Plants are in constant contact with fungi in the soil. Some fungi cause disease, while others form beneficial partnerships that help plants acquire nutrients and grow. To survive, plants need to tell them apart, but how they read the chemical signals fungi release has remained poorly understood. Now, researchers at Aarhus University, together with colleagues at the University of Copenhagen and CNRS-CERMAV in Grenoble, have uncovered how a plant receptor recognizes long chains of chitin, a signal linked to fungal attack. Their findings, published in Science on October 15^th, 2026, reveal a highly specialized receptor system that selectively recognizes molecular fungal signals based on their size.

The immune system is built to protect the body, but new research from The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) suggests that it can also get in the way when it tries to rebuild and heal damaged tissue.

How does a crowded tissue make room every time one cell becomes two? Researchers at the Stowers Institute used live imaging of intestinal organoids to watch the process in real time and discovered that cell division does more than create new cells. The dramatic shape changes of mitosis actively rearrange neighboring cells, helping growing tissues preserve their architecture as they expand. The findings offer a new way to think about how tissues build, repair and maintain themselves, and what may change when that organization breaks down in disease.

Researchers from Capital Medical University, Beijing, China, have identified a CaN/NFATC3/Id3/E2A/Bmp4 signaling pathway that helps explain how low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) promotes bone regeneration. Id3 was identified as a molecular “brake” that limits LIPUS-induced osteogenesis and was significantly downregulated following ultrasound stimulation. The researchers developed an Id3 inhibitory peptide, rID3, which, when combined with LIPUS, enhanced osteogenesis and bone-defect healing in mice, suggesting a potential strategy for improving ultrasound-based bone regeneration.

Even a local mRNA injection can produce unwanted expression in the liver. Researchers have redesigned the lipid nanoparticles that carry mRNA to reduce this spillover in mice while preserving expression in injected muscle. The formulation also supports repeated dosing and improves the confinement of expression after local brain and eye delivery.