Researchers find surprising links which show that Neandertal ancestry influences our immune system today in ways more nuanced than previously recognised. 

Ascidians, also known as sea squirts, are the evolutionary link between vertebrates and invertebrates, making them valuable subjects of biological studies. For the first time, researchers at Ruhr University Bochum have detected pronounced autofluorescence in Halocynthia papillosa, one of over 3,000 species. Furthermore, the study provides comprehensive insights into the anatomy of this sea squirt. The study demonstrated the potential of modern, multimodal imaging—from light and confocal microscopy to MRT and high-resolution synchrotron tomography, which facilitates three-dimensional imaging of even low-contrast tissues. The study was published in the journal Communications Biology on April 22, 2026.

An international research team led by scientists from the Museum of Natural Sciences in Barcelona, the  Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE), a joint center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), and the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, has discovered that the fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra) is biofluorescent. Their work, published in Royal Society Open Science, reveals that this iconic species emits turquoise light when exposed to ultraviolet radiation. This phenomenon had gone unnoticed despite decades of study.

Researchers at the University of Waterloo have developed a first-of-its-kind computer simulation showing that professional baseball pitchers may be able to significantly reduce stress on the UCL in the elbow through mechanical adjustments without sacrificing throwing velocity.

Preclinical studies at the Salk Institute laid the foundation for a question now being tested in patients: Can a vitamin D-based therapy “reprogram” a pancreatic tumor’s protective microenvironment, making tumors more vulnerable to therapeutic treatments? A clinical trial led by the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute now demonstrates that a synthetic vitamin D analog can be administered safely in combination with standard-of-care chemotherapy and effectively reprogram the supporting pancreatic tumor microenvironment. This work also provides early evidence that vitamin D analogs can enhance chemotherapy response and improve survival, especially in patients with high tumor vitamin D receptor expression.