J. Craig Venter, the genomicist whose work redrew the architecture of modern biology, died on 29 April 2026 in San Diego at the age of 79, following complications from treatment of a recently diagnosed cancer. Brain Health, a new peer-reviewed journal launched today by Genomic Press, publishes in its inaugural issue a scientific tribute by Dr. Julio Licinio that foregrounds a part of Venter’s legacy that other obituaries have understandably treated as background: his earliest major methodological breakthrough emerged at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, where he pioneered the expressed sequence tag as a route to rapidly identifying brain-expressed genes. The tribute traces an arc from that neuroscience starting point through the first complete bacterial genome, the parallel pursuit of the human sequence, large-scale ocean metagenomics, and the construction of the first cell controlled by a chemically synthesized genome.

The Laureates of the prestigious 2026 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in Israel are announced today by the Blavatnik Family Foundation, the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and The New York Academy of Sciences.  Each Laureate will receive US$100,000 in prize money. The Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in Israel are the largest unrestricted prizes available to scientists across Israel aged 42 or younger. Now in their ninth year in Israel, the Blavatnik Awards recognize research with the potential to transform lives, advance scientific understanding, and address global challenges across disciplines. The three Laureates are: Sergey N. Semenov, PhD, a chemist at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Uri Ben-David, PhD, a cancer biologist at Tel Aviv University, and Paz Beniamini, PhD, an astrophysicist at the Open University of Israel.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most prevalent and lethal malignancies globally, with long-term survival heavily hindered by tumor recurrence, metastasis, and therapy resistance driven by a subpopulation of cancer stem cells (CSCs). While immune checkpoint blockade has revolutionized cancer treatment, its efficacy as a monotherapy in CRC remains limited, largely due to CSC-mediated immune evasion and adaptive resistance.

Osteosarcoma (OS) is a highly aggressive primary bone malignancy characterized by rapid progression, a high propensity for metastasis, and chemoresistance, which together contribute to poor clinical outcomes.

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is a highly invasive cancer often diagnosed at an advanced stage, leading to a dismal prognosis with an overall survival rate of less than five years. While cancer stem cells (CSCs) are known to drive tumor progression by altering the tumor microenvironment (TME) through extracellular vesicles (EVs), their precise role in lipid metabolic reprogramming and ferroptosis resistance has largely remained unexplored. 

Although the United States requires a warning label on alcoholic beverages, alcohol-related deaths have risen steadily over the past two decades. However, new labels warning of specific disease risks, including cancer and liver disease, could better motivate reduced drinking, according to a new study in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

A 2019 vaping-related health scare reshaped how many smokers view the risks of e-cigarettes – and those perceptions still linger today. New research from MUSC Hollings Cancer Center found that smokers came to see e-cigarettes as equally or more dangerous relative to combustible cigarettes, even after the true cause of the illness was identified, which may influence decisions about quitting or switching.

“That period really changed how people think about these products,” said lead researcher Tracy Smith, Ph.D., who co-leads the Hollings Cancer Prevention and Control Program. “Even after we learned more about what caused the illness, those perceptions didn’t fully reset.”