A research team from the School of Biomedical Sciences at the LKS Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong (HKUMed), has achieved a significant advance in biotechnology that could revolutionize treatment strategies for neurodegenerative diseases. The team has developed a novel tool called RNA Segment Editing (RSE), which functions like a "cut-and-patch" tool for RNA. This innovative approach allows scientists to precisely remove or replace faulty segments of genetic messages within living cells without permanently changing a person's DNA.

As another heavy sargassum season unfolds, many beachgoers are asking the same question: Is it safe to be near it? A recent University of Miami study offers an evidence-based answer, particularly for children. Overall risks are low, but not zero. The research, published in Exposure and Health, found that noncancer risks from arsenic exposure during beach play are minimal. But it also identified small increased cancer risks in certain scenarios, particularly from skin contact and accidental ingestion, underscoring the need to better understand how children interact with sargassum on the beach.

Cell function is determined by how DNA is expressed into proteins. That process includes two main steps—transcription, when messenger RNA (mRNA) makes copies of active genes; and translation, when mRNA guides protein assembly.

Scientists from six Asian countries have launched an ambitious 10-year effort to build synthetic cells from non-living molecules, marking the region's first coordinated push to create an artificial single-celled biological system. The roadmap, published on May 26 in Nature Biotechnology and led by the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was developed through the SynCell Asia Initiative, which comprises more than 100 scientists from China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia.

Chemical reactions are the backbone to nearly all biological processes, including those used to make new medicines. However, these reactions can often take considerable time and require harsh conditions or materials—potentially inhibiting the timely development of life-changing drugs.

The humble Y chromosome may be the smallest chromosome in the mammalian genome (and getting even smaller), but it is mighty: Genes on the Y chromosome are critical for fertility in males. In a new study in the journal Current Biology, researchers at the University of Michigan Medical School have studied deer mice to outline how the Y chromosome defends itself against decay by acquiring gene families, holding its own to maintain fertility.

Laser systems operating in the 2-micrometer wavelength range open diverse opportunities in medical technology, agriculture, and plastics processing. In the Eurostars project DECOMP, Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH) has developed novel fiber optic components that overcome previous technical barriers.

Our capacity for innovation, rather than being the work of random variation, is based on an intrinsic understanding of how the world works, claim Karolinska Institutet and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam researchers in a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The ocean is full of invisible workers. Trillions of microbes quietly break down carbon-containing organic matter, which helps to regulate Earth's climate. But scientists have long struggled to understand how different microbes contribute to the process.

In 2018, Caitlin Caspi started a five-year research project looking at how raising the minimum wage could impact nutrition-related health outcomes. Caspi is an associate professor of allied health sciences in the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR), associate director of InCHIP, and the director of food security initiatives for the UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health.

Nylon is a representative plastic material used throughout our daily lives, from clothing to automobiles. However, most of its raw materials have been produced through petrochemical processes, resulting in large carbon emissions. KAIST researchers have developed a technology that can produce key nylon precursors in an eco-friendly way using microbes.

Cells are typically studied outside the body under controlled laboratory conditions. However, conventional flat cell culture methods do not fully reproduce the complex three-dimensional environments that cells experience in living tissues. Tiny hydrogel capsules offer one way to culture cells in a confined three-dimensional space, allowing researchers to study how cells grow, organize and interact under more tissue-like conditions. Current methods to do this come with a high cost and a set of requirements that put such research out of reach to many.

Quantum entanglement is a state in which particles are entwined with each other. In this entwined state, the properties of one particle influence the other, even when they aren't physically close to each other. This phenomenon has often been observed in small quantum systems with only a few particles in them, where researchers can use it to store and process quantum information. Rice University professor Qimiao Si is interested in understanding and applying quantum entanglement to macroscopic systems with vast numbers of particles.

Researchers at iC3 have found a way to improve records of past high latitude ocean change using tiny plankton shells called foraminifera. By growing these foraminifera under controlled cold-water conditions, the team has extended a key temperature tool into the range most relevant for subpolar and polar oceans.

The evolution of sex remains one of biology's greatest puzzles. While sexual reproduction dominates across the animal kingdom, scientists still debate why it persists despite its high costs. Even more mysterious is the loss of sex in favor of asexual reproduction whereby females give birth to copies of themselves without any contribution from males.

The period between 2018 and 2022, sometimes referred to as "the rainbow wave," featured an unprecedented increase in LGBTQ candidates elected to office. Pete Buttigieg's rise from mayor of South Bend, Indiana, to U.S. secretary of transportation with a 2020 bid for president in between sparked a national dialogue about whether gay candidates no longer faced an electoral penalty at the ballot box.

Applying an external magnetic field during the synthesis of CoFe2O4 electrocatalysts triples the ammonia yield during electrocatalytic conversion. The magnetic field alters the surface states of the spinel oxide thin films, making catalytically active sites more accessible. In the journal Advanced Functional Materials, a team led by Marcel Risch at HZB and Sanjay Mathur at University of Cologne demonstrates a scalable strategy for developing next-generation electrocatalysts for efficient and sustainable chemical production.

The latest production from the "molecular movie" imaging technology developed at Oregon State University is a new, inexpensive way of dealing with a common environmental pollutant. Based on short-pulse lasers, the imaging technology allows chemical and biological actions to be measured as they are occurring, one high-speed frame at a time.

4.5 billion years ago was an interesting time for Earth. The atmosphere was thick and what we would now think of as toxic. The moon, which was freshly formed, looks much more massive than it does today and faintly glows with the residual heat from its own creation. And the floor was literally lava. Everywhere. If there were any children alive at the time, they would have no chance of winning that game. But for a long time, scientists had thought this molten phase of Earth didn't last long. But according to a new paper, available on the arXiv preprint server by researchers at the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, it might have lasted for upward of half a billion years.

What if a process we associate with aging actually helps the body heal? A study led by Mikolaj Ogrodnik, LBI Trauma, published in Nature Cell Biology, shows that cells enter a state of senescence within minutes to hours after an injury—and that this rapid response not only plays a key role in wound healing, but also changes the paradigm of how slowly senescence was expected to arise.