The study of dental microwear allows the analysis of the microscopic marks that foods leave on the surface of tooth enamel during mastication. In palaeoanthropology, this methodology helps reconstruct the diet of fossil primates and hominins throughout human evolution. The microscopic striations in dental enamel are like microscopic archives that reveal whether the diet was rich in foods with softer or more abrasive components. Now, a study published in the journal Scientific Reports presents an innovative artificial intelligence (AI)-based methodology for identifying 3D wear patterns consistently and independently of the analyst.

- Scientists have, for the first time, used an extremely precise genome editing technique called base editing to study gene function in human embryos.

- Using the technique, they found that a gene called NANOG is essential for forming the future body from an embryo. Without it, the embryo loses its ability to differentiate into different body tissues.

- This reveals fundamental differences between early development in human and mouse embryos, underscoring the importance of directly investigating human embryonic development.

Great apes may have been laughing with a similar rhythm to modern humans for at least 15 million years, a University of Warwick study reveals. The finding offers unexpected clues to how human speech evolved.

Researchers from the EHU-University of the Basque Country have developed a robust protocol to detect the molecules involved in the metabolic reactions of sperm. The new method enables a detailed analysis to be made even with small samples, and the largest number of potential biomarkers identified to date to be detected; this advance could help to diagnose male infertility and develop future clinical solutions.

Markers of a new mechanism for cell death, called karyoptosis, have been found in brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

Cells can spontaneously change shape even without external signals, but the underlying mechanisms behind this form of self-organization have remained unclear. Now, researchers from Japan have discovered self-propelled treadmilling actin filaments (SpTAs), mobile protein assemblies that function as self-propelled particles. Their study shows that even though SpTAs move randomly, they push the cell membrane outward and accumulate to grow protrusions, thereby defining the overall shape of the cell.

A research team at the Ruhr University Bochum Department of Molecular and Cellular Botany (Germany), led by Professor Christopher Grefen, has uncovered how plants form the tiny pores on their leaves responsible for gas exchange and water regulation. The scientists identified the two lipid-modifying enzymes GELP80 and GELP100 as deciding factors for the formation of functional stomata. The results were published in the journal The Plant Cell on May 26, 2026. They provide fresh insight into the mechanics of plant development and could, in the long term, help make crops more resistant to drought.

Research has revealed how bacteria rely on circadian clocks to control the spread of their multi-cellular colonies.

The findings provide important clues as to how we might improve soil health and plant growth. They may also help to explain how some bacteria spread hospital-acquired infections.