Continuous monitoring of biomarkers is essential for early disease detection, treatment evaluation, and personalized health management, yet most clinical tests rely on invasive, single-point blood sampling. 

With an increasing use of ultrasonography-based diagnosis, there is a need to develop affordable alternatives to conventional ultrasound gel, ensuring patient comfort. A team of researchers from Japan has recently developed a reusable, solid ultrasound gel pad composed of tamarind seed gum. This gel pad demonstrated improved patient satisfaction compared to conventional gel, eliminating discomfort such as stickiness or tickling, while showing no degradation in image quality.

An association between oral microbiota and cognitive performance in schizophrenia has been reported by researchers at Science Tokyo. By analyzing saliva samples and cognitive test scores from patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls, the study shows that lower oral microbial diversity is associated with poorer cognitive function, with specific predicted microbial metabolic pathways potentially linked to this relationship. These association patterns offer testable hypotheses for future longitudinal and experimental studies.

Researchers from Incheon National University have discovered that prolonged nutrient depletion can significantly increase toxin production in harmful marine algae even when growth appears stable. Although nutrient starvation reduced photosynthetic efficiency, toxin levels continued to rise, revealing a hidden risk phase of harmful algal blooms. The findings highlight the need for monitoring strategies that go beyond bloom size and consider cellular toxin dynamics to better protect seafood safety and public health.

An INRAE research team has developed a microscopic model of the human liver to study the effects of different food contaminants. The spherical model, measuring 0.3 mm in diameter, includes the four cell types found in the human liver, unlike most current laboratory tests, which rely on a single type of cell. The researchers have designed an innovative process to assess the toxic effects of a contaminant across the entire 3D model and pinpoint the location and types of cells that are affected. Published in NAM Journal, the findings are expected to improve health risk assessments for food contaminants by enabling testing at more realistic doses and reducing the need for animal testing. The work also opens up wider prospects in medicine, notably for drug development.

For decades, families in communities around Johannesburg have been living close to huge gold mining waste dumps. For many residents the dust that is released there is just part of everyday life – but it can contain natural uranium compounds that come to the surface with the mined rock. A new study in the journal Environmental Geochemistry and Health (DOI: 10.1007/s10653-025-02874-2) reveals how this exposure is reflected in children’s hair. An international research team headed by the South African Medical Research Council and involving the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), VKTA – Strahlenschutz, Analytik & Entsorgung Rossendorf e. V. as well as the Wismut GmbH has examined samples of hair and linked them to analyses of soil samples, the test subjects’ body measurements and the evaluation of questionnaires on their living conditions.

A surface capable of responding to chemical signals generated by microorganisms and automatically producing biocidal substances – this is not a futuristic vision, but a description of how the B-STING silica nanocomposite works. The new material, developed at the Institute of Nuclear Physics Polish Academy of Sciences in Cracow, acts as a nanofactory of reactive oxygen species, activating itself only when necessary.

RNA viruses' rapid evolution challenges conventional diagnostics like reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction, as mutations can cause detection failures. Researchers from the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology prospected a dual-strategy for RNA virus detection in Medicine Plus: mutation-tolerant broad screening and precise variant discrimination. Integrating these into portable, multiplex devices using real-time genomic data is key for effective public health responses.