Human tumor organoids have advanced cancer modeling by preserving patient-specific heterogeneity and functional drug responses. However, translating organoid findings into routine decision-making remains challenging due to variability in culture conditions and incomplete reconstruction of the tumor microenvironment. In this review, we present a clear and actionable framework that positions tumor organoids as dynamic living biosensors, linking mechanistic studies, tumor microenvironment reconstruction, functional drug-response phenotyping, and precision-therapy decision-making.

A study by IRB Barcelona reveals that transfer RNA (tRNA) genes accumulate mutations at a frequency up to nine times higher than average.    These mutations specifically target the region that "reads" codons, potentially creating "chimeric" tRNAs that introduce systematic errors during protein synthesis.  The study reports that these mutations accumulate with age, opening a new door to understanding the decline in protein quality and frailty in the elderly.

 

Researchers at the International Laboratory of Microphysiological Systems of the HSE Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology investigated how different isoforms of the same microRNA influence gene function in prostate adenocarcinoma. The study found that in some cases, microRNAs can reinforce each other’s effects by targeting and suppressing the same genes. This finding offers a fresh perspective on the molecular mechanisms underlying tumour development and on the search for disease biomarkers. The results have been published in PeerJ.

How do cells know when to activate or slow down their activity? A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) provides new insights by studying TORC2, an essential but still poorly understood protein complex. Using ultra-high-resolution imaging, scientists were able to observe its structure in detail for the first time. The team notably reveals the existence of a  molecular “cork” that controls its activation at the cell surface. Published in the journal Molecular Cell, these findings pave the way for new strategies to target this mechanism, which is involved in diseases such as cancer and diabetes.

This article introduces a no-code online platform for Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) research and cancer diagnostics. It allows users to generate realistic digital OCT phantoms to benchmark various signal processing methods. Additionally, the platform provides advanced multimodal processing to extract optical attenuation, speckle contrast, depolarization, and strain maps. Its effectiveness in improving tumor margin visualization is successfully demonstrated using real brain, skin, endometrial, and murine cancer data.

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among women worldwide. About 10% of breast cancers are hereditary, and approximately 60% of these cases carry BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations. Individuals harboring BRCA1 mutations exhibit a markedly increased risk of developing breast cancer. BRCA1 plays a critical role in maintaining genomic stability by repairing DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) through homologous recombination (HR).