In a groundbreaking decade-long study analyzing São Paulo’s urban landscape, researchers have revealed how the expansion of bike lanes and public parks profoundly influences physical activity and public health. Between 2014 and 2024, the city’s bike lane network surged from 242 to 743 kilometers, complemented by the addition of 15 municipal parks. This urban transformation was linked to increased transport-related cycling, emphasizing the critical role of accessible infrastructure within a 500-meter radius of residents’ homes.

The study’s multidisciplinary approach combined longitudinal surveys of 1,500 residents with geospatial datasets from the Geosampa platform, enabling precise correlation between environmental changes and behavior. Findings indicate that proximity to bike lanes significantly counteracts declining bicycle use trends, suggesting these facilities serve as protective factors promoting sustained physical activity. Such activity reduction directly translates to lower risks of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and improved mental health outcomes like reduced anxiety and depression.

Importantly, the research underscores active transportation infrastructure not only as a logistical planning tool but as a vital public health strategy. By reducing reliance on automobiles, these interventions diminish air pollution and traffic-related accidents, thereby contributing to climate change mitigation efforts. However, the study highlights uneven developments: wealthier neighborhoods received disproportionate infrastructure investments, calling for policy shifts to equip underserved zones with similar amenities.

Beyond infrastructural improvements, the researchers emphasize that sociocultural elements and affordability constraints also limit cycling uptake. Despite increased bike lanes, economic barriers such as the high cost of bicycles and gender disparities in cycling participation suggest that integrated approaches—encompassing recreational street design, bike-sharing expansions, and commuter support facilities—are necessary for meaningful behavioral shifts.

An illustrative testimony comes from a local photographer who transitioned from motorbike to bicycle commuting due to new bike bridges providing direct, safer routes. While embracing cycling’s growth, he voices concerns about road space allocation favoring cars and the emerging challenges of cyclists’ vulnerability amid the rise of faster electric bikes. Additionally, issues of public safety and bike theft remain barriers to broader adoption.

Overall, the findings reveal that São Paulo’s urban planning efforts over the past decade represent a promising model of how thoughtfully designed public open spaces can foster healthier, more sustainable cities. Still, ensuring equitable access and addressing multifaceted cultural and socioeconomic factors remain essential for realizing the full potential of active transport systems.

Subject of Research: Public open spaces and transport-related cycling in urban environments
Article Title: A decade-long study on public open spaces and transport-related cycling in the largest Brazilian city
News Publication Date: 13-Apr-2026
Web References: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2026.102323
Image Credits: Phelipe Janning/Agência FAPESP

Keywords

Urban planning, Transportation, Public health, Cycling, Active transportation, São Paulo, Infrastructure, Mental health

Chromosome instability and aneuploidy have long posed a conundrum in cancer biology, profoundly shaping tumor genomes yet remaining challenging to decode functionally. In a groundbreaking study published in Nature, Al-Zahrani et al. unveil a novel approach, CRISPR-KOALA, that systematically links large-scale chromosomal alterations to specific cancer-driving genes in basal-like breast cancer (BLBC).

BLBC, a highly aggressive subtype characterized by extensive copy-number alterations (CNAs), often harbors arm-level chromosomal imbalances whose contribution to tumorigenesis remains elusive. The researchers developed CRISPR-KOALA to conduct high-throughput bidirectional genetic screens directly in immunocompetent mouse models, overcoming previous barriers related to the complexity and scale of genes affected by aneuploidy.

By focusing on the ten most frequent human chromosome-arm alterations seen in BLBC, the team screened over 3,700 mouse orthologues of genes located on these arms. The screen identified 90 putative cancer driver genes—a majority of which had not been previously linked to cancer—revealing a diverse functional landscape shaping tumor biology. Among the implicated pathways were key signaling networks such as MAPK, HIPPO, and WNT, highlighting the heterogeneity intrinsic to BLBC progression.

Strikingly, manipulating these driver genes in Trp53-mutant mouse models was sufficient to bypass the need for whole-arm CNAs, suggesting that tumors exploit specific genes within broad chromosomal alterations to fuel oncogenesis. This finding challenges the traditional view that arm-level aneuploidies function merely as genomic chaos, instead presenting them as evolutionary selections for particular drivers.

One gene, PLGRKT, localized on chromosome 9p, emerged as a potent oncogene. The team showed that PLGRKT promotes tumor growth by enhancing mitochondrial robustness and boosting reactive oxygen species detoxification. This mechanistic insight connects chromosomal instability not only to genetic selection but also to metabolic adaptations that support cancer cell survival under stress.

Overall, this study delivers a transformative platform and a compendium of cancer drivers that illuminate how aneuploidy sculpts tumor heterogeneity. By delineating driver genes nested within widespread CNAs, it provides an invaluable resource for targeting breast cancer’s genetic complexity with greater precision.

The implications extend beyond breast cancer, offering a blueprint for dissecting arm-level aneuploidy in diverse malignancies. As cancer therapies increasingly focus on genetic vulnerabilities, CRISPR-KOALA represents a leap toward untangling the intricate link between chromosome-level alterations and oncogenic processes.

This work underscores the power of integrating genomic data with functional genetics in vivo, setting the stage for novel drug targets and therapeutic strategies aimed at the underexplored realm of aneuploidy-driven tumorigenesis.

Subject of Research: Chromosome instability and cancer driver genes in basal-like breast cancer

Article Title: Aneuploidy selects for the acquisition of driver genes in breast cancer

Article References:
Al-Zahrani, K.N., Langille, E.R., Nurtanto, J. et al. Aneuploidy selects for the acquisition of driver genes in breast cancer. Nature (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10752-9

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10752-9