During brain development, neurons can regulate their movement until they reach their final destination thanks to a “molecular switch” involving the protein Teneurin 4 (Ten4). This protein can guide neuronal migration through mutually exclusive molecular pathways and determine the direction of nerve cells.

The March 2026 issue of Chinese Medicine and Culture presents traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as a living body of knowledge shaped by history, practice, language, geography, and international exchange. The articles examine the origins of meridian theory, changing ideas of toxicity and disease, court medicine in Qing China, regional medical schools, Korean and Thai connections, and the spread of TCM in France, showing the field’s deep historical and global reach. 

The research analyzed over 300,000 transplant surgeries from 2007-19 and provides causal evidence that task switching — transitioning between cognitively different procedures — can affect patient outcomes.

The results suggest that chaperone-mediated autophagy, a cellular ‘selective cleaning’ system, could become a new therapeutic target. The study, published in Acta Neuropathologica Communications, was conducted using human tissues from clinical trials and opens new avenues for the development of treatments to slow the progression of ALS.

Cancer cells survive by repairing damage to their DNA—even damage that would normally be fatal. One of their most important defense systems is homologous recombination, a high-precision repair pathway that fixes broken DNA using key proteins such as RAD51 and CHK1. While therapies such as PARP inhibitors have successfully targeted this vulnerability, many tumors eventually regain their DNA repair ability and become resistant to treatment.

A research team led by Director MYUNG Kyungjae at the Center for Genomic Integrity within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), in collaboration with LEE Joo-Yong (Chungnam University) has now uncovered a new strategy to overcome this resistance. Their findings show that cancer cells can be made vulnerable again—not by altering genetic mutations, but by destabilizing the DNA repair machinery itself.

As the spread of infectious diseases accelerates, technologies that can accurately distinguish multiple viruses in a single test are becoming increasingly important. KAIST and an international research team have developed a new diagnostic technology that simultaneously identifies various viruses and variants by controlling the “speed” of gene scissors. This technology is expected to transform responses to emerging infectious diseases, as it can detect multiple infections at once while reducing the complexity of testing procedures.