Water cure: study found that common shrews shrink their brains in winter not by losing cells, but by losing water

Brain scans: team used MRI scanning, the same technology used in hospitals, to peer inside the brains of live shrews across seasons

What humans can learn: brain shrinkage in humans is typically a sign of disease, like Alzheimer’s. But shrews can shrink their brain without compromising function or causing damage. Shrews could become a model system for exploring potential pathways for medical treatment of human brain disease

Scientists from an International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) working group have called for new research to enhance habitat protection for juvenile fish species. Experts from the ICES' Working Group on the Value of Coastal Habitats for Exploited Species (WGVHES), led by Dr Benjamin Ciotti from the University of Plymouth (UK), undertook a comprehensive review to evaluate the approaches being used to assess juvenile habitat quality. Their resulting study highlights a major gap in the evidence needed to evaluate habitat quality which is in turn leading to a mismatch between policy needs and available science, with management decisions often relying on incomplete or indirect indicators.

Researchers identified a heat-stable and agriculturally applicable resistance gene against root-knot nematodes and established an approach for rapid characterization of complex resistance genes by integrating comparative genomics and genome editing.

Bladder cancer (BLCA) is one of the most prevalent malignancies of the urinary system, prone to recurrence, metastasis, and drug resistance. Its complex biological characteristics underscore the need to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying various aspects of BLCA tumorigenesis, while concurrently identifying novel therapeutic targets.