Mutations in two gene pairs point to a promising drug target in 5 percent of adult cancers

Illustration Credit: Natalie Velez, Broad Communications

Scientists from the Cancer Dependency Map (DepMap) at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and Columbia University have discovered that about 5 percent of adult cancers rely heavily on a gene called PELO to survive and that disabling the gene kills those cancer cells. These cancers have mutations in one of two genes, FOCAD or TCC37.

The finding, described in Nature, is a new synthetic lethality — a pair of genetic changes that together kill cancer cells. The researchers say that PELO is a promising target, and that genetic testing could identify cancer patients with FOCAD or TCC37 mutations who would benefit from new PELO-targeting drugs.

“These cancers are a huge unmet medical need, because we don’t have effective drugs for them,” said Francisca Vazquez, co-senior author on the study along with postdoctoral researcher Edmond Chan, now an assistant professor at Columbia University. Vazquez is also director of DepMap, which systematically probes cancer cell lines for genetic vulnerabilities. 

“Targeting synthetic lethalities is a good way to expand the repertoire of tumors we’re able to treat,” Vazquez said. “This new synthetic lethality we found shows how powerful the DepMap datasets can be.”

Patricia Borck, a DepMap research scientist in Broad’s Cancer Program, is first author on the study.

Cutting edge technology shows promise in tackling deadly brain tumors

Delivering advanced gene-editing tools directly to the tumor site can improve the body’s defense against glioblastoma
Image Credit: Gemini

A new study led by Khuloud Al Jamal, Professor of Drug Delivery & Nanomedicine, has found an innovative strategy to combat glioblastoma (GB), a fast-growing and aggressive type of brain tumor.

GB is a brain tumor originating in the brain or spinal cord. Despite advances in cancer treatment, it can remain resistant to therapies, including immune checkpoint (ICP) blockade therapies. ICP blockade works by targeting specific proteins on immune or tumor cells to prevent tumors from evading the immune system. While effective in other cancers, this approach has shown limited success in treating GB. The is due to complex interactions between immune cells and glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs), which suppress the immune response and reduce the effectiveness of these therapies.

In the study, published in Advanced Science, Professor Al Jamal and her team revealed how they have taken a novel approach to overcome this challenge by focusing on the mesenchymal subtype of GSCs, which is particularly aggressive and therapy resistant. The study employed lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) — tiny, fat-based carriers — to transport CRISPR RNAs, an advanced gene-editing tool, to GSC and immune cells in therapeutically relevant tumor models. 

Spinal cord stimulation: A transformative option for chronic pain management

Image Credit: cottonbro studio

Chronic back and lower extremity pain are leading causes of disability worldwide, significantly impacting the quality of life and productivity of the patients affected by them. For these patients, spinal cord stimulation (SCS) — a non-pharmacological, neurostimulation treatment that involves the surgical implantation of electrodes and a power source to deliver electrical current to the spinal cord to reduce pain signals to the brain — offers an advanced, safe and minimally invasive treatment option.

SCS is not a new medical technology, but has evolved considerably since its introduction in the 1960s. “It was historically used for patients who had undergone spine surgery but continued to experience pain,” explains Jonathan Droessler, MD, a specialist in interventional physiatry at UCLA’s Department of Orthopedic Surgery.

“Today, it’s used for patients with intractable pain lasting more than six months.”

Cracks in Greenland Ice Sheet are growing, study finds

Crevasses at Store Glacier, a marine-terminating outlet glacier of the western Greenland Ice Sheet.
 Photo Credit: Tom Chudley (Durham University)

A new study published this week in Nature Geoscience reveals that in response to climate change, the Greenland Ice Sheet is developing significantly more surface crevasses in key regions – a change that may accelerate ice loss and contribute to rising sea levels.

The research was led by Thomas Chudley, a research assistant professor at Durham University and former research associate at The Ohio State University’s Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center. The study analyzed high-resolution 3D surface maps and found that crevasses – wedge-shaped fractures in ice – had significantly increased in size and depth at the ice sheet’s fast-flowing edges over the entire Greenland Ice Sheet between 2016 and 2021.

Omega-3s Can Slow Down Aging Process

In addition to the well-documented health benefits, a recent evaluation of the DO-HEALTH study indicates that the intake of omega-3 fatty acids can also slow down the ageing process.
Photo Credit: Polina Tankilevitch

A daily intake of one gram of omega-3s can slow down biological aging by up to four months, according to an analysis of clinical data from the international DO-HEALTH study led by the University of Zurich. For the first time, epigenetic clocks were used to measure the aging process.

Many people would like to delay or even stop the aging process. Previous clinical studies have shown that a reduced calorie intake can slow down the aging process in humans. Taking vitamin D or omega-3 fatty acids has also shown promising results in slowing biological aging in animals. However, it was unclear whether these measures would also work in humans.

The therapies previously tested in the DO-HEALTH study led by Heike Bischoff-Ferrari are also associated with a slowing of the aging process. These showed that vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids, as well as regular physical activity, reduce the risk of infections and falls, and prevent cancer and premature frailty. “These results inspired us to measure the direct influence of these three therapies on the biological aging process in the Swiss DO-HEALTH participants,” says Bischoff-Ferrari, professor of geriatrics and geriatric medicine at the University of Zurich.

Climate change is overhauling marine nutrient cycles

Adam Martiny (middle) participates in ocean shipboard sampling on board the ocean-going Global Ocean Ship-based Hydrographic Investigations Program.
Photo Credit: Celine Mouginot / UC Irvine

Computer models reveal how human-driven climate change will dramatically overhaul critical nutrient cycles in the ocean. In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, University of California, Irvine researchers report evidence that marine nutrient cycles – essential for sustaining ocean ecosystems – are changing in unexpected ways as the planet continues to warm.

“Model studies have suggested that when the ocean warms it gets more stratified, which can drain certain parts of the surface ocean of nutrients,” said Adam Martiny, professor of Earth system science and ecology & evolutionary biology and one of the study’s lead authors. Although models suggest a connection between ocean temperatures and surface ocean nutrients, this is the first study to confirm climate change’s impacts on nutrient cycles.

The team, led by graduate student Skylar Gerace, analyzed 50 years of nutrient data from the ocean collected as part of the Global Ocean Ship-based Hydrographic Investigations Program (GO-SHIP). They discovered that over the last half century, there’s been a major decline in phosphorus – a nutrient that plays a key role in the health of marine food webs – in southern hemisphere oceans.

Nanomaterials are emerging as a powerful tool for coastal oil spill cleanup

Oil Spill
Image Credit: Gemini 

Cleaning up after a major oil spill is a long, expensive process, and the damage to a coastal region’s ecosystem can be significant. This is especially true for the world’s Arctic region, where newly opened sea lanes will expose remote shorelines to increased risks due to an anticipated rise in sea traffic.

Current mitigation techniques even in heavily populated regions face serious limitations, including low oil absorption capacity, potential toxicity to marine life and a slow remediation process.

However, advances in nanotechnology may provide solutions that are more effective, safer and work much faster than current methods. That’s according to a new paper in Environmental Science: Nano by a Concordia-led team of researchers.

“Using nanomaterials as a response method has emerged as a promising sustainable approach,” says lead author Huifang Bi, a PhD candidate in the Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science.

Quantum mechanics helps with photosynthesis

First author Erika Keil and Prof. Jürgen Hauer in the lab.
Photo Credit: Andreas Heddergott / TUM

Photosynthesis - mainly carried out by plants - is based on a remarkably efficient energy conversion process. To generate chemical energy, sunlight must first be captured and transported further. This happens practically loss-free and extremely quickly. A new study by the Chair of Dynamic Spectroscopy at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) shows that quantum mechanical effects play a key role in this process. A team led by Erika Keil and Prof. Jürgen Hauer discovered this through measurements and simulations.

The efficient conversion of solar energy into storable forms of chemical energy is the dream of many engineers. Nature found a perfect solution to this problem billions of years ago. The new study shows that quantum mechanics is not just for physicists but also plays a key role in biology.

Photosynthetic organisms such as green plants use quantum mechanical processes to harness the energy of the sun, as Prof. Jürgen Hauer explains: “When light is absorbed in a leaf, for example, the electronic excitation energy is distributed over several states of each excited chlorophyll molecule; this is called a superposition of excited states. It is the first stage of an almost loss-free energy transfer within and between the molecules and makes the efficient onward transport of solar energy possible. Quantum mechanics is therefore central to understanding the first steps of energy transfer and charge separation.”

WSU researcher pioneers new study model with clues to anti-aging

Jiyue Zhu and a student work in the laboratory.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Washington State University

Washington State University scientists have created genetically-engineered mice that could help accelerate anti-aging research.

Globally, scientists are working to unlock the secrets of extending human lifespan at the cellular level, where aging occurs gradually due to the shortening of telomeres–the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes that function like shoelace tips to prevent unraveling. As telomeres shorten over time, cells lose their ability to divide for healthy growth, and some eventually begin to die.

But research studying these telomeres at the cellular level has been challenging in humans.

Now, a discovery by a WSU research team published today in the journal Nature Communications has opened the door to using genetically engineered mice.

Led by WSU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Professor Jiyue Zhu, the research team has developed mice that have human-like short telomeres, enabling the study of cellular aging as it occurs in the human body and within organs. Normally mice have telomeres that are up to 10 times longer than humans.

Novel processor uses magnons to crack complex problems

The three first authors of the paper - Noura Zenbaa (on the right), Claas Abert (on the left) and Fabian Majcen (in the middle) at the moment when the universal inverse-design magnonic device was activated to solve its first problem.
Photo Credit: Andrii Chumak, NanoMag, U of Vienna

An international team of researchers, led by physicists from the University of Vienna, has achieved a breakthrough in data processing by employing an "inverse-design" approach. This method allows algorithms to configure a system based on desired functions, bypassing manual design and complex simulations. The result is a smart "universal" device that uses spin waves ("magnons") to perform multiple data processing tasks with exceptional energy efficiency. Published in Nature Electronics, this innovation marks a transformative advance in unconventional computing, with significant potential for next-generation telecommunications, computing, and neuromorphic systems.

Modern electronics face critical challenges, including high energy consumption and increasing design complexity. In this context, magnonics — the use of magnons, or quantized spin waves in magnetic materials — offers a promising alternative. Magnons enable efficient data transport and processing with minimal energy loss. With the growing demand for innovative computing solutions, ranging from 5G and upcoming 6G networks to neuromorphic computing (mimicking functions of the brain), magnonics represents a paradigm shift that redefines how devices are designed and operated. Developing an innovative magnonic processor that enables highly adaptive and energy-efficient computing was a challenge that Andrii Chumak of the University of Vienna's Nanomagnetism and Magnonics Group and his collaborators successfully met.

Scientists Discovered the Oldest Junipers in the Arctic

Dendrochronologists determined the age of the trees by cross-dating. The photo shows a sample of juniper.
Photo Credit: Rashit Khantemirov

A group of dendrochronologists from Italy, Denmark, Germany and Russia has discovered the longest-lived woody plant in the Arctic. It was the common juniper (Juniperus communis). The oldest juniper bush, which was found in the north of Finland, is 1647 years old. In the Polar Urals, the oldest juniper bush lived half as long, yet it is the longest-living organism in the Urals. Scientists told about the long-lived junipers in an article in the journal Ecology.

"Many species in the genus Juniperus are long-lived woody plants. But there was a lack of reliable data on the most common species, the common juniper. There are legends about junipers that are two thousand years old, but there was no reliable evidence. Counting the number of annual rings, rather than estimating the age by trunk thickness, shrub size and other indirect signs, can be considered reliable evidence," explains Rashit Khantemirov, co-author of the paper, a member of the Laboratory of Natural Science Methods in Humanities at Ural Federal University and the Laboratory of Dendrochronology and IER&J of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Videos with Cold Symptoms Activate Brain Regions and Trigger Immune Response

 Study on Brain Activity and Antibody Concentration
Photo Credit: Andrea Piacquadio

People who watch videos of sneezing or sick people show increased activity in brain regions that represent an interface between the brain and the immune system and react to potential dangers. At the same time, the concentration of antibodies in their saliva increases. The findings of a study by researchers from the Department of Biology at the University of Hamburg indicate that an important part of the immune system responds even before a pathogen enters the body. The results were published in the journal Brain Behavior and Immunity.

Throughout human history, communicable diseases, especially viral respiratory infections such as SARS-CoV-2 or influenza, have been among the main factors that significantly influence human mortality. The constant threat of pathogen transmission has led to the development of various physiological mechanisms of the immune system - for example, the body releases proteins to fight pathogens in the body.

Effects of Declining Diversity Documented in the World of Microbes

Phytoplankton, seen here inside a flask in the Jackrel Lab, are proving to be a valuable system for studying host-associated microbiomes
Photo Credit: Jackrel Lab / UCSD

Across the tree of life, human activities are accelerating declines in biological species diversity, from deserts to oceans to forests. But what about the microscopic world? Scientists in UC San Diego’s School of Biological Sciences recently investigated how declining biodiversity in tiny ecological systems unseen to the naked eye can carry significant consequences for the health of organisms and ecosystems.

Postdoctoral Scholar Jonathan Dickey and recent master’s graduate Nikki Mercer from Assistant Professor Sara Jackrel’s laboratory studied the implications of declining diversity within microbiomes — communities of microorganisms, such as bacteria, which can form tight associations with their hosts, such as plants and animals. Recent studies in microbial ecology have found that microbiomes can play a key role in regulating host health, leading researchers to believe that as our world changes it is imperative to understand the implications of biodiversity loss within the host microbiome.

AI unveils: Meteoroid impacts cause Mars to shake

High-resolution CaSSIS image of one of the newly discovered impact craters in Cerberus Fossae. The so-called "blast zone", i.e. the dark rays around the crater, is clearly visible.
Image Credit: © ESA/TGO/CaSSIS
(CC-BY-SA 3.0 IGO)

Meteoroid impacts create seismic waves that cause Mars to shake stronger and deeper than previously thought: This is shown by an investigation using artificial intelligence carried out by an international research team led by the University of Bern. Similarities were found between numerous meteoroid impacts on the surface of Mars and marsquakes recorded by NASA's Mars lander InSight. These findings open up a new perspective on the impact rate and seismic dynamics of the Red Planet.

Meteoroid impacts have a significant influence on the landscape evolution of solid planetary bodies in our solar system, including Mars. By studying craters – the visible remnants of these impacts – important properties of the planet and its surface can be determined. Satellite images help to constrain the formation time of impact craters and thus provide valuable information on impact rates.

A recently published study led by Dr. Valentin Bickel from the Center for Space and Habitability at the University of Bern presents the first comprehensive catalog of impacts on the Martian surface that took place near NASA's Mars lander during the InSight mission between December 2018 and December 2022. Bickel is also an InSight science team member. The study has just been published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Plant Power: A New Method to Model How Plants Move Water Globally

Golden hour looking out on the UConn Forest.
Photo Credit: Sean Flynn/UConn Photo

Scientific Frontline: "At a Glance" Summary: A New Method to Model How Plants Move Water Globally

• Main Discovery: Researchers developed a novel method utilizing evolutionary relationships to infer the hydrologic traits of over 55,000 tree species, bypassing the need for individual field measurements to understand how plants influence global water circulation.
• Methodology: The team analyzed existing data on physical plant traits, such as tree height, root depth, and internal water flow speed. By applying numerical machine learning techniques and phylogenetic testing, they mapped the evolutionary relatedness of species to impute missing data, relying on the high level of trait conservation among closely related plants.
• Key Data: The newly created database encompasses vital hydrological values for 55,000 tree species, drastically expanding upon the 5,000 to 15,000 species previously cataloged. This dataset is critical given that an estimated 60 percent of all global rainfall is returned to the atmosphere through plant transpiration.
• Significance: This breakthrough enables Earth system models to move beyond oversimplified, generic plant classifications. Integrating highly detailed, species-specific vegetation data provides a much more accurate foundation for simulating complex atmospheric interactions and predicting climate change impacts.
• Future Application: The imputed data will be systematically tested against long-term physical observations from ten forested locations across the United States. Researchers ultimately aim to apply this methodology globally to refine Earth system models and investigate the underlying environmental drivers of plant trait variations.
• Branch of Science: Earth Science, Environmental Science, Hydrology