A groundbreaking data generation platform developed by researchers at RWTH Aachen University's Center for Ageing, Reliability and Lifetime Prediction of Electrochemical and Power Electronic Systems (CARL) promises to transform how battery faults are detected and diagnosed in electric vehicles, potentially saving manufacturers millions in testing costs while enhancing safety.

The interplay between the circadian clock, intestinal stem cell niche, and epithelial cell fate is shaping our understanding of how gut homeostasis and cellular regeneration are regulated. Recent insights reveal that the circadian rhythm, a fundamental 24-hour cycle regulating numerous physiological functions, plays a crucial role in maintaining intestinal health by coordinating the proliferation and differentiation of intestinal epithelial cells.

Botulism outbreaks highlight the need for detection of food contamination at point of use. Printed on the inside of a jar lid, for example, a biosensing ink can tell the consumer if the product they are about to consume is sterile or contaminated by a simple change in color.

A research team explores how tea plants absorb, transport, and tolerate fluoride, shedding light on the mechanisms behind fluoride accumulation.

Neutralizing antibodies that merely block receptor binding are losing ground against heavily mutated SARS-CoV-2 Omicron sub-variants. A new approach now exploits a llama-derived nanobody—VHH21—that does not just bind the spike (S) protein but actively tears the trimer apart within seconds. Bactrian camels were immunized with a cocktail of recombinant S proteins from ancestral and VOC strains, yielding a high-diversity VHH phage library. Multi-round biopanning and BLI screening singled out six nanomolar-affinity binders; VHH21, which spontaneously dimerizes, stood out by destroying 68 % of surface-immobilized S-trimers in 20 min, far outperforming ACE2 or conventional nanobodies.

The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS, President Lee Ho Seong) has developed a diagnostic platform that amplifies the unique optical signals of molecules by more than a hundred million times, enabling the precise detection and quantification of trace amounts of Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers in body fluids.