An article published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters describes a new transient absorption microscope developed by a research group led by Prof. Toru Kondo at the National Institute for Basic Biology (NIBB) / the Exploratory Research Center on Life and Living Systems (ExCELLS) / SOKENDAI. This microscope integrates a unique optical alignment for single-objective absorption microscopy, a highly sensitive balanced detector, and lock-in-amplified detection, allowing femtosecond time-resolved transient absorption measurements to be performed continuously at a high repetition rate. Moreover, steady-state absorption and fluorescence measurements, i.e., simultaneous absorption and fluorescence imaging, can be performed. Furthermore, the fluorescence spectrum and lifetime can be acquired. The spatial resolution is ~300 nanometers, near the diffraction limit; the temporal resolution is less than 200 femtoseconds; and the detection sensitivity of the transient absorption signal is about 10^–7 in absorbance, approaching the single-molecule level.

A new study reveals how a remarkable group of plants on the Galápagos Islands developed their diverse leaf shapes – offering unique insight into evolution at the genetic level.

A review in Neuroprotection (2026) reconceptualizes Parkinson’s disease as a lifelong neurobiological process shaped by early-life vulnerability, cumulative environmental exposures, and resilience factors. The authors integrate developmental biology, epigenetics, neuroimmune mechanisms, and brain plasticity into a prevention-focused framework. They highlight how early risks and lifelong protective behaviors influence disease trajectory, while emphasizing the need for longitudinal studies, early biomarkers, and targeted interventions to enable prevention rather than late-stage treatment.

Shi Yuankai’s team’s review on EGFR-TKIs for NSCLC (2000–2026) came out in the Chinese Medical Journal. Lung cancer leads in global cancer incidence/mortality, with NSCLC as the main subtype and EGFR a key driver. EGFR-TKIs are core for advanced EGFR-mutant NSCLC, with expanded clinical applications and prolonged patient survival. Yet EGFR-TKI resistance is a big challenge; the review summarizes its 2000–2025 development and future directions.

How food is shared inside ant colonies has long been invisible in real time. Researchers in Japan have now used a highly sensitive radioactive imaging technique to watch food move from ant to ant, minute by minute. The method reveals unexpected patterns in how resources spread through a group and could help scientists detect early warning signs of stress or imbalance in insect societies, crucial to ecosystems and agriculture.

Ependymoma is a central nervous system tumor that occurs primarily in children and can arise in the supratentorial region, posterior fossa, or spinal cord. Although molecular classification has substantially improved disease stratification and prognostic assessment, the metabolic phenotypes associated with the major pediatric subtypes have remained poorly defined. Because pediatric ependymoma is rare, assembling a cohort that spans multiple molecularly defined subtypes for systematic metabolic comparison is itself challenging.

 

Diabetes is a highly prevalent chronic condition and a major contributor to the global burden of disease, posing substantial challenges to health systems. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains its leading complication, and people with diabetes face a two- to four-fold higher risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality than the general population. Control of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), blood pressure, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), collectively referred to as ABC risk factors, is a cornerstone of cardiovascular prevention in diabetes.

Rivers worldwide are under severe stress: They are warming, losing oxygen and as a result emitting increasing amounts of greenhouse gases. Researchers at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have now quantified these global trends over a period of more than two decades. Their results show that rising temperatures and anthropogenic land use are fundamentally transforming river systems, with serious consequences for the climate. The findings have been published in Global Change Biology. (DOI: 10.1111/gcb.70828)