A research team led by Prof. XUE Tian and Prof. MA Yuqian from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), in collaboration with multiple research groups, has successfully enabled human near-infrared (NIR) spatiotemporal color vision through upconversion contact lenses (UCLs). The study was published online in Cell on May 22, 2025 (EST), and was featured in a News release by Cell Press.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that affects the neurons in the brain and spinal cord. In the United States alone there are fewer than 20,000 cases a year. However, the disease is fatal with a 5-year survival rate of 10–20% after diagnosis. This progressive disorder impedes voluntary muscle movement and can dramatically impact an individual’s quality of life. Symptoms of ALS include gradual muscle weakness and fatigue which spreads throughout the body. Difficulty moving and slurred speech is accompanied by muscle spasms, cramps, and twitching. Diagnosis is based on an exam led by a healthcare physician who also considers medical history and analyzes neuroimaging. Unfortunately, there are no blood tests to detect ALS. Additionally, the exact cause of ALS is unknown. However, many physicians and scientists believe that it is a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
Currently, there is no cure for ALS and medication works to manage symptoms and improve quality of life. Treatments include medication that slows disease progression, physical and speech therapy, and devices that help make movement and breathing easier (including wheelchairs and ventilators). It is unknown how this disease progresses and scientists are working to develop optimal therapies for patients.
A recent article in Nature, by Dr. Alessandro Sette and others, revealed that ALS is an autoimmune disorder. This discovery is extremely novel and progresses the field of ALS, especially since very little was known before. Sette is a Professor in the Centers for Autoimmunity and Inflammation, and Cancer Immunotherapy, and is Co-Director of the Center for Vaccine Innovation at La Jolla Institute for Immunology. Sette’s work focuses on understanding the immune system and measuring its activity in various diseases. More specifically, he focuses on cellular biomarkers that elicit robust immune reactions.
Hearing the sound of their mother’s voice promotes development of language pathways in a premature baby’s brain, according to a new Stanford Medicine-led study.
During the study, which is published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, hospitalized preemies regularly heard recordings of their mothers reading to them. At the end of the study, MRI brain scans showed that a key language pathway was more mature than that of preemies in a control group who did not hear the recordings. It is the first randomized controlled trial of such an intervention in early development.
“This is the first causal evidence that a speech experience is contributing to brain development at this very young age,” said the lead author, Katherine Travis, Ph.D., who was an assistant professor at Stanford Medicine when the study was conducted and is now an assistant professor at Weill Cornell Medical School and Burke Neurological Institute.
A research team has co-developed a nanomaterial-based ‘wireless multi-sensing platform’ for the early detection of pressure injuries, which have a high prevalence among individuals with limited mobility, including the elderly and people with disabilities. The team’s findings are published in Advanced Functional Materials.
Pressure injuries are among the most painful conditions affecting elderly and disabled individuals in long-term care and rehabilitation facilities. They result from sustained pressure that damages skin tissue, making regular repositioning and meticulous hygiene care essential.
For patients with limited mobility, in particular, contact with bio-contaminants such as urine and feces can further irritate the damaged skin and worsen the injuries. However, in hospital settings, a shortage of caregivers or staff makes real-time monitoring of patients’ conditions extremely challenging.
Molecular biologists have long believed that the beginning of a gene launched the process of transcription—the process by which a segment of DNA is copied into RNA and then RNA helps make the proteins that cells need to function.
But a new study published in Science by researchers at Boston University and the University of Massachusetts T.H. Chan School of Medicine challenges that understanding, revealing that the beginning and end of genes are not fixed points, but move together—reshaping how cells build proteins and adapt through evolution.
“This work rewrites a textbook idea: the beginning of a gene doesn’t just launch transcription—it helps decide where it stops and what protein you ultimately make,” says Ana Fiszbein, assistant professor of biology and faculty fellow of computing & data sciences, and one of the lead authors of the study.
How very cool!
Shimon Sakaguchi is honored for his revolutionary discovery of regulatory T cells—revealing how “immune tolerance” impacts autoimmune diseases, cancer and more.
LA JOLLA, CA— Former Scripps Research assistant professor Shimon Sakaguchi has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his groundbreaking discovery of peripheral immune tolerance, a mechanism of the immune system that prevents autoimmune diseases and sheds light on how cancer escapes immune detection.
Sakaguchi, who was an assistant professor at Scripps Research from 1989 to the prize with Mary E. Brunkow of the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle and Fred Ramsdell of Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco. They are being recognized for their contributions to uncovering several key functions of the immune system, according to the Nobel Prize committee.
Diagnosing cancer at an early stage increases the chance of performing effective treatment in many tumour groups. Key approaches include screening patients who are at risk but have no symptoms, and rapidly and appropriately investigating those who do. Machine learning, whereby computers learn complex data patterns to make predictions, has the potential to revolutionise early cancer diagnosis. Here, we provide an overview of how such algorithms can assist doctors through analyses of routine health records, medical images, biopsy samples and blood tests to improve risk stratification and early diagnosis. Such tools will be increasingly utilised in the coming years.
Chinese scientists have unveiled a groundbreaking bio-adhesive, popularly known as “Bone-02,” that can bond fractured bones within just three minutes. This innovation was inspired by the adhesive properties of oysters, which can attach firmly to wet surfaces, a concept now translated into medical science.
Unlike traditional implants such as metal plates or screws, the new bone glue is completely bioabsorbable. As the bone naturally heals, the adhesive is gradually absorbed by the body, effectively eliminating the need for secondary surgery to remove any hardware.
Reports from early clinical trials indicate that the glue provides an impressive bonding strength exceeding 400 pounds (around 180 kg) and achieves stable fixation even in wet, blood-rich surgical environments. This could revolutionize the way fractures are treated in orthopedic surgery.
Researchers have developed a way to predict how lung cancer cells will respond to different therapies, allowing people with the most common form of lung cancer to receive more effective individualized treatment.
The research, published Oct. 10 in Nature Genetics, was led by Thazin Aung, Ph.D., in the laboratory of Yale School of Medicine’s David Rimm, MD, Ph.D., in collaboration with scientists at the Frazer Institute at the University of Queensland. Researchers studied the tumors of 234 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) across three cohorts in Australia, the United States, and Europe.
“Using AI and spatial biology, we mapped NSCLC, cell-by-cell, to understand and predict its response to drug treatment,” Aung says. “This ‘Google Maps’ approach can pinpoint areas within tumors that are both responsive and resistant to therapies, which will be a gamechanger for lung cancer treatment. Rather than having to use a trial-and-error approach, oncologists will now know which treatments are most likely to work with new precision medicine tools.”