Crucial drugs such as crucial drugs such as statins, antibiotics and HIV inhibitors are among some of the most expensive because they require a chiral center ― a property in which a molecule cannot be superimposed with its mirror image. In a new study, University of Maine researchers explore a new, cost-reducing pathway to produce one of the key building blocks for chiral drugs, (S)-3-hydroxy-γ-butyrolactone (HBL), from glucose at high concentrations and yields. Because glucose can be derived from any lignocellulosic feedstock, this process opens a new door for the sustainable production of HBL. 

Genes are the building blocks of life, and the genetic code provides the instructions for the complex processes that make organisms function. But how and why did it come to be the way it is? A recent study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign sheds new light on the origin and evolution of the genetic code, providing valuable insights for genetic engineering and bioinformatics.

Researchers at Lehigh University have received a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to explore how biological computation could make artificial intelligence (AI) more energy-efficient and powerful. The team, led by Yevgeny Berdichevsky, associate professor of bioengineering and electrical and computer engineering, will study neurons within engineered brain organoids—three-dimensional structures grown from adult stem cells that resemble developing brain tissue. By arranging and stimulating neurons in controlled ways, the researchers aim to replicate how the brain processes dynamic information, such as moving images. The interdisciplinary project combines neuroscience, bioengineering, electrical engineering, and computer science to create a proof of concept for biological computation and to inspire new AI algorithms. The researchers will also assess the ethical, social, and legal considerations of using brain organoids in computation.

Studying miniature analogs of natural earthquakes in the lab, MIT geologists quantified how much energy from the quake goes into heat, shaking, and fracturing. The research could help seismologists predict the likelihood of quakes in seismically active regions.

Aiming to better equip educators for the growing artificial intelligence (AI) wave, Kennesaw State University Department Chair of Information Technology Shaoen Wu, along with assistant professors Seyedamin Pouriyeh and Chloe “Yixin” Xie, were awarded two grants to help unite educators and lay the foundation for common guidelines in AI education.

Ecologists report findings from a nearly eight-year, large-scale survey of woodrat populations throughout North America in the Sept. 15, 2025 issue of the Proceedings of the American Academy of Sciences, which reveal constraints on diet breadth in herbivorous mammals.

Researchers at UC Davis have been awarded a $3 million National Science Foundation grant to develop new technologies and workforce training programs to grow plants in low-resource environments both on Earth and in space. 

Rising temperatures of the world’s oceans threaten to accelerate the melting and splintering of glaciers—thereby potentially increasing the number of icebergs and, with it, the need to better understand more about their movement and impact. Through a series of experiments, a team of scientists has pinpointed some of the factors that cause icebergs to capsize, offering insights into how climate change may affect Earth’s waters.