An international research team has reported results from the first clinical cohort of 10 blind patients with advanced retinitis pigmentosa treated with optogenetic therapy. The treatment, which combines gene therapy with light stimulating goggles, was considered safe in all participants. Six patients showed a clinically meaningful increase in light sensitivity, while several improved in tasks such as detecting or locating objects, finding doorways and following lines. Visual signals were also detected in the brain. The findings extend an earlier single patient result and provide a foundation for the further development of optogenetic therapies.

1 in 20 pet cats in North America might have Giardia infection, with young, male, unneutered cats especially at risk, per analysis of more than 150,000 feline stool samples

Understanding changes in North American bat populations is critical to measuring risk of extinction from emerging threats such as habitat loss, climate change, white nose syndrome and other disturbances. A study published October 7, 2026, in the open access journal PLOS One by Faith M. Walker at Northern Arizona University, USA, and colleagues describes an innovative research design involving the genetic analysis of ancient, modern, and contemporary biological samples from North American spotted bats.

Sleeping alongside your dog probably doesn’t disrupt your sleep as much as you might think, according to a study published October 7, 2026 in the open access journal PLOS One by Ming Fei Li of the University of Toronto, Canada, Lavania Nagendran of the University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada, and colleagues.

Some of the giant marine reptiles that ruled the seas during the age of dinosaurs were better built for surprise attacks, while their relatives were better suited to chasing prey through open water, according to a Rutgers-led study.

These animals, known as mosasaurs, were a group of lizards adapted to life in the ocean. Researchers reconstructed the bodies of four kinds of mosasaurs from their fossil skeletons, then applied principles of physics to estimate how quickly each could surge forward with a single powerful sweep of its tail. The research was published in the latest edition of Current Biology.

More than 80 years ago scientists discovered that differences in yellow pigmentation were critical to courtship success and failure for fruit flies. 

The “top predator” from the Jurassic is relatively small in size: Megacauda sungei measures just half a meter from its nose to the tip of its tail. 165 million years ago, the furry ancestor to today’s mammals hunted its prey in water. The cusps of its teeth were also curved backwards to enable it to catch its slippery prey. However, the true evolutionary revolution is its soft palate, which separates the oral cavity from the pharynx while also enabling swallowing and breathing. This is an important requirement for suckling as a survival advantage. The findings by researchers from the Universities of Shenyang, Chicago, and Bonn are now being published in the journal ‘Nature’.