, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR), is entering a second four-year funding phase. The project will receive a total of more than four million euros over eight years.

While unitized regenerative fuel cells (URFCs) are promising for renewable energy storage, their efficient operation requires simultaneous water management and gas transport, which is challenging from the standpoint of water management. Herein, a novel approach is introduced for examining the alignment hydrophilic pattern of a Ti porous transport layer (PTL) with the flow field of a bipolar plate (BP). UV/ozone patterning and is employed to impart amphiphilic characteristics to the hydrophobic silanized Ti PTL, enabling low-cost and scalable fabrication. The hydrophilic pattern and its alignment with the BP are comprehensively analyzed using electrochemical methods and computational simulations. Notably, the serpentine-patterned (SP) Ti PTL, wherein the hydrophilic channel is directly aligned with the serpentine flow field of the BP, effectively enhances oxygen removal in the water electrolyzer (WE) mode and mitigates water flooding in the fuel cell (FC) mode, ensuring uninterrupted water and gas flow. Further, URFCs with SP configuration exhibit remarkable performance in the WE and FC modes, achieving a significantly improved round-trip efficiency of 25.7% at 2 A cm⁻².