Using drones, 17 distinct behaviors of narwhals were captured in the wild. Findings reveal complex behaviors of the Arctic’s iconic whale never seen before. This highly gregarious whale uses its tusk to investigate, manipulate and influence the behavior of a fish, the Arctic char. The study also provides the first evidence of play, specifically exploratory-object play, and the first reports of kleptoparasitism, a “food thief” situation, among narwhals and glaucous gulls.

Pharmaceutical scientists at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed a novel chemical reaction that enables the precise functionalisation of peptides and proteins. This approach could provide a useful tool for bioconjugation and drug discovery.

Chemical modification of biomolecules is a powerful strategy for augmenting their functions. For example, antibody-drug conjugates use targeted antibodies to deliver highly cytotoxic drugs directly to tumour sites, while receptor ligand peptides armed with MRI agents improve medical imaging. However, selectively modifying proteins remains a significant challenge. Proteins are large molecules with many functional groups of similar reactivity, making it difficult to achieve precise modifications. Often, these reactions lead to complex mixtures that are difficult to control, poorly reproducible, and may include components with unintended effects.

The team led by Assistant Professor Alexander VINOGRADOV from the NUS Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Professor Hiroaki SUGA from the University of Tokyo, Japan have developed a palladium-mediated reaction that overcomes some of these challenges.