A year-long environmental DNA study of New York City’s East River involving single liter water samples revealed an unexpectedly detailed snapshot of life in and around the city, from weekly and seasonal shifts in fish species and abundance to urban wildlife activity and even New Yorkers’ diets.

The findings suggest that urban waterways anywhere could become continuous biosensors, tracking biodiversity, habitat restoration outcomes, and human impacts in real time.  

Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) have discovered that the influenza vaccine FluMist can stimulate immunity in the upper airways of adults. This is the first time researchers have tracked how immune cells in the upper airways respond to an intranasal vaccine (given via a spray in the nose). The new study gives scientists a guide for measuring the effectiveness of new intranasal vaccines against RSV, COVID-19, and other respiratory diseases.