Climate change and unpredictable weather threaten global food security by disrupting agricultural cycles. Now, Japanese researchers have discovered devernalizers (DVRs)—small molecules that delay flowering in plants without heat treatment. These compounds reactivate a key flowering suppression gene, prolonging the nutritional quality and yield of leafy crops. This breakthrough could lead to new agricultural technologies, enabling farmers to control plant growth and adapt to changing climates more effectively.

Researchers have discovered a groundbreaking use of terahertz (THz) imaging to visualize cochlear structures in mice, offering non-invasive, high-resolution diagnostics. By creating 3D reconstructions, this technology opens new possibilities for diagnosing hearing loss and other conditions. THz imaging could lead to miniaturized devices, like THz endoscopes and otoscopes, revolutionizing diagnostics for hearing loss, cancer, and more. With the potential to enhance diagnostic speed, accuracy, and patient outcomes, THz imaging could transform medical practices.

Subalpine and boreal moorlands are two ecosystems that contribute to climate stability by reducing excess carbon as well as acting to help regulate the climate. Therefore, understanding how to maintain these communities in their natural state is imperative. However, the underlying mechanisms of community stability and how factors such as biodiversity within these communities affect their long-term stability is still not well understood. Scientists in Japan have been studying subalpine and boreal moorland plant communities over an extended area in a national monitoring project, the ‘Monitoring Site 1000’. Using this dataset researchers at YOKOHAMA National University analyzed the relationships between vascular plant species richness, species asynchrony, species stability, community compositional stability, bryophyte cover and the temporal stability of the community cover to understand what factors influence plant communities’ stability.

A team led by researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, has discovered brand new interference patterns in twisted two-dimensional tungsten ditelluride lattices. These so-called moiré patterns can be tuned to look like periodic spots or even one-dimensional bands by adjusting the twist angle between layers, and they can drastically alter the physical properties of the material.

R75W mutation in the gap junction β2 (GJB2) gene causes severe fragmentation of gap junction plaques, connecting adjacent cells and leading to syndromic hearing loss. In a new experimental study, scientists from Juntendo University in collaboration with researchers from The University of Tokyo have developed an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector-mediated genome editing approach to repair the R75W mutation. Their findings could contribute to the development of innovative gene therapies to treat hereditary hearing loss.

We created novel artificial cells by encapsulating a riboswitch-gene fusion with wheat germ extract in liposomes. These non-living cells promoted the expression of a glowing protein encoded in the gene in response to an external target at room temperature. They (precisely, a riboswitch in them) can be rationally designed for a user-defined target, allowing a cocktail of artificial cells (each group has a specific riboswitch-gene fusion) to simultaneously detect multiple targets with different glowing proteins.

A novel ‘zeolite blending’ method has successfully produced CON-type zeolites with unprecedentedly high aluminum content, report researchers from Institute of Science Tokyo. By combining multiple zeolite precursors to guide the synthesis process, this innovative strategy overcomes long-standing limitations in controlling aluminum content in zeolite frameworks. The proposed approach will open new possibilities for catalyst development across various industrial applications, including petrochemical processing, fine chemicals production, and environmental remediation.

Osaka Metropolitan University researchers have discovered the mechanism that drives the parasitic vine Cuscuta campestris to insert organs into plants after making contact with the hosts.