Extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA) drives oncogene amplification, tumour evolution and therapy resistance across cancers. This Review summarizes advances in ecDNA biology, highlights emerging therapeutic vulnerabilities and outlines strategies to improve ecDNA detection and translate ecDNA-targeted approaches from bench to bedside.
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Preoperative Single-Fraction and Fractionated Stereotactic Radiotherapy Show Comparable Outcomes in Resectable Brain Metastases
Preoperative Single-Fraction and Fractionated Stereotactic Radiotherapy Show Comparable Outcomes in Resectable Brain Metastases / brain metastases, OncoDaily
Alcohol and the brain interact through immune cells
A research team studying alcohol and the brain discovered a new way that alcohol abuse can cause brain dysfunction and damage: through immune cells called microglia. The research also identified a potential new treatment target.
The team showed that in a brain affected by alcohol, microglia tear down the extracellular matrix (ECM), the scaffold that surrounds our neurons. The ECM physically holds our brain cells together and allows them to work properly. When it’s disrupted, our neurons can’t communicate as effectively. Severe ECM disruption can affect our ability to move, think and even remain alert.
The research, published in Immunity, is new, fundamental knowledge that already guides the research team to explore new ways to prevent alcohol-related brain damage, says senior author.
Neurons in a dish are the newest computing machines
Computing is far from the original purpose scientists envisioned for brain organoids. They have become a standard fixture in neuroscience labs in large part because they offer a window into how the human brain develops, and how that process can go awry. But once these knots of brain tissue reach a certain level of complexity, their neurons begin to exchange electrical signals, which biocomputing researchers are eager to exploit.
Many of the approaches described at the conference work roughly like this: Researchers train a group of interconnected neurons to perform some function—say, guiding an agent through a virtual maze—by giving them electrical or chemical inputs reflecting features of the maze and interpreting their electrical activity. An algorithm transforms an organoid’s firing patterns into actions, such as turning its avatar in a specific direction. Depending on the response, researchers dole out rewards and punishments that, over time, encourage the organoids to make good choices and deter errors.
“We have no idea what they like and dislike,” says Corey Rountree, lead scientist at the biotech company 28bio. But his team has trained pairs of interconnected groups of cells called “connectoids” to play Pac-Man by giving them a rest period if they reach a fruit in the virtual maze and hitting them with a nasty burst of stimulation if they get nabbed by a pursuing ghost.
The “Next Einstein” Says Physics Is Due for a Reckoning | Sabrina Pasterski
Do we live in a hologram? It sounds bizzare, but we talk to physicist Sabrina Pasterski, who is leading research into celestial holography. She is reducing the entire 4D universe onto a flat surface in an attempt to unify general relativity and quantum mechanics. If it works, we may finally have a complete understanding of how gravity works.
Pasterski’s impressive credentials have seen her dubbed a child genius and the next Albert Einstein, but what does she make of these labels and what are the challenges at the cutting edge of theoretical physics? In this wide-ranging conversation, Pasterski takes us deep into the theory, discusses how celestial holography could marry up to observations made in the night sky and the conundrum AI poses in pushing theoretical physics forward.
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AlphaGenome 2: Deciphering how cells read DNA to better understand disease
AI is about to design custom therapies for every disease based on your DNA.
Every cell in your body has the exact same DNA—so how does a heart cell know to beat while an immune cell knows to fight an infection? 🧬✨
Google DeepMind just unveiled AlphaGenome 2, an AI breakthrough that zooms in from broad tissues down to single, individual cells to see how our DNA is actually read in real time.
Here is why this is a massive leap for medicine and biology:
🔬 Single-Cell Precision: Trained on over 107 million individual cells, it spots subtle genetic triggers inside specific cell types that older models missed.
⚡ Adapts on the Fly: Scientists can plug in data from just a few dozen cells from a brand-new lab experiment—like immune cells reacting to a vaccine or gut cells driving inflammation—and the AI adapts instantly with zero retraining.
🎯 Pinpointing Disease Drivers: It helps researchers trace complex genetic mutations directly to the exact cells causing diseases like IBD or severe COVID-19, paving the way for targeted, DNA-based therapies.
Re-analysis of black hole data proves iconic ring shape really is there
When the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) team released their first image of a black hole in 2019, the astrophysics community was abuzz: the image of black hole M87 showed a perfect ring structure, just as predicted by the theory of general relativity. As other teams reanalysed the data in the following years, though, scepticism about the image began to slip in. A new, completely independent analysis has now finally banished that scepticism.
The now-iconic doughnut shape of the EHT image is caused by a key property of general relativity, the way that light bends in the presence of an extremely massive object. Observing it for real was one of the strongest pieces of evidence that general relativity is accurate.
Independent interferometric observable confirms black hole shadow in M87*
An imaging algorithm using closure-invariant formalism and diffusion-based reconstruction applied to supermassive black hole very long baseline radio interferometry datasets enables independent recovery of the ring-like shadow and mass that is free from the usual calibration and imaging assumptions.
Preventing Malaria Infections and Moving toward Malaria Elimination
Extensive deployment of insecticide-treated nets accounted for 68% of malaria case reduction in Africa between 2000 and 2015.7 Hence, the increased prevalence of insecticide-resistant vectors has substantially contributed to declining momentum against malaria over the past decade.1 Likewise, chemoprevention is threatened by the emergence and spread of high-level Plasmodium falciparum resistance to sulfadoxine–pyrimethamine and amodiaquine.1,8
On a more positive note, two new classes of insecticide-treated net became available as of 2023, transforming the vector-control space.1 Seasonal malaria chemoprevention protected 54 million children across 19 countries in sub-Saharan Africa in 2024 (Figure 2A).9 In addition, two World Health Organization (WHO)–prequalified malaria vaccines are being deployed across Africa.2 Of note, the political will to address malaria in Africa was reinforced at the 2024 Malaria Ministerial Conference in Yaoundé, Cameroon, where health ministers from 11 countries that have been classified by the WHO as “high burden to high impact” — and that account for approximately 70% of all cases and deaths worldwide — underscored their unwavering commitment to reducing malaria-related mortality.10 Emphasis was placed on country leadership, with subnational tailoring to implement the most effective combinations of interventions for specific contexts.10
This review examines current tools and recent advancements in malaria control and prevention. Not every intervention is suitable for every context; decisions must be guided by available resources, local epidemiologic factors, and evidence of effect. Substantial investments are being made in emerging technologies, and their transformative potential for malaria elimination is discussed.
JWST Detects a ‘Forbidden’ Signal Never Before Seen in The Universe — Not Even in a Lab
One of the most important molecules in the Universe has been hiding its light for decades.
It’s the foundation for almost all gas-phase interstellar chemistry – including the formation of complex organic molecules that make up the ingredients for life.
Its name is the trihydrogen cation (H3+), and it’s so important that it’s often referred to as “the molecule that made the Universe.”