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The landmark release of 722 papers targeting 372 unsolved problems draws amazement—and criticism

Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai win award for reactions leading to mirror-image molecules

Biotech executive Steven Quay may be in contention for leadership role in infectious disease institute

Scientists discovered that disrupting the chemical messages bacteria use to communicate can push dental plaque toward a healthier microbial balance. The approach could lead to new treatments for gum disease that control harmful bacteria without destroying beneficial species.

Find in Spanish cave provides rare window into the domestic lives of our closest relatives

New controls could limit papers by early-career researchers

Cannabinoids may intensify anxiety by removing a natural brake on specific neurons in the brain’s fear center, particularly during stressful situations. In mice, shutting down those neurons sharply reduced cannabinoid-related anxious behavior.

Colorectal cancer in young people is often diagnosed at an advanced stage, with researchers finding most patients age 21 or younger already had Stage III or IV disease. Because symptoms like rectal bleeding, weight loss, abdominal pain, and bowel changes may be overlooked, researchers are calling for greater vigilance.

Scientists have found a surprising way to regrow damaged knee cartilage by blocking a protein that becomes more abundant with age. In old mice, the treatment restored naturally lost cartilage and also helped prevent osteoarthritis after ACL-like knee injuries, while human cartilage taken from knee replacement patients began producing new, functional joint cartilage after exposure to the same inhibitor.

Couples who exercise together report better communication, healthier conflict resolution, and lower marital stress than those who work out alone. Even something as simple as taking a walk together may create valuable opportunities to talk, listen, and feel more connected.

New mothers paired with patient navigators were much more likely to receive postpartum care, depression screening, preventive testing, and ongoing primary care. By helping with barriers such as transportation, childcare, scheduling, and confusing medical information, navigators may provide a powerful way to improve women’s long-term health.

Nutritional status and metabolic homeostasis are intricately associated with the inflammatory response. However, the direct mechanistic link between nutrition, metabolism and inflammation remains unclear. Here, we show that the amino acid L-arginine (L-Arg) is a potent endogenous inhibitor of the NLRP3 inflammasome, a central component of the inflammatory signalling pathway. We show that L-Arg binds directly to the Asp31 site of the NLRP3 protein, blocking its interaction with the adaptor ASC...

Understanding how genetic influences on complex traits change with age is a fundamental question in genetic epidemiology. Both cross-sectional (between-subject) and longitudinal (within-subject) approaches can contribute to answering this question but come with distinct strengths and limitations. Here we show that age-varying genetic effects obtained from the two designs were highly concordant in direction (84.21% of the 57 identified variants) but showed only moderate agreement in effect-size...