Researchers at VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center have developed a novel algorithm that could provide a revolutionary tool for determining the best options for patients - both in the treatment of cancer and in the prescription of medicines. As recently published in Nature Communications, Jinze Liu, Ph.D., and Kevin Byrd, D.D.S., Ph.D., created Threshold-based Assignment of Cell Types from Multiplexed Imaging Data (TACIT), which assigns cell identities based on cell-marker expression profiles. TACIT cuts down cell identification time from over a month to just minutes—saving researchers valuable time and resources.

New research led by scientists at the American Museum of Natural History sheds light on the ancient origins of biofluorescence in fishes and the range of brilliant colors involved in this biological phenomenon. Detailed in two complementary studies recently published in Nature Communications and PLOS One, the findings suggest that biofluorescence dates back at least 112 million years and, since then, has evolved independently more than 100 times, with the majority of that activity happening among fish that live on coral reefs.

Babies born to mothers potentially exposed to low levels of arsenic in public drinking water—even at levels below the federal safety standard—were more likely to be born preterm, with lower birthweight, or be smaller than expected, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health’s Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program.

Researchers from Brown University and Morgan State University have developed a smartphone-based method to measure skin tone using color analysis, offering a more accessible way to address racial bias in pulse oximetry. By capturing images of the skin and calculating a standardized color metric known as the individual typology angle (ITA), the team showed that smartphones can produce accurate skin-tone readings comparable to those of expensive clinical devices. The approach works best under controlled lighting conditions and could help improve the accuracy of oxygen level monitoring in patients with darker skin tones. This technique may support more equitable healthcare practices by providing clinicians with a standardized, low-cost tool for skin-tone assessment.