Trial of strength at the cellular level: cells are in constant competition with each other and so eliminate diseased or unwanted cells. Cell competition is therefore a central principle for maintaining the health of tissues and organs. Researchers have investigated the success factors of superior cells and discovered a previously unknown winning strategy in mechanical cell competition. They identified a variety in the ability of cells to exert mechanical forces onto other cells as the decisive regulator. With their results recently published in ‘Nature Materials,’ the research team from Germany, France and Denmark challenges the classical interpretation of cell competition.

 Wolf populations in Europe increased by nearly 60% in a decade, according to a study led by Cecilia Di Bernardi and Guillaume Chapron at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, published in the open-access journal PLOS Sustainability and Transformation.

Researchers from Science Tokyo have discovered that bacterial swarms transition from stable vortices to chaotic turbulence through distinct intermediate states. Combining experiments with bacterial swarms, computer simulations, and mathematical modeling, the team clarified the intricate process by which orderly swirling turns to disordered turbulence as the free space available to bacteria increases. These findings provide new insights into active matter physics and could inform future applications in micro-robotics, biosensing, and active fluid-based micro-scale systems.

Overuse of chemical pesticides has driven resistance in agricultural pests, including the adaptable two-spotted spider mite. Researchers from Japan have discovered novel elicitor proteins, Tet3 and Tet4, in mite saliva that could enhance sustainable pest control. They found that these proteins play a crucial role in modulating plant defense responses by acting as key players in the complex interactions between parasite and host, paving the way for new mite countermeasures.