Researchers have discovered that a bacterium from the human urinary tract can turn a common steroid precursor into testosterone. The finding does not show that bacteria cause prostate cancer, but it opens a new line of research into whether microbes can influence the hormone environment around the prostate. Computational biophysicists at Auburn University helped explain how the bacterial enzymes perform this surprising chemistry.

University of Notre Dame anthropologist Kristine Joy Chua and her research team asked the question: How do expectant mothers manage uncertainties and cope with sociopolitical stressors in their lives? The answer: They used creative coping strategies grounded in their culture and upbringing to reframe difficult circumstances and maintain a positive outlook, focusing instead on the things they could control and the well-being of their families.

Salk scientists uncover new advantages and mechanisms of mitohormesis, a process where mitochondrial stress early in life leads to lasting benefits. By inducing mitohormesis in mice, researchers found they could help the heart build lasting resilience against damage from a common chemotherapy drug—and identified a molecule called citrate as the chemical messenger that carries this protective signal to the rest of the cell. The findings may help explain why antioxidant therapies to counter cellular stress have largely failed and suggest new directions for healthy aging therapies.

In recognition of his exceptional work to understand the chemistry of carbohydrates and the role they play in health and disease, Scripps Family Chair Professor Chi-Huey Wong of Scripps Research will receive the 2027 Alfred Bader Award in Bioinorganic or Bioorganic Chemistry.

The perspective piece in the Journal of General Internal Medicine identifies what the authors call a critical gap in medical education