Early-life lung microbiota is dynamic, with major shifts at 3–4 months. Transient microbes dominate, but some persist, influencing lung health. Pneumocystis jirovecii may be a key driver of microbial changes, shaping respiratory health in infancy

Primary cilia play a crucial role in decidualization by maintaining nuclear integrity and suppressing cGAS–STING signaling, with loss of cilia activating RhoA–MLC2-dependent actomyosin contraction, thus leading to micronuclei formation and impaired decidualization.

Construction of the FBN-125 template enhances neonatal brain MRI processing by providing a high-resolution, multi-contrast atlas for accurate segmentation and spatial normalization, improving consistency and comparability in developmental neuroscience.

Real world PM2.5 exposure promotes oxidative stress, proteinopathy and functional defects in the heart and brain revealing the impact of environmental modifiers on disease progression in both organs that is worsened in the presence of genetic risks.

A simplified limb regeneration assay in axolotls reveals the nerve-dependent growth factors that are sufficient to induce patterning competency and uncovers their downstream epigenetic targets.

Long-term data for 34 butterfly species evidence that population responses to climate change vary with adaptation to local conditions and niche position. Local adaptation implies negative effect of climatic anomalies independently of niche position.

Utilization of CRISPR tiling screens to identify protein functional regions for structure-based drug discovery, using MEK1 as a demonstration. Biological mechanism study of distinct MEK1 drug-resistant mutations combined with structural analysis

Copper-mediated SEC14L3 activates the ERK/YY1/FDX1 axis to promote cuproptosis and suppress hepatocellular carcinoma progression.

In mammals, documented female dominance is rare, but females can hold high status even with male-biased dimorphism. In wild living bonobo groups, female coalition formation best explains the observed variation in female power.

An evaluation of polygenic score prediction models for BMI, height, and type-2 diabetes in Native Hawaiians revealed that these models tend to underperform for Native Hawaiians, particularly among those most enriched with Polynesian ancestries.

Commentary recommending research directions for cellular agriculture that may lead to more socially desirable directions for the industry.

In this Q&A, Christopher Smith, Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History, discusses his journey from medical illustration to evolutionary anatomy, emphasizing how artistic skills have shaped his scientific research and how visual representation can drive scientific discovery.

Analysis shows that Latin American researchers and women published less on fossil mammals from Latin America than Global North researchers and male counterparts. Papers with more Latin American authors and those written in languages other than English received lower citation rates, highlighting their academic invisibility.

This paper identifies the top-50 priority questions for meiofaunal research, highlighting their critical roles in biogeochemical cycles and biodiversity. It calls for a balanced research agenda, international cooperation, and advances in technology to overcome current challenges and unlock meiofauna’s full potential.

Professor Faraz Mardakheh began his research quest as an undergraduate at the University of Birmingham, after which he completed his PhD on receptor tyrosine kinase signalling in cancer. His journey continued at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, where he became a postdoctoral fellow investigating signalling mechanisms behind cancer invasion and metastasis. An unexpected turn of events, as often happens in research, awakened a passion for RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) which guides his research interests to date. Last year, Professor Mardakheh’s career experienced another exciting shift as he relocated his lab from the Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, to the University of Oxford. Leveraging their expertise in cutting-edge Mass Spectrometry-based proteomics complemented by RNA-sequencing, bioinformatics and a variety of cell-based and biochemical techniques, the Mardakheh lab aims to explore the mysterious world of RBPs and, more specifically, their implications in malignant transformation.

This collection reflects research that will advance the understanding of hemoproteins, iron-sulfur cluster proteins and other iron-containing proteins, proteins involved in homeostasis of iron/heme and their regulation, or ecological impacts of iron/heme on interacting hosts and microbial communities.