A new global study published with the defining authorship of HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research, Institute of Ecology and Botany in Conservation Biology, the leading journal in the field, highlights that many governments still do not fully recognize the contribution of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and other traditional knowledge holders to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. The researchers examined the two most recent national reports submitted by the 195 state Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, amounting to more than 400 reports in total—two reports in the case of some countries—and approximately 58,000 pages of material. Europe stood out in a negative sense: while countries frequently referred to traditional land use practices, many states considered the issues related to Indigenous Peoples and local communities and traditional knowledge to be irrelevant, due to terminological confusion. The timeliness of the study is primarily underscored by the next round of national reports due in 2026, as well as by the fact that the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework states that achieving its goals is impossible without the genuine involvement of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

Dr. Maria Margarita Behrens traces her journey from South America to the Salk Institute in a Genomic Press Interview exploring brain epigenomics and the BRAIN Initiative's groundbreaking cell atlas research.

In a paper published in aBIOTECH, the authors introduce NLRSeek, a reannotation-based pipeline for comprehensive mining of nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) genes in plants. NLR genes are essential for plant immunity but are frequently missed by conventional annotation methods. NLRSeek effectively recovers and identifies these overlooked genes, facilitating studies of plant defense mechanisms and the discovery of resistance gene resources.

Life begins with a single fertilized cell that gradually transforms into a multicellular organism. This process requires precise coordination; otherwise, the embryo could develop serious complications. Scientists at ISTA have now demonstrated that the zebrafish eggs, in particular their curvature, might be the instruction manual that keeps cell division on schedule and activates the appropriate genes in a patterned manner to direct correct cell fate acquisition. These insights, published in Nature Physics, could help improve the accuracy of embryo assessments in IVF.