Results of a VHIO-led study underscore the potential of the RAD51 biomarker in tailoring treatment strategies in patients with early breast cancer. 

This work reveals a new mechanism by which brown fat is converted into heat, and which protects from pathologies associated with obesity.

The MCJ protein is key to the fat burning mechanism now identified, making it a promising target for treating obesity, according to the authors in Nature Communications.

The research is led by Guadalupe Sabio, from Spain’s National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), and Cintia Folgueira, from both CNIO and the National Centre for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC).

Scientists have struggled for decades to understand why radiation therapy kills cells from the same tumour in different ways. This is important because some forms of cell death are unnoticed by the immune system, while others trigger an immune response. Unleashing the patient’s immune system to clear tumours is a major goal of cancer treatment. This new research, published in Nature Cell Biology, reveals for the first time how DNA repair, which normally protects healthy cells, determines how cancer cells die following radiotherapy.

In a paper published in SCIENCE CHINA Life Science, an international team of scientists provided a comprehensive overview of single-cell and spatial genomics. They review breakthroughs in single-cell multi-omics technologies, spatial genomics methods, and the computational strategies employed toward the analyses of single-cell atlas data. Additionally, they emphasize the progress in constructing cellular atlases and their clinical applications, particularly in the context of disease. Lastly, they discuss emerging trends, challenges, and opportunities in this rapidly evolving field.