Over the last few decades, wild boar populations have increased in the urban areas of Barcelona and in other parts of Catalonia. This wild animal is an important reservoir of the hepatitis E virus, the disease causative agent that affects more than 20 million people every year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Now, a team from the Faculty of Biology, the Institute for Research on Biodiversity (IRBio) of the University of Barcelona and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) has identified a relevant molecular similarity between the hepatitis E virus (HEV) strains of wild boars in the metropolitan area of Barcelona and the citizens of this area. According to the researchers, these data suggest that these animals could be a source of human hepatitis E infections in the metropolitan region.

Min Li, Ph.D., a George Lynn Cross Professor of Medicine, Surgery and Cell Biology at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and Associate Director for Global Oncology at OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center, will receive the 2024 Palade Prize from the International Association of Pancreatology.

Researchers Samuel Poincloux (currently at Aoyama Gakuin University) and Kazumasa A. Takeuchi of the University of Tokyo have clarified the conditions under which large numbers of “squishy” grains, which can change their shape in response to external forces, transition from acting like a solid to acting like a liquid. Similar transitions occur in many biological processes, including the development of an embryo: cells are “squishy” biological “grains” that form solid tissues and sometimes flow to form different organs. Thus, the experimental and theoretical framework elaborated here will help separate the roles of mechanical and biochemical processes, a critical challenge in biology. The findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

A team led by the University of Oxford has solved a mystery that has intrigued scientists for centuries: how does the squirting cucumber squirt? The findings, achieved through a combination of experiments, high-speed videography, image analysis, and advanced mathematical modelling, have been published today (25 November) in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

A new mapping project led by the West University of Timișoara, Romania and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign puts 427 crayfish taxa and over 100,000 observation records on the first searchable global atlas: World of Crayfish. The resource will help protect vulnerable crayfish species and manage invasive ones worldwide.