Dr. Kai Wang and his team published a review in Life Medicine to summarize the iPSC modification strategies to reach immune escape and reduce graft versus host disease (GvHD).

An Osaka Metropolitan University-led research team studied DNA interstrand crosslinks formation and its associated repair pathways to investigate whether colibactin-induced interstrand crosslinks play a crucial role in genotoxicity. 

A pioneering study reveals that low-grade coal, known as lignite, can be effectively converted into a resource for environmental protection—offering solutions for wastewater cleanup and resource recycling. Researchers from the University of Melbourne, in collaboration with Deakin University and Yancheng Institute of Technology, have developed a fast and energy-efficient method to modify lignite, greatly boosting its ability to strip toxic cadmium from polluted water.

Efficient nitrogen use is vital for sustainable tea cultivation and quality improvement. 

Excessive fluoride accumulation in tea leaves poses a potential threat to consumer health. 

Strawberry fruits are prized for their rich flavor and health-promoting antioxidants, yet the molecular machinery behind their tannin synthesis has remained largely elusive. 

Flavonoids are crucial compounds influencing flower coloration, fertility, and stress resistance. 

Every year, abiotic stress factors such as drought, heat, salinity or high light intensity —combined with unfavorable soil conditions caused by human activity (herbicides, pH changes, or various contaminants such as microplastics)— and especially the combination of these factors, lead to a decline in crop productivity worldwide. If this trend in our environment does not slow down or reverse, food supplies could be severely reduced.

A research team from the Eco-Physiology and Biotechnology Group at the Universitat Jaume I of Castelló, led by researcher Sara Izquierdo Zandalinas with the collaboration of José Luis Rambla Nebot, studies how complex combinations of these stress conditions affect the growth and survival of tomato plants. The team analyzes which plant responses are beneficial or harmful for acclimation to the environment, as well as the changes occurring in their metabolism, proteins and hormones.

According to the results obtained and published so far, the effects of combining different types of stress are extensive. They impact photosynthesis, growth, and also the accumulation of proline, an amino acid that, while beneficial for stress resistance, could have an adverse effect under multifactorial stress. The study also provided interesting evidence about the role of a specific polyamine (spermine) in plant tolerance to a particular combined stress (salinity and the herbicide paraquat).

Throughout history, crises have often led to collapse – but not always. An international team of researchers, including members of the Complexity Science Hub (CSH), highlights four cases where societies under extreme pressure avoided breakdown through adaptive reforms, identifying three key factors that helped them “turn the tide.”