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Dr Liisa Laakso | A Ray of Hope for Mitochondrial Disease
MELAS is one of a number of rare genetic conditions in which a person’s cells struggle to make enough energy. As a result, people with MELAS often face extreme fatigue, muscle weakness, strokes, and a host of other symptoms. There is no cure yet, and treatments focus on managing problems as they show up. Now, Dr Liisa Laakso and her colleagues at the Mater Research Institute-University of Queensland are exploring a non-drug approach that could support the body’s cells themselves.
Dr Michael Rera | Smurf and Death: Understanding the Phasing of Aging
Aging is one of biology’s most universal and mysterious processes. Most living organisms age, although in different ways, yet scientists still don’t fully understand how or why it happens the way it does. Over time, cells accumulate damage and wear down, tissues become less efficient, and the body becomes more vulnerable to diseases and death. But is aging a progressive decline towards death, or does it occur in distinct, identifiable phases? To investigate this, Dr Michael Rera and colleagues at Paris Cité University have been studying aging in model organisms, including the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.
Professor Indraneel Mittra | Horizontally Transferred Cell-Free Chromatin Particles: A New Frontier in Mammalian Genomics
Professor Indraneel Mittra and his research team at the Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research & Education in Cancer, Mumbai, has discovered a surprising role for cell-free chromatin particles, cfChPs, in mammalian cells. Their findings position cfChPs as agents of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) and drivers of evolutionary change.
The Hidden Role of Platelets: New Insights Towards the Treatment of Aplastic Anaemia
Aplastic anaemia is a common and significant hematologic disease, where the bone marrow cannot produce enough blood cells, leaving people exhausted, prone to infections, and at risk of serious bleeding. Most mechanistic research has focused on how components of the immune system, especially T-cells, mistakenly attack the bone marrow. But new work led by Dr Shuai Tan, Dr Xingmin Feng, and Dr Wanling Sun offers an important shift in perspective: platelets may be doing far more than helping blood clot in aplastic anaemia.
How Biomolecular Solutions Can Make Fish Farming Sustainable
Fish farming has become one of the fastest-growing sources of food in the world, providing nearly half of all fish consumed globally. Yet behind this success lies a complex set of challenges. Intensive aquaculture can strain ecosystems, spread diseases, and increase dependence on antibiotics and chemicals that harm both fish and the environment. As climate change and rising demand for seafood put even more pressure on aquatic systems, scientists and producers are searching for smarter, more sustainable ways to farm fish without compromising animal welfare or water quality. Across Europe, a pioneering initiative called BioAqua COST Action, funded by the European Union, is working to meet this challenge.
Extracting Yeast Bioactives – Process Matters
Yeast cells are tiny powerhouses packed with bioactive components. As such, yeast has become a key ingredient in modern animal nutrition, valued for its ability to support gut health, boost immunity, and improve feed efficiency.
To make the bioactive compounds within yeast cells available to animals, the tough outer cell wall must first be broken down. The process used to achieve this plays a key role in determining how effective it will be in supporting animal health and performance. Understanding these processing methods is essential for making the most of what yeast has to offer.
Dr. Jacqueline Tabler – The Self-Organizing Bone Wave That Shapes Our Skulls
Most of us don’t give much thought to our skulls beyond their role in protecting our brains. But the way a skull forms in the womb is a remarkable feat of biology, and, as a new study shows, also a feat of physics.
Dr Leonie Tix | A New Way to Assess Frog Health for Ethical Animal-based Research
When most people picture lab animals, mice or rats usually come to mind. However, another animal plays a quiet yet crucial role in biological research: the South African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis. These frogs have the ability to produce thousands of eggs each year, which scientists use to study processes ranging from cell division to genetics. Despite their importance, there has long been a gap in one very basic area of frog care: how to easily and reliably assess their health based on their nutritional status. This is the problem that Dr Leonie Tix of RWTH Aachen University and her collaborators set out to solve.
Dr Ursula Vincent | Detecting Trace Antibiotics in Livestock Feed to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance
Antibiotic resistance is one of the most urgent public health threats today, and animal farming plays a significant role. For decades, livestock in the EU were routinely given medicated feed containing low doses of antibiotics – not to treat infections but to prevent them. This preventative daily dosing greatly contributed to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. To combat this, the EU first introduced new rules in 2006 where antibiotics in feed can only be used with a veterinary prescription to treat diagnosed infections. Since May of 2025, the cross-contamination of antibiotics from medicated feed to non-medicated feed has also become strictly regulated. Even with these regulations, non-medicated feed can still become contaminated.
Dr Luis A. Rubio | Exploring the Gut-Healing Potential of Plant Proteins
Inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, are serious conditions marked by chronic inflammation in the digestive tract, causing pain, diarrhoea, and reduced quality of life. There is an urgent need for new therapies that reduce inflammation and avoid the negative effects of long-term medication use. Research led by Dr Luis A. Rubio at the Estación Experimental del Zadín in Spain explored whether extracts from legumes such as peas might offer a gentler, food-based alternative – as a treatment or preventative therapy for these conditions.
Dr. Hubert Untersteiner | A Smart and Safe Method to Assess Pesticide Risks to Aquatic Life
Imagine rivers and lakes, vital for life, threatened by invisible dangers: pesticides. How do we accurately assess their risk to aquatic ecosystems without endless, costly, and ethically challenging animal tests? Scientists are increasingly finding answers in powerful computer models. A new study carried out by Dr. Hubert Untersteiner and colleagues from the University of Ulster shows how combining two types of computer-modelling tools can improve predictions of pesticide toxicity in aquatic environments. The two methods they combined are Quantitative Structure–Activity Relationship (or QSAR), and Species Sensitivity Distribution (or SSD).
Dr Michael Dillon | A Gamified Approach to Teaching at Plymouth University
In universities everywhere, there’s growing recognition that the traditional lecture model is no longer enough. As disciplines become more complex and interconnected, students need more than information – they need ways to engage actively with what they’re learning. This means moving beyond passive listening and note-taking, towards approaches that foster critical thinking and collaboration. At the University of Plymouth, a new teaching innovation is showing how gamified learning can encourage deeper understanding and student engagement.
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