This year’s recipient of the Sobrato Prize in Neuroscience is Andrew Yang, PhD, whose research has reshaped scientific understanding of the blood-brain barrier and its role in brain health and disease. Yang is an investigator at the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease and an assistant professor of neurology and anatomy at the University of California, San Francisco. Launched in 2024, the Sobrato Prize in Neuroscience seeks to bridge the gap between discovery and the clinic, accelerating life-changing brain science with high potential for patient impact. It is awarded to scientists at Gladstone Institutes whose research has a particularly high potential to lead to new therapies for major brain diseases.

A recent review provides an overview of the purinergic receptor P2Y2 and its involvement in cancer-related processes. The article discusses how extracellular nucleotide signaling may influence tumor cell behavior and the tumor microenvironment, and evaluates the potential of P2Y2 as a biomarker and therapeutic target.

Prolonged nutrient deprivation drives motif-specific DNA methylation changes in Flavobacterium columnare, a major fish pathogen. Using advanced Nanopore sequencing, researchers found that specific methylation patterns—especially demethylation of a 6mA-modified motif—serve as epigenetic signatures of starvation adaptation. Temperature also influences these changes. The findings reveal a novel survival mechanism in bacteria and provide a valuable methodological reference for bacterial epigenetics.

Few among us appreciate being called cheap, yet this term has a useful application in bird world. A new study published in the Journal of Raptor Research, “Factors Influencing Nestling Sex Ratios of Suburban and Rural Red-Shouldered Hawks, 2004-2016,” finds that male Red-shouldered Hawks (Buteo lineatus) are the cheaper of the sexes, meaning hawk parents prioritize producing female offspring when conditions are optimal. This means that higher quality territories could result in more females, offering biologists clues about habitat health, which is important intel as the species adapts to urban environments with increasing frequency.