Diastereomers are molecules with identical structures that are not mirror images of each other, described as anti or syn for molecules without rings. Researchers at the University of Osaka developed a strategy for using a rigid cage-like molecule to produce an anti-diastereomer in high yield. This diastereomer can only be obtained as a minor byproduct by traditional methods. The strategy is expected to become a key technology for making medicines and other bioactive substances.

A research team led by Dr. Jeong Min Park of the Nano Materials Research Division at the Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS), in collaboration with Dr. Jaemin Wang and Prof. Dierk Raabe of the Max Planck Institute in Germany, has developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-based model capable of assessing the likelihood and characteristics of internal defects during process design. This research achievement is expected to significantly enhance the reliability of metal additive manufacturing parts and greatly expand their applicability for mass production in industrial settings.

Indigenous peoples have used forest thinning to protect against wildfires for millennia. These traditional methods – including cultural burning – have often been neglected in modern times, which is thought to have contributed to wildfires in the US and elsewhere. Now, researchers have shown for the first time in a regional hotspot for wildfire risk and drought risk that forest thinning with modern tools has an additional benefit: it increases the snowpack in winter by 16 to 30%, thus recovering lost water and helping to safeguard its supply for natural and human needs.

Researchers in China developed toGC, a new tool that corrects errors in gene annotations using RNA-seq data. Experimentally validated toGC's accuracy, discovering two novel GPCR genes misannotated as one. Demonstrated toGC's broad utility by applying it successfully to multiple oomycete species.

A 10-year investigation of two Beijing rivers shows that wastewater treatment plant upgrades significantly alter nitrogen-cycling microbial communities and viral ecology despite stable overall diversity. Metagenomic analysis revealed that while the α-diversity of nitrogen-cycling microbes remained unchanged, their community composition shifted significantly, with the nitrifier-to-denitrifier ratio decreasing by 70%. In contrast, the DNA viral community structure was largely stable, but its functional gene profile changed: genes related to viral replication increased while auxiliary metabolic genes decreased. The findings highlight the necessity of integrating microbial and viral indicators into water quality assessments following treatment plant upgrades.

A newly proposed biochemical cycle explains the function of photorespiration in plants, long thought to be a 'wasteful' energy consuming process.