Researchers at the University of Liège have identified a key genetic regulator that enables macrophages to reach full maturity and preserve the health of our organs. The MafB factor, a veritable "molecular switch", activates or deactivates certain genes at the right time and in the right place, leading to the production of macrophages responsible for defending our body and supporting the functioning of our organs. Without MafB, macrophages can become dysfunctional, no longer performing their beneficial roles properly.

New research helps explain how steatotic liver disease can appear in babies — and the role early nutrition may play.

Researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo developed a platform that enables intraluminal inflation of human lung organoids, allowing quantitative measurement of lung compliance and modeling of lung stiffening diseases.

Within the framework of the INMA project, which studies the impact of environmental pollutants on pregnancy and child development, researchers analysed the concentrations of chemicals known as PFAS measured in the mother's blood, and the onset of puberty in girls and boys. The study showed that certain types of PFAS may be slightly associated with the early or late onset of some pubertal characteristics.

Human geneticists at the University Medicine Oldenburg (Germany) have now presented a new method for determining whether a NOTCH1 gene variant is causative for a Congenital Heart Defect (CHD). Once they know this, doctors will be able to make more reliable diagnoses and develop targeted and effective therapies. In addition, patients and their families will finally be able find out whether a heart defect is likely to be hereditary.