A new tool greatly improves scientists’ ability to identify and study proteins that regulate gene activity in cells, according to research led by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. The technology should enable and enhance investigations in both fundamental biology and disease research.

Why did life on Earth choose alpha amino acids as the building blocks of proteins? A new study suggests the answer lies in the stability of their inter-molecular interactions. Researchers found that primitive peptide-like molecules made from alpha backbones formed more durable, compartment-like structures than their longer beta counterparts, giving them a potential evolutionary advantage. The findings propose an assembly-driven model for the origins of life, offering fresh insight into how chemistry shaped biology.

Uniform and intensive forest management approaches threaten European forest biodiversity. There are many different ways to manage forests, but the effects of different combinations of approaches are not well understood. An international research team led by the universities of Göttingen, Germany, and Jyväskylä, Finland, investigated how the Triad forest management framework can support biodiversity conservation in European beech forests. This framework proposes to balance economic and ecological objectives by dividing forest landscapes into three distinct zones: intensively managed forest for timber production, unmanaged areas for biodiversity conservation, and extensively managed forest for supporting biodiversity while producing timber. The researchers collected data from these three management categories and developed “virtual forest landscapes” for analysis. The results were published in the journal PNAS.

Wolves had long been extinct in parts of Central Europe. Thanks to strict regulations to protect species, in recent decades they have become more widespread again. This brings new challenges: in many areas, protecting farm livestock is essential to prevent animals such as sheep, goats and cattle from being killed by hungry wolves. An international research team at the University of Göttingen, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU), Dresden University of Technology in Germany, together with KORA in Switzerland, conducted a survey to find out how farmers feel about measures such as wolf-repelling electric fences or guard dogs, and whether the availability of subsidies influences this. The survey showed that the willingness to protect livestock depends primarily on social pressure. Financial support is associated with a greater willingness to use electric fences against wolves. The study was published in the journal People and Nature.

Monitoring amyloid plaques in animal models is essential for testing Alzheimer’s therapies, but most methods rely on post-mortem analysis. Researchers from the University of Strathclyde and the Italian Institute of Technology have developed a fiber photometry technique that tracks amyloid plaque signals in the brains of freely moving Alzheimer’s model mice. By combining a plaque-binding fluorescent dye with flat and tapered optical fibers, the team demonstrated that in vivo fluorescence signals correlate with post-mortem histology and can distinguish diseased from healthy animals. The tapered fiber approach enabled depth-resolved monitoring across brain regions during natural behavior, offering a minimally invasive way to study disease progression and therapeutic effects in real time.